When I was looking for something for Stacy and I to do when she came up for cookie baking, I started going through the events on Facebook. I found the Grignon Mansion was doing Christmas at the Mansion from 1-7 on Saturday and Menasha was had a Christmas event downtown from 5-8. Based on the forecast, I decided to go Christmas at the Mansion, especially since I've never been in the mansion. The hubby took me by it once.
The Grignon Mansion was built in 1837 by Charles Grignon as a wedding gift to his wife. It became known as the Mansion in the Woods. The Mansion is normally open in Summer on weekends for tours. This is the first time in years that they did Christmas at the Mansion.
The Mansion was simply decorated for Christmas as it would have been in 1948. There were no trees, boughs of holly, or other decorations except for stockings hung by the bed. It wasn't until after the German settlers started to arrived did the Christmas tree make an appearance. Christmas in 1948 was a time for visiting and sharing a holiday meal.
The Grignon Mansion did not have electricity, except for the basement, and our tour was conducted by candlelight. We were met in the parlor and a re-enactor lead us through live in the parlor room and shown 2 guest rooms. From there we continued our tour upstairs where we saw the 3 bedrooms before heading down to the dining room and kitchen. By the end of the tour, it was quite difficult to see the script the guides were reading from by candlelight.
After the tour, Stacy and I made our way down to the basement where we enjoyed cookies and eggnog while making paper stars. For the 2nd time this year, I made a paper craft that actually turned out. We thought about making a wooden snowflake but even though basket weaving skills were required, it wasn't a real basket and it didn't meet the criteria of weave a basket.
Once we finished our crafts and snacks, we headed out to the blacksmith shop. We watched as the blacksmiths made a pair of tongs. Usually blacksmiths make shepherd hooks or horseshoes, so it was nice to see them trying to make something different.
Then we headed over to the trolley for a trolley ride through Kaukauna to see the Christmas Lights. It seemed as a very unorganized and random trolley ride but it was still cool to see the North Pole and other lights in Kaukauna.
The Grignon Mansion is a National Historic Site. Stacy made a comment that maybe there is a list of all the National Historic Sites. I guess I will have to look for one and add all of them to the bucket list.
I enjoyed our visit to the Mansion. After looking the website, I see they have other events throughout the year including a Model A Car show and a Civil War Reenactment. I may have to keep my eye out for other events. It's a nice hidden gem and I'm glad I was able to visit it.
