Step boldly forth but not into the future, but dipping back to the Pastwith frosted pink “Thor Carmen” in the entrance while setting out on St. Nikolaus Day, shoes shined ready to be filled, the tradition which still gives us a thrill as this walking tableaus with luminaries everywhere, and everything you remember is made new again with Christmas at Longwood.  From  the time you enter the Visitor Center, the sublime notes of Christmas greet you, and lead you through a labyrinth of hand-painted botanical murals, glowing lanterns lead you to Flower Garden Drive to the Wildlife Tree with brick toy feeders in the primary colors dating back to 1932.  The Large Lake makes you think these three dimensional plastic stars fell from the sky one day and landed here while the supersized bulbs in the Small Lake light up the scenery.  The Canopy Cathedral tree makes you think childhood has been reinvented with hanging ornaments everywhere.  Longwood’s truck restored as if it roared straight out of the 60’s to land in front of the Pierre du Pont house.

It never gets any better, as if a magic torch ignited primary colors you come across while you put aside all the pain and anguish outside, even the rush to do everything right as you enter the tunneled expanse with its ever-changing charisma as if ushered into a Fantasy of lights with textural accompaniments to delight the eye and the ear as if the spheres have awakened along with the celebratory rites while a gigantic Christmas tree is carved to allow you to find your way to the Pump House and Bell Tower where a colorcast tree is fully captured in the still  water beneath.  

The Conservatory is always the heart of the Christmas Message imparted this year through the striking Community trees in the Ballroom with home-made ornaments topping the list with baubles, satin-covered balls, and beads hanging from the decorated trees like those you might have engineered yourself long ago with tinsel as if uniting the separate entries.

Varied Poinsettias decorate the Main Conservatory floor, igniting the surprises of long ago when such a gift was relished with hopes it would bloom again the next year.  How wonderful to get an invitation to a Party in the Music Room, vintage is the only way to describe the decor as you peruse more than just standard fare instead filled with glowing lights and reverie as if a date with the Andrew Sisters singing their hearts out. 

Suspended ornaments greet you with amaryllis and birch branches in the Acacia Passageway till awe struck by the chandelier in the Orchard Room.  The Silver Room enhanced by the enchantment of silver ornaments while

kokedama, an art from is featured with living plants growing in soil balls. 

Call it Retro if you like but more like a sight to be seen.  Homemade is the name of the game with ornaments of paper, styrofoam, leaded glass, and garlands placed on mantelpieces stairs everywhere. All your bonafide hopes and dreams no longer sidelined, they’re all here in a colorful expanse of yesteryears where imaginative gardeners meet hand in hand with skillful artisans.  Live organ music and Olde Towne Carolers put you in the mood when even the railways will take your children’s  breath away round a meticulous recreation of Longwood. 

Stay awhile as the fountains burst forth in colored lights with music to match the season.  Everything you remember of Christmas Past restored again to you like a an authentic dream come true.  Exotic filigree, and yet just a short drive away to enter the Land of Make Believe that lasts forever in your fantasy made real once again or at least until next year’s display portrays something new and perhaps even more entrancing for you, but this is Reverie at its finest which lasts until January Seventh.