Our first stop of the day was the Brandywine River Museum where Americana art is exhibited in a 19th-century grist mill located on the Brandywine River. The museum is known for the unparalleled work of 3 generations of the Wyeth family - N.C., Andrew, and Jamie. And for those of you who regularly follow our blogs, you already know that Bevie and I love the Wyeth's work. Not that anyone should have a favorite, but the order in which we love the Wyeths, first it's Andrew, than Jamie, then N.C. So this was an exciting day in our trip that we had been eagerly anticipating.
First, once we had parked the car in the museum's dirt lot next to the Brandywine River, we had to make a trek down to the riverbank. We wanted to check to see what the water looked like because we were tentatively planning on returning later in the afternoon to take a dip in the river. On Memorial Day, as we passed over the bridge on the main road, we'd seen lots of people sitting out in the river in water up to their chests and people floating down the river on tubes. We had visions of spending some late afternoon hours cooling off in the river ourselves.
But alas, we were disappointed. It was not like the Saco River in Maine - a favorite paddling spot of ours where the water is crystal clear and there are beautiful sandbars along the river where you can pull up in your kayak or canoe and then hop into the water and swim and float and goof around and get cooled off.
The Brandywine is very muddy looking to the eye. It carries a tremendous amount of suspended silt and even at the very edge of the river where the water is not that deep, you cannot see the river bottom. And we could see fallen down trees and trunks and branches sticking up out of the water = tree trunks and branches also under the water. And since we weren't familiar with the river, the depth, the current (which appeared to be quite strong in the middle), and weren't too enticed by the very muddy appearance of the water, we decided we would pass. I would love to go back sometime though and go tubing on the river.
So into the museum. Admission desk is to the left immediately after you enter the front doors. Time to get my wallet out to pay for my ticket. But, for some unknown reason, perhaps because it was an art museum of mostly Wyeth paintings, it dawned on me that this was the perfect time to ask someone in the know how I could go about finding a limited edition of Jamie Wyeth's painting of Maine Coon cats. I figured a woman working in a Wyeth museum might have some good ideas.
I explained to her that ever since the first time Bob and I visited the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine and had walked into The Wyeth Center there only to be greeted at the front of the gallery by the original copy of Jamie's "Maine Coon Cat", I had been in love with that painting. I could never expect to buy the original. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. And it's probably not even for sale - it's likely in the Wyeth family's private collection. But I might be able to buy one of the limited edition prints that were made.
I had looked and looked and looked. I had checked Jamie Wyeth's online gallery with no luck, other galleries that carry Wyeth prints, no luck, even eBay hoping that a private owner might be selling his/her print. Everywhere was sold out. Even worse, I came across different galleries that were also looking to buy the print because they had buyers who were interested in purchasing the print too. I had basically given up hope. But it never hurts to ask.
WELL! Imagine to my surprise - the woman at the counter pointed over her shoulder to the rear wall of the gift shop behind her, and there on the wall was hanging a matted and framed copy of "Maine Coon Cat". AND IT WAS FOR SALE! The top of my head nearly blew a gasket. I couldn't believe it. But it was real. It was the last print the museum had to sell. It was #15 of the limited edition of 25 prints that were made to sell to the public. And it was signed by Jamie Wyeth himself. Now I won't be so gauche as to tell you what it cost, but I did have to think about it - but only for the amount of time it took for me to walk around the front counter and ponder in my head what the purchase would do to my financial status and credit card balance. By the time I'd made one revolution around, I was telling the woman behind the counter I'd take it.
While Bev and I toured the galleries, the museum staff wrapped my "baby" up ever so carefully so it would travel well and not get damaged. And when we later walked out of the museum to our car, I had that baby tucked ever so carefully under my arm. Bev then made a nice safe place for it in the trunk using some things to cushion it from road bumps. Now it sits on the floor in my dining room waiting for Bob's return from the bike trip he's on this week with Bev's husband Bob. And when they get home, hubby and I will decide where to hang it. Oh me, oh my, I am one lucky, lucky lady.
It was interesting to wander the Brandywine River Museum and see how the Wyeth paintings there compare to their paintings at the Farnsworth in Maine. Both museums primarily display the paintings that were done in their home region. If you love the Wyeth's paintings of the sea, beaches, sailboats, blueberries, all things Maine, you'll enjoy visiting the Farnsworth. If you love the Brandywine Valley, the influence of the Pennsylvania Dutch on the architecture of houses and farms, the rolling hills and rivers and streams of the valley, you'll enjoy visiting the Brandywine River Museum. It was interesting and fun for Bev and I who have now visited both museums, to see and feel the differences.
Now on to mushrooms. I owe the pleasure of this visit to my husband's cousin Ming who lives in Virginia and who, when I was telling her about our trip to the Brandywine Valley area, said we must visit the mushroom place in Kennett Square. Well, little did we know that Kennett Square claims to be the mushroom capital of the United States. There are more than a few mushroom places in town. But I had done some research on the web before we left, and the mushroom place that most intrigued me was Phillips Mushroom Farms - the largest grower of specialty mushrooms in the United States (for more info check out: http://www.phillipsmushroomfarms.com/). We were most interested in visiting The Woodland Store where you can buy fresh mushrooms, dehydrated mushrooms, marinated mushrooms of all kinds, mushrooms salads, etc, etc. And yes, we did indeed walk out of the store having done some damage to our credit cards. The nice people in the store were kind enough to give us a bowl of their marinated mushrooms to try while we looked around. Those babies were too good to be polite and just try one or two. Between Bevie and me, I think we must have eaten 10 mushrooms each. They are addictive.
And then we were off to chase down the mushrooms with some wine from the Chaddsford Winery. I like sweet wines and purchased a bottle of Sunset Blush and a bottle of Sangria. Bev and Bob and my Bob like dry wines, so I had Bevie pick out a bottle for my husband, and she picked a Sauvignon Blanc. And I also purchased two new wine glasses with Chaddsford Winery's name and logo on them - as did Bev. Over the years as we've visited lots and lots of wineries (too many to count and remember now), I've always purchased two wine glasses. Then when we have company and we serve wine, I have this wonderful collection of glasses from wineries in Massachusetts, the Finger Lakes, the North and South Forks of Long Island, Rhode Island, and many other wineries spread across the country.
So now that we'd had some pre-dinner appetizers, it was time to think about where to dine for dinner. I suggested Hank's Place located not far from Chaddsford Winery - a small restaurant advertising home-cooked food and adorned with the most beautiful hanging flower pots and flower gardens all around the outside of the restaurant and the parking lot. From the street it looked almost like a miniature Longwood Gardens. And the sign said the restaurant was Zagat rated. How could we go wrong?
So for our foodie followers, if you remember anything from this blog, remember Hank's Place located at the intersection of Routes 1 and 100 in Chadds Ford (http://www.hanks-place.net/). They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. And we were very impressed with the food. We never did get to try their breakfasts, although the menu says if you ask, the chef will cook you breakfast anytime of the day. And the breakfast menu was one of the most extensive breakfast menus I've ever seen. So remember that name . . . Hank's Place, Homestyle Cooking, and you will thank us from the bottom of your hungry little hearts.
We decided to pass on dessert at Hank's. Not that dessert didn't look good. But we were stuffed, and Kiwi Yogurt over in West Chester was calling our names. Again like those Sirens calling the Argonauts. We decided we hadn't seen much of the rest of Chadds Ford, so why not take all back roads over to West Chester and check out the countryside. So beautiful. Rolling hills, farms, Pennsylvania style stucco houses, streams running through heavily forested, shady, cool glens. And also some very expensive homes. The kind of homes that you can just barely see from the street as you pass by, long driveways with gates out at the edge of street, and keypad guarded entrances to keep the rif-raf and nosy tourists out.
This time we had Kiwi Yogurt down good. Don't bother trying to find a parallel parking spot on the street (West Chester is a buzzing little place even in the evening - it's a college town with West Chester University just on the outskirts and college kids are everywhere). Instead, you just drive into the public parking garage right next door to Kiwi Yogurt and pay 75 cents for an hour and a half of parking - the same price as the meters on the street (and they say Polish people have a hard time figuring things out). And this time we also figured out that the yogurt is actually heavier than the add-ins, so we went a bit lighter on the yogurt (I had mango again - couldn't resist) and also went a bit lighter on the add-ins. Each of our "creations" came in this time between $8 and $10. Don't know how that worked out. But what the heck, we were on vacation and that yogurt was the cat's meow.
Now we're tired, the sky is starting to get dark and ominous looking, and we're figuring it's time to go back to the hotel and check-in by phone with our hubbies. Little did we know that when we called home, we'd find out that although the tornadoes never did come to Chadds Ford - they came to Massachusetts instead! And we never even had a drop of rain where we were.
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