Old Sturbridge Village-Autumn Edition

Private Tour & Lunch at Old Sturbridge Village

The people who dressed up. (Amarillys is in the center). Photo credit to Alan Kendzior

I was invited to a wonderful private tour and lunch at Old Sturbridge Village in the third week of October by my friend Amaryllis. Old Sturbridge Village is considered one of the most beautiful places to go to in the autumn. It's a living history museum where the buildings and ways of life of 1853 are preserved and utilized in working time by costumed actors. Last time I was at Old Sturbridge Village, I attended the Christmas By Candlelight program. This time, the museum was gearing up for the "Phantoms by Firelight" program which is more of a cirque cabaret  during the last two weekends in October, so don't be surprised by the caskets and the reaper iconography in this post. 

Amaryllis really wanted to have the tour in the autumn and it actually required a lot of planning. We needed to have the tickets paid for about a month in advance and she said that the private tour needed a minimum of 15 attendees to pull it off. I helped by purchasing two tickets and convincing two other friends to meet up at Old Sturbridge Village on a Sunday morning at 10:00 am.

Amaryllis also wanted some of us to dress up for the event. Originally she said to wear something Edwardian, but from the look of this photo of people who dressed up, I'm going to say most of the people looked like they were actual staff at Old Sturbridge Village, except for Jessica and I at the far right, who are clearly outliers on this time travel bending excursion.

The day was another unusually hot October day with highs in the low 70's, so I needed to utilize as much cotton as possible so I didn't get too hot or dehydrated while walking around the museum. 

Posting with the Pumpkins and Caskets. Photo credit to Alan Kendzior

I sent a photo of myself wearing this green skirt at a steampunk picnic last year and asked Amaryllis if this would work for dressing up as I did not have Edwardian nor did I have something that looked remotely mid 1800's for this gathering of costumed souls. She said it was fine, so I decided to style it differently this time. Both the skirt and the blouse are from the Chinese indie brand Tiny Garden. The "Dream Bouquet" Elegant Sweet Lolita Skirt" is totally worth the wait on the pre-order. The green color is almost entirely cotton, fairly lightweight and even has hidden pockets. The "Elegant Lolita Short Sleeve Blouse" is made of 60 pieces of cotton carefully sewn together in a v shaped ruffle design. I got the XL in light mauve and to be honest, this piece definitely runs small. I still had a little bit of gaping at the bust even though my bust size of 98 cm should have been within the L size range. It might just be the fabric. It was very thin cotton with not too much stretch. Over the blouse I placed the Little Dipper Sweet Lolita Cardigan in ginger yellow. I didn't choose a yellow cardigan initially, but I felt it was appropriate to the season of autumn and would stand out well against the landscape.  I tried to select tights that would match the color of the blouse (a light violet) and a bonnet with floral details that tie in the green, yellow, and light violet colors in the coordinate. My purse of the day is a tea pot cross body that is white with light green and violet petals on the design. It also says "Diamond of the Season", which is actually a Bridgerton reference. Yes--it's a purse that was designed around the Bridgerton show---Hot Topic sure has some fun things sometimes. 

Photo credit to Alan Kendzior

You can tell I'm a time traveler because I'm wearing a necklace with a clock around my neck. I need to know what time it was when I left the future to go back into the past.

Side view of me in the bonnet. It was about the last time I wore the bonnet that day as it was a target for yellow jackets. Photo credit to Alan Kendzior

Barbara and Jake at the Bullard Tavern

Danielle and I at the Bullard Tavern. We have been friends for over 20 years!

The Bullard Tavern has a separate private area on the second floor, where we were able to eat our pre-ordered boxed lunches after the tour. Barbara and Jake took me to Old Sturbridge Village last year, and I always learn more and more about the place when I attend it with them. Danielle and I have been friends since the first day of college. We studied the same degree. She's still teaching art...I moved over to the dark side of finance by day, make art at night, and dress up in Japanese street fashion on the weekends. 

After lunch, Barbara, Jake, Danielle and I walked around the museum and explored some of the areas together. For the "Phantoms by Firelight" program, the museum constructed a corn maze that ends with a modern statue of the grim reaper. I'm sure this is much more terrifying at night, but by day it was just an interesting ode to the season of autumn, letting things go, and reaping the fields for the last harvest. I even match the corn maze (yellow on top, green on the bottom)!

So done with yellow jackets. Photo taken by Danielle when I was on the bridge.

Luckily I remembered to take my bonnet clip and attach it to my purse so that I could easily walk around without wearing the bonnet, while still utilizing it in a fashionable way. This covered bridge and the water reflecting the trees is a total highlight of the museum!

Selfie with the printed wall paper

We stopped in the "small house" on the way out of the museum. It was my first time visiting this house. There was a re-enactor inside and she was sewing something while the fireplace was in use for warmth. It was a lovely little space. The wallpaper is not actually wall paper. It is painted blue walls and the designs are stamped on the wall (like wood block printing). I didn't realize they were using such bright colors for interiors at that time period either!  I thought my outfit stood out especially well against it. 

We even got to ride on this wagon! Photo credit to Alan Kendzior

Even though Barbara and Jake are members of the museum, this was the first time that they got to ride on the cart pulled by two clydesdale horses around a little circular path in the "center" of town. It isn't a long ride, but the actor tells a lot about the buildings and what life was like at the time. The horses are rescue horses and they get taken care of very well, so please do not worry about their welfare. 

The sheep in the field. Photo credit to Alan Kendzior

It was such a beautiful day and it was wonderful to meet with friends, dress up, have a private tour, ride the wagon, and eat lunch together. I wouldn't normally meet up at any museum all dressed up by 10:00 am, but Old Sturbridge Village was well worth the effort!!