Jamestown Settlement

Holiday traditions of the 19th century are highlighted this month at the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington. "Christmas at the Hagley" looks back on the holiday celebrations of the first du Pont family at their home, Eleutherian Mills. The grand staircase in the entrance hall is adorned with ribbons and greens; a Victorian Christmas tree in the parlor is surrounded by dolls, miniature furniture and other 19th century toys; and a display of old musical instruments and a "Christmas harp" fashioned from greens and strung with cranberries demonstrates the importance of music to the du Pont family.

"Christmas at Hagley" is a view of a 19th-century holiday at the original du Pont mills and estate near Wilmington. Tours run daily through Jan. 2 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., giving visitors an opportunity to see Hagley's 240-acre property festively decorated for the holidays.At Eleutherian Mills, the 1803 du Pont family home, pine roping winds up the sweeping stairway. Hand-made decorations are used extensively and adorn the Victorian Christmas tree in the parlor. Also featured at the mansion is a collection of lace, including bonnets dating from 1815, a parasol, a Victorian neck piece and Belgian war lace made during World War I.One of the tour-stops is the 19th-century machine shop, where you can see demonstrations of steam toys.

Labor Day weekend offers many fine opportunities for daytripping -- crab races in Crisfield, boat races on the Chesapeake Bay, a koi festival near Frederick, arts and crafts in Lancaster, Pa., and a tour of horse farms in Maryland's "horse country."One popular Labor Day weekend event is Draft Horse and Mule Day on Saturday at Oatlands Plantation near Leesburg, Va. In fact, it is the best attended event of the year at Oatlands. Sponsored by the Virginia Draft Horse and Mule Association, it's an occasion to pay tribute to the workhorse, those "gentle giants" that once were the mainstay of the American farm.

"Festival of Fountains 1991" brings 11 weeks of beautiful gardens, illuminated fountains and 38 performances to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pa. The celebration opened yesterday and continues through Aug. 31.Among the performances scheduled are Broadway shows, Gilbert and Sullivan operas, symphony orchestra concerts, ethnic dance programs, barbershop quartets and bands with music ranging from classical to jazz to folk. Also planned are four children's ice cream concerts featuring clowns, puppets and teddy bears, and a mini-version of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night."

The long gray months of winter make most of us eager for spring, so here's your chance to have a preview and give your spirits a boost. "Welcome Spring," the midwinter display of colorful spring blooms and lush landscapes, has opened at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pa. The display continues through April 30.Filled with thousands of spring flowers, the conservatory gardens present an ever-changing scene as daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and other bulbs...

The Celts will return to Oatlands Plantation near Leesburg, Va., for the second annual Celtic Festival next weekend, rain or shine, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The plantation's 260 acres of rolling green hills, shaded glens and beautiful gardens provide a perfect backdrop for the festival, which features the cultures of Cornwall, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, Galicia (Spain) and Brittany (France).Here festival goers will find lively Celtic music, Irish dancers, Welsh choirs, Scottish games, storytellers, artisans and many others.

When Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic for the first time, he discovered a native people who delighted in chewing and smoking the dried, pungent leaves of a plant unknown to Europe. Indians consumed them to enhance prayers, ward off illness, to relax.Some of the crewmen indulged out of curiosity and found the leaves to their liking -- and did not stop. Columbus berated his men for succumbing to a custom that apparently repelled him. But he eventually relented, declaring: "It's not within their power to refrain from indulging in the habit."

"Christmas at the Hagley" highlights holiday traditions of the 19th century through Jan. 1. The Hagley Museum, which is situated on the site of the original du Pont mills, estate and gardens in Wilmington, invites the public to see the decorated du Pont family home, Eleutherian Mills. Elaborate decorations are featured throughout the 1803 mansion from the apple fan doorway to the sweeping stairway in the hall draped with pine ropes and red ribbons, a Victorian tree in the parlor and harp in the music room covered with greens and strung with red berries.

August Court Days will bring our Colonial forebears to Leesburg, Va., next weekend. Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe will be there, along with more than 100 other costumed re-enactors, who will present street vignettes, participate in 18th-century dances, demonstrate fencing and give lectures on period clothing.The August event is a re-creation of the days in the mid-to-late 1700s when the court was in session and farm families in the outlying areas came to town to hear the latest news, exchange gossip, buy and sell wares and enjoy the street entertainment.