Our second day of the Unwrap The Holidays Tour was full of great family-friendly holiday activities to do in Deerfield, Massachusetts. From shopping to horse and carriage rides, museums, and we can’t forget our meals! Everything was so wonderful.
Breakfast at Granny’s Baking Table
The morning kicked off with breakfast at Granny’s Baking Table. What an adorable little shop with a mission to get back to the basics, simpler times. In a space with a large table for gathering and conversing with each other while enjoying the freshest baked goods prepared by Chef Sonya Yelder or Todd Crosset. They are the co-owners of this wonderful little shop filled with great books and good company!
I had the breakfast sandwich of bacon and eggs on the most delicious biscuit. It was amazing, along with a cup of the pour-over coffee that was so fresh and comforting, A great start for my day.
Shopping at Yankee Candle Village
Next, we loaded up the van and headed north to Deerfield to visit the Yankee Candle Village. I have lived in New England my entire life, and I have NEVER been to the Yankee Candle Village. But that was about to end! I had thoughts of what I expected the experience to be like and it was nothing like I expected.
I envisioned a very overpowering smell that was going to smack me in the face when I walked in the door and I also thought it was going to look like a factory. None of those visions came to life. I didn’t smell a distinct smell when I walked into the store. But I did catch a glimpse of the train overhead! And it snows inside! There’s so much to do inside the Yankee Candle Village!
Events
Yankee Candle Village isn’t just a candle shop, it is the Yankee Candle flagship store in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, and draws in three million visitors per year! It’s one of the largest tourist attractions in the state, second to the Freedom Trail.
I didn’t know this before visiting Yankee Candle. But it is a great spot to visit with Santa, In Person! There is a lot you can do when you come to visit Santa. The waiting area is filled with stations where the kids can partake in activities to help ease their nerves or to help pass the time before they go see the big guy!
There is a giant advent calendar, or you can sign Santa’s guest book, take a picture in a large sled to fit your whole family, or write a letter to Santa and leave it in his special mailbox! Santa visits run from November 3 – December 23 and do require an appointment. You can book your appointment and purchase your ticket on their website.
Santa Visits aren’t the only thing that happens here. There are special events all year round that include wagon rides, games, scavenger hunts, and more! While you are in the village you can create your own custom fragrance. Or perhaps you want to dip a critter at Wax Works. This is a favorite activity for the kids. Or Stop in the General Store and try out their gourmet popcorn, homemade fudge, and other local treats. And don’t forget to buy some candles! There are over 200,000 candles in the candle emporium.
The Bavarian Village
My favorite part was the Bavarian Village where it snows inside every four minutes. There was so much to see while exploring this Bavarian village, which was inspired by the German holiday markets. The village takes up a large portion of the 90,000-square-foot complex. This cozy village is a replica of a German Christmas town where it is always evening, and the Christmas lights are sparkling and the trees are coated with fluffy white snow. You can stroll through the Black Forest, and then cross a moat, to enter the Nutcracker Castle. Sometimes you can find Santa in the Toy Shop telling stories to the children.
Be sure you wear comfy shoes and allow yourself plenty of time because Yankee Candle Village will keep you busy for hours!
Historic Deerfield
Lunch at Champney’s Restaurant & Tavern
Shopping always works up my appetite. So the timing was perfect when we arrived at the Deerfield Inn to have lunch at Champney’s Restaurant & Tavern. The mood and the pace of Champney’s is very inviting and relaxing. We all gathered around a fireplace and enjoyed each other’s company and had lunch with the Deerfield Innkeeper, Laurie. She told us about the events that take place at the Inn during the holidays and throughout the year.
I didn’t feel like I was in a restaurant. I felt like I was hanging out in someone’s home and enjoying their hospitality. They have a beautiful large mahogany bar, and many items from their menu are seasonally provided by local farms. Before our lunch arrived, carolers from the local school came and sang Christmas carols to the guests having lunch at the Tavern. It was really sweet to listen to the kids singing, knowing they were so glad to get out of schoolwork to sing!
Tours of Historic Deerfield
Historic Deerfield is where the Deerfield Inn and Champney’s Restaurant & Tavern are located. Located on a tree-lined mile-long, main street, the Inn is located among gorgeous homes from the 18th and 19th centuries. These colonial homes take you right back to the old days when horse-drawn carriages traveled along that mile-long Old Main Street with travelers who needed a place to stay for a night.
We enjoyed some hot cider and a ride on a horse-drawn carriage ride down Old Main Street after lunch and learned about the homes along the street. Our tour guide shared stories about each house and its owners, along with the architectural style of the home. We were also given a tour of a Taverne that used to house travelers as they came through town.
It was neat to see where they would have hung out in the front room chatting with each other and catching up on town news while enjoying an adult beverage. Or where they would have had a meal in the dining room. Then the kitchen where it was prepared. Upstairs was where the guests would sleep and there was a large hall used to house meetings and assemblies for people in town.
The Flynt Center of Early New England Life Museum
We spent most of our time exploring The Museum’s Attic Collections Storage. This is where you will find the collections of centuries-old household goods. Over 28,000 pieces both rare and common. It was so fun looking at the items and trying to guess what they were used for. Like bed warmers! Don’t want to climb into bed with cold sheets? Well, go light a fire, throw a metal pan over that fire with some hot ashes, and then rub it along the sheets to warm them up. Or you can just turn on an electric blanket. Nice how things have changed!
The tour was great and if you had a question, our guide had the answer, and he also showed us where to look up the collection information in their Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield Museum Consortium database so you could explore the entire collection on your own. I really enjoyed seeing those items and thinking of how differently we live now. I also thought that this would have been something my kids would have enjoyed seeing. Especially the houses and the simplicity of living a few hundred years ago.
Also located in this rural area of Deerfield is the Deerfield Academy Boarding School. I enjoyed this afternoon with some shopping a nice leisurely lunch and a horse and carriage ride. It was very relaxing to stroll through the museum and the Tavern tour. And yet it’s something I think my teens would have also enjoyed with me! So I’m sure to add this to my family-friendly holiday activities to do in Deerfield list!
What’s Next?
We’re hopping back into the van and heading up to the Berkshires! We will be having a delicious meal at Alta Restaurant & Wine Bar. But first, we check into the Red Lion Inn, and then we will take a stroll through the Winter Lights at Naumkeag. Also, follow my #WesternMASS highlights on my Instagram!