Our earliest holiday experience of 2022 came several weeks before Thanksgiving this year! Historical Linthicum Walks hosted an event where participants could meet Santa and Mrs. Claus, help decorate the historic home for the holidays, listen to Santa read, “The Night Before Christmas,” and do some holiday crafts. This was the first event we attended at this site that we needed to pay a fee for, $10 per child. We also needed to select a time. The event planners had created 4 different time slots over the course of one weekend. My girls were ecstatic! They love going to this site and doing the events here, whether it is MD Day Event or a scavenger hunt.
The historic site is located right next to Crofton Middle School, tucked back away from Davidsonville Road. Look for the driveway going back as well as a white sign with black lettering. The driveway is not paved, nor is it wide-enough for two cars, so be careful traversing it. The parking lot is the field to the left of the house. Once we parked, we walked over to check in with the helper “elves.”
When I’d purchased the tickets several weeks before, I’d selected a 2:30pm time slot. A few days before the event, I noticed the 2:30 slot was gone, replaced by a 1:30. A quick email later, and it was confirmed that we were moved into the 1:30 slot. Time adjustments had been made after I purchased tickets, but the event planners were very responsive, and quick to straighten things out. The 1:30pm slot was the slot with the fewest attendees, only one other family besides ours, and, since we were the first group, we acted as guinea pigs for the event planners. Anything that didn’t work with us, gave them a chance to adjust for the next group. My girls didn’t mind! They were happy to be in such a small group of kiddos.
Once we entered the house, all of the children gathered in the hallway near the front door. With a jingle of bells, Santa appeared from the upper floor! Mrs. Claus was also present. He talked to the children for a bit before the elves sorted the kids into different craft areas. Two of my children colored and decorated their event goody bags, and Stormy went off to learn what potpourri was and how to make it. She loved seeing what went into the mixture to make it smell so good! Santa wandered from craft area to craft area, joining in, chatting with kids, and asking what they wanted for Christmas.
When Stormy finished making potpourri, she joined her sisters to decorate her goody bag. She drew a golden retriever on the front of her bag since she loves dogs so much. It didn’t take her long, and soon all three girls moved to a crafting station where they could construct red and green paper garlands to decorate the house. It was wonderful how each activity easily flowed into the next. Once garlands were finished, Santa led the way to the tree, and the kids helped him decorate it.
It was a magical and personal experience, and both Santa and Mrs. Claus, as well as their elves, were sweet as pie with the kids. Once the tree was decorated, the kids all hung stockings up over the fireplace, and then parents were given a moment for a photo shoot with Santa. Santa never did read the promised poem to our group, but he didn’t need to. The interaction my kids had with him was priceless! If they do this event again next year, we plan to take part! Until then, I’ll be keeping an eye out for other events here, too. You can check the Friends of Historic Linthicum Walks on Facebook for upcoming programming. Happy trails!
