March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 48 F

Historic Annapolis to host a Colonial Holiday this weekend

Historic Annapolis will be celebrating a colonial holiday on Saturday, December 7, 2019 from 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm.  Visit both the William Paca House (186 Prince George Street) and Hogshead (43 Pinkney Street) for a variety of activities to celebrate the season with a touch of history. The cost to visit both sites is $5 for adults, $3 for children, free for Historic Annapolis members and volunteers, and children 3 and under.  All holiday activities and light refreshments are included with admission. Tickets are available at the door, or reservations can made at annapolis.org or by calling 410-267-7619.

William Paca House

At the William Paca House and Garden, join the Paca family and learn how a prominent household might have prepared for the holiday season around the time of our nation’s founding. Bring your dancing shoes, and learn some quintessential colonial dance skills from The Annapolis Living Historians. A musician and dance mistress will lead guests through the sorts of dances the Paca household’s refined guests would have enjoyed. Dance was one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the colonies, and as Thomas Jefferson, who sometimes even acted as a dance master himself, once said, dancing “is a healthy exercise, elegant and very attractive for young people,” so don’t be afraid to take the little ones along with you! When you’re worn out from all that dancing, take a stroll through the house, and step back in time to enjoy the beautiful holiday decorations as you might have seen them 250 years ago.

Hogshead

Take a stroll down to “Hogshead Tavern” to continue the celebration with the middling sort.  Discover how colonial townsfolk celebrated the holiday, while enjoying sweet treats, cider, music, and dancing, Try some switchel, a popular spiced apple cider drink from the 1700s. Create festive colonial crafts to decorate your own home for the season: tin punch ornaments to adorn your tree or your hearth, and a holiday pomander to fill your home with the sweet scents of traditional holiday spices.

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