Late Summer Festivals in Wilmington, Delaware

Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen Fine Craft Fair (July 25 & 26)
The Brandywine Valley’s largest premier fine craft fair returns to the Chase Center on the Riverfront. Described as an indoor shopping experience, the show features an unparalleled collection of beautiful items all of which are handmade in America.  Find one-of-a-kind clothing,  jewelry, ceramics, glass, sculpture and fine furniture and meet the artisans who craft them.  www.pacrafts.org
 
America On Tap Craft Beer Festival (August 15)
Fifty of the country’s finest craft breweries will showcase their new releases in Wilmington’s Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park on Saturday from 2:30 until 6PM.  Sample more than 100 exceptional beers in an atmosphere filled with live music, food and an assortment of great vendors.  Tickets to this open-air event can be purchased online at a discounted price or at the gate on the day of the event for $35.00.  www.americaontap.com/delaware-on-tap
 
August Quarterly (August 23-30)
The August Quarterly—or Big Quarterly—has the distinction of being the country ’s longest-running African American heritage festival.  The festival has evolved from a one-day meeting into a week-long celebration of religious freedom commemorating the founding of the Union Church of African Members by Peter Spencer in 1813.  This year’s celebration climaxes on August 30 with a 9AM Sunday service at the Chase Center on the Riverfront and afternoon festivities in Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park from 2 until 9PM.  www.augustquarterly.org
 
Arden Fair (September 5; Rain date is September 6)
The Arden Fair is a time-honored tradition in the Brandywine Valley.  Held on the Saturday before Labor Day on the Arden Gild Hall property in North Wilmington, it draws over one hundred twenty vendors offering hand-made crafts and jewelry and fifty antique and flea market dealers.  The day-long event runs from 10 until 6PM and features music in the grove, food, drink, amusement rides and children’s games.   www.ardenclub.org/about/arden-fair/

Riverfront Blues Festival (July 31-August 2)
This three-day event in Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park features a stellar team of top blues artists.  This year’s exciting lineup includes Brandon Santini, Lil Ed & The Blues Imperials, Mississippi Heat and Low Rider band.  The fun kicks off on Friday afternoon at 4PM and continues through Sunday.  www.riverfrontbluesfestde.com
 
Brandywine Festival of the Arts(September 12 & 13)
The Brandywine Festival of the Arts has been a perennial favorite for over fifty years.  Typically listed among the top one hundred national shows, this annual event in Josephine Gardens in Wilmington’s Brandywine Park attracts hundreds of visiting artists and craftspeople from the East Coast and beyond.  Although the show is juried for quality, it is not pretentious.  Remarkable, one-of-a-kind pieces in a wide variety of media are available at an equally broad range of price points. In fact, the festival is considered to be one of the foremost places in Delaware to purchase original pieces of art that are sure to satisfy both the casual consumer and the avid collector.  Live music, a food court and free admission to the Brandywine Zoo are added bonuses.  Admission is $5.00 and children under 12 are free.  www.brandywinearts.com
 
The Greater Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau is a non-profit organization founded in 1978, chartered by the Governor of Delaware, the New Castle County Executive and the Mayor of Wilmington. Its mission is to serve as the community's customer-focused destination marketing organization, generating economic growth through leisure travel and meetings development by aggressively marketing attractions, facilities, amenities and services for visitors.

Virginia: Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop Fredericksburg

Hugh Mercer was born in Scotland in 1725. He was a field surgeon at the Battle of Culloden Moor on the side of Bonnie Prince Charlie so it became expedient for him to flee after the defeat. He worked as a doctor on the frontier in America. He joined the Pennsylvania militia and served as a Col. In the French and Indian War. It was here that he first met George Washington. It may even have been George who suggested that he make his home in Fredericksburg.

Now if his story had ended here, it would have been a fascinating tale but it is just the beginning. He opened a medical practice in Fredericksburg in 1761 and when we enter the front door of his shop the year is 1774. All visits are done on a guided tour and you are assigned a guide.

Our guide loved her job, her enthusiasm was contagious. We begin our tour by learning about some of the herbs that the typical apothecary would have used. Amazingly, many of them are things we still use today in a more refined form. Not for the faint of heart the medical practices of yesteryear and Hugh Mercer was very much a man of his time. We are shown instruments that look like they belong in a torture chamber. We learn that he was able to remove a cataract from an eye, and when you realize that this was in the days before general anesthesia you get a small idea of how much pain this would have caused.

Soon we become familiar with terms that must have brought terror to the people of the 18th century, cupping, purges, enemas, inoculations, leeches, yuck. I bet you leeches were used to draw blood, well yes they were but if you had an ear infection they put a leech on a string and lowered it into your ear. Talk about the cure killing you.

Some of the practices seem barbaric to us today, we got a whole lesson on amputation, which was one of the leading causes of death in battles, it wasn’t the wound that killed you it was the infection from the amputation.

It is a fascinating if a bit disturbing tour. After we visit the shop and the office, we visit the upstairs on a self-guided tour. There are some interesting displays including an account book belonging to General Washington.

Hugh Mercers joined the Continental Army and fought at the Battle of Trenton in 1776. He was killed in hand-to-hand combat at the Battle of Princeton in 1777. He was 55 years old. Had he lived, he would have been remembered as one of the great leaders of the American Revolution. He passed his military prowess on to his great, great, great grandson George Patton. Be sure to visit his statue which is located close to Kenmore on Washington Avenue.

Massachusetts: The Sleeper McCann House Gloucester

Beauport, The Sleeper McCann House, is a historic destination in Gloucester, Mass. It is maintained by Historic New England. It was May when we went to visit and the flowers in the garden were in full bloom. The gardens alone are worth a visit.

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Offerings

Classic American Comedy The Foreigner to open on Main Stage at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival; In Repertory with Henry V

Center Valley, PA – A "real, live foreigner" creates hilarious misunderstandings while delivering heartwarming laughter in Larry Shue's award-winning comedy, The Foreigner, in the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's production previewing July 8 and 9 and opening Friday, July 10. Playing on the Main Stage through August 2, the production features the same repertory cast performing in Henry V.

Madcap mischief ensues when a diverse cast of characters meet in Betty Meek's Fishing Lodge Resort in Georgia. Sgt. "Froggy" LeSueur, a British munitions expert, PSF veteran Carl N. Wallnau, insists on bringing his pathologically shy friend Charlie Baker, played by Jacob Dresch, across the pond for a vacation.

The widowed innkeeper, Betty, Jane Ridley, is thrilled to meet someone from another country—even when Froggy tells her that Charlie does not speak English and should not be asked questions.
The cast includes a real-life married couple with extensive PSF credits playing an engaged couple: Emmy-nominee Marnie Schulenburg, who portrays the Southern debutante Catherine Simms, and Zack Robidas (It's Complicated, Arbitrage), who plays the Rev. David Marshall Lee.

David Button appears as Catherine's younger brother, Ellard Simms, who's presumed not to be the sharpest tool in the shed. The county property inspector with designs on the resort, Owen Musser, is Anthony Lawton, whose many PSF credits include twice portraying the clown Feste in Twelfth Night. The ensemble includes Philadelphia actors William Zielinski and Brian McCann, and Emmy winner Wayne S. Turney.

Long-time PSF actor and director Jim Helsinger, who directed last year's Lend Me a Tenor, leads a creative team that includes six-time Emmy winner Bob Phillips, set designer; Marla Jurglanis, costumes; Thom Weaver, lights; Kristian Dereck Ball, sound. Jane Ridley serves as dialect coach and Alison Hassman as production stage manager.

Breslin Ridyard Fadero Architects is production sponsor for The Foreigner; co-sponsors are Bazzini and Keenan-Nagle Advertising, Inc.

The show runs July 8- August 2 on the Main Stage in repertory with Henry V.
Preview: Wed. July 8th, 8pm
Preview: Thu., July 9th, 8pm
Opening: Fri., July 10th, 8pm
Tue. July 14th, 7pm
Wed., July 15th, 8pm
Sun., July 19th, 2pm
Wed. July 22nd, 8pm
Fri., July 24th, 8pm
Sat., July 25th, 8pm
Sun., July 26th, 2pm & 7:30pm
Tue., July 28th, 7pm
Thu., July 30th, 8pm
Sat., Aug. 1st, 2pm, Audio Description for patrons who are visually impaired.
Sun., Aug. 2nd, 7:30pm

Amaranth Foundation is the 2015 season sponsor. Associate season sponsors are the Szarko Family, Harry C. Trexler Trust, Dr. James and Penny Pantano, and Linda Lapos and Paul Wirth.

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, a professional company in residence at DeSales University, is the Official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth and a professional, not-for-profit theatre company. An independent 501 c 3 organization, PSF receives support from DeSales University and relies on contributions from individuals, government agencies, corporations and foundations.

PSF is a constituent of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, and a member of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the Shakespeare Theatre Association, the Lehigh Valley Arts Council, and Discover Lehigh Valley.

For tickets, call 610.282.WILL [9455] or go online to www.pashakespeare.org.

The Festival's 24th season continues with Around the World in 80 Days (through July 12); Henry V (July 16- August 2); Pericles (July 22- August 2); Shakespeare for Kids (July 22- August 1) and Rapunzel (through August 1).

One night events include Jeremiah James performing a special concert, Choose Love, on Monday, July 27 at 7:30pm on the Main Stage. James recently played Javert in PSF's record-breaking production of Les Misérables.

Tickets are available by calling 610.282.9455, or online at pashakespeare.org.

Virginia: George Washington's Chidhood Home Ferry Farm

First let me warn you, if you think that you are going to come to Ferry Farm to see the house where George Washington spent his childhood, you are going to be disappointed. Ferry Farm is an archaeological project. The original farm is long gone. Having said that it is still a very interesting place to visit.

You begin your visit at the Visitor Center. This is where you are going to paint the picture in your head that will carry you through the grounds. We arrived on a rainy Saturday afternoon and we had the site to ourselves. Even had we decided not to walk around the grounds there would have been plenty to read and enjoy in the Visitor Center. Ferry farm is included on the Passport but if you haven’t purchased one be sure to ask for the AAA discount.

The exhibit in the visitor center was entitled "George Washington, Boy before the legend". We learn that he moved here in 1738 at 6 years old with his father Augustine, his mother Mary, and his younger brothers Samuel, John, and Charles, and his sister Betty. His older half-brothers were off in England getting their formal education. On Christmas Eve 1740 the house burned down. Then in 1743 his father died. His elder half-brother Lawrence inherited the main family home, Mount Vernon.

At age 15 he went off into the far reaches of Virginia with Lord Fairfax and it was the beginning of his career as both a surveyor and a soldier. Much of his reputation was being developed during this period. He was the quintessential gentleman, as a young man, he copied the "Rules of Civility, a guide to gentlemanly behavior. In many ways, it became the benchmark that he modeled his life upon. He was an elegant dancer, he loved to gamble, to fence, to foxhunt, and he was a superb horseman

I could continue for an hour with all we learned in the visitor center but do take a walk out into the grounds. It was October so the archaeological dig was closed for the year but there is plenty of evidence left uncovered. There is ongoing research on the property. They have not yet discovered the exact location of the house built after the 1740 fire. They also know that there were several warehouses, a kitchen, and at least one slave quarters. They have excavated more than 500 exploratory holes. The items removed from the holes are being identified and when they have more information that will begin large-scale digs.

You can take a walk that goes along the Rappahannock and goes to the site of the Ferry crossing which gave the farm its name. It also played a vital part in the battle of Fredericksburg. If you are interested in George Washington this is a must visit and even if you're not, it is a fascinating look at mid-18th century life.

British Columbia: Return to Butchart Garden, Victoria

The first place that my cousin Chris took Al and I in Victoria was Butchart Gardens. It is an amazingly beautiful place that was created from an abandoned quarry. 

Flashback Thursday: Carrefour La Toison D'Or Mall Dijon

Carrefour- La Toison D'Or Mall-  This is one of the cornerstone stores of this Mall. It is a sort of combination Sears-Sports Authority-Super Walmart. They have everything from ski equipment, to appliances (stoves, washers, etc.), fresh fruits, vegetables, and a huge fish department. 

Need wine? They have it. Want to buy a leather jacket?  This is your store. Talk about one stop shopping. I even bought mustard flavored potato chips here. You can get a fresh roasted chicken or a cold sandwich. Toothpaste or shampoo, I had a ball here and got some great mustard, vanilla bath scrub, hippo shaped cookie cutters and if we could have figured out how to carry them in the car,  we would have picked up some really inexpensive downhill skis. 

One peculiar thing though, I got in one line and tried to pay cash, nope not that line, card only, you also bag your own purchases, hey for these prices who cares. This was definitely the place to go to get the best deals on any gifts you want to purchase to take home.

I was so busy shopping, that I never took any pictures but you get the idea.