You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better schedule of holiday displays and special events than those presented by the museums and public gardens in the Brandywine Valley.

“Yultide at Winterther”is already in full swing and it’s better than ever. Unlike their traditional tours, Winterthur’s Yuletide tour is designed around du Pont family traditions – not the nuances of American decorative arts. You won’t learn about ball and claw table legs or the difference between New York and Philadelphia silversmiths (unless you ask, of course). Instead you’ll be drawn into the stories of real people for whom the Christmas holidays represented the most joyous and yes, opulent, time of year. The decorated trees, alone, are worth the price of admission.

Now through January 10 the Brandywine River Museum celebrates the season with its annual holiday displays, including their fabulous O-gauge model railroad, an elaborate Victorian dollhouse, and thousands of whimsical "critter" ornaments on holiday trees. For nearly four decades, Steven Clarke has engineered the train display including the design, installation and maintenance of 150 locomotives and 300 freight cars that run on nearly 2,000 feet of track! This year the museum is also featuring an antique doll display and “Alice In Pictureland: Illustrations of Lewis Carroll's Classic Tales.”

Like Winterthur, "Christmas at Hagley" is inspired by the stories and traditions of real people. Unlike Winterthur, at Hagley we’re not just talking about du Pont family stories but those of the mill workers and their families, as well. The Gibbons House will be serving hot tea or coffee. Activities on Workers' Hill will be weekends in December (December 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20); and December 26 through January 3. And, on Sundays, December 6, 13, and 20, the Belin House Restaurant is offering a special holiday brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Reservations are required.

The Delaware Art Museum will once again hold their annual Holiday House Tour on Saturday, December 12 from 10 to 4, featuring self-guided tours of unique Wilmington-area homes and artists’ studios decorated for the holidays. This year’s destinations include a Bancroft Village home filled with whimsical furnishings, a contemporary house featuring a large modern art collection, and many, many more! The Museum, itself, is part of the tour, and tour participants will want to be sure to visit the Delaware by Hand Masterworks exhibition in the Ammon Gallery. Come early for holiday music and holiday shopping featuring several area artists.

The Delaware Historical Society will be ringing in the holiday season on December 17 with a special concert in Old Town Hall featuring the Choral Arts Scholars of Sts. Andrew & Matthew. The concert will be followed by a reception in the Delaware History Museum celebrating the opening of a new exhibition, “Frontier Delaware: the Dutch and the Swedes.” The exhibition is actually a combination of two independent exhibitions tracing the role of both nations in the early history of Delaware.

And finally, no holiday season would be complete without a trip to Longwood Gardens, which is magically transformed into veritable wonderland at this time of year. Enjoy acres of outdoor gardens feature dazzling living floral displays, opulent ornaments, stunning trees, a half-million lights and dancing fountains. Ice skaters will perform daily. There will also be holiday music throughout the gardens with strolling carolers and festive organ sing-alongs as well as with evening performances by choral groups, madrigal singers and handbell choirs.
 

A complete list of articles by the Wilmington Tourism Examiner can be found at http://www.examiner.com/x-25324-Wilmington-Tourism-Examiner.
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