7 July 2007
Day Thirty-five at Bristol
Field Trip! Not much more than a two-hour drive from the Bristol Renaissance Faire, is a little town in Wisconsin, called Oshkosh. I’ve known the place-name forever it seems, thanks I’m sure, to a well-known line of baby clothes called Oshkosh B’Gosh–they’ve been in business since 1895! In the last couple of decades I became aware that there is an air show in Oshkosh each year with great national acclaim. But, what took me there finally, was learning of a place called The Paine Art Center and Gardens, and specifically learning that they were hosting an exhibit called Fashion In Film: Period Costumes for the Screen.
“The Paine” as it is commonly called, is one of those amazing places we think of as “American Castles.” Commissioned by Nathan and Jessie Paine, the estate was designed to be reminiscent of an English Country House. Mr. Paine, of the Paine Lumber Company, began construction in 1927, but the Great Depression halted things by 1932—the exterior was complete, but it was nearly fifteen years later when plans were legalized to create the estate into a museum, that the interior was fully realized. So, sadly, it’s founders never got to live in The Paine, but through their perseverance, we can now enjoy this delightfully grand place, full of hand-carved oak woodwork, limestone archways, Tudor and Gothic Style decor, and an amazing collection of original art. And, the gardens! Oh, the gardens!
So, now, imagine me, the one who cannot walk through a museum without reading every placard, every sign . . . I’m in this beautiful place, surrounded by beautiful hand-carved, golden oak woodwork, world-class art on every wall, antique furniture and fabrics in every room, amazing, colourful, northern and English style gardens out every window . . . and now, let’s add to that, thirty-six fabulous period costumes from films I’ve either seen or want to see. Is it even possible to imagine me in a place that would excite me more? Maybe, if I were in Scotland . . . but Wisconsin comes pretty close! 
We were not permitted to take photographs within the building, so unfortunately, I cannot share the magnitude of the stunning beauty of the house, or of the costume exhibit. I did get to take (lots of) photos in the surrounding gardens. Many gardens, each with a theme, or a shape or a central feature that makes it unique. One section of one garden was simply planted with everything imaginable that would bloom yellow! This photo I’ve chosen to include here, is wonderful, but please take a moment to view the others I’ve chosen as the best of the day at my flickr site. This fabulous iron scrollwork “window” is built into one of the many garden walls of The Paine. It is very much to my liking, and someday, when planning my own walled garden, I will remember it.
It should be stated, that the entire day was a delight. I made this trip with my dear friend Susan, and we made a day-long adventure of it. We stopped at a sweet little family owned, smoke-free, pub and restaurant on the way up, called Booblitz’s and had delicious wraps for lunch. We enjoyed The Paine all afternoon until they had to ask us to leave! I actually took a photo of the young lady locking the giant iron gates behind us! Then, we visited the corner Spanish-American War Memorial on the opposite corner, and lamented that the business day was over and we couldn’t visit the Oshkosh Public Museum across the street. So, we pointed the car back toward the freeway, and took a detour into the local microbrewery for a pint and a snack. The Fox River Brewery creates some tasty beer! Our pint became a flight, and was actually served to us in small taster glasses. Eight tastes and a s’more-flavoured cupcake later, we were back on the road south. One additional stop at a Goodwill store I’d never been to resulted in the bargain of the day: I bought two wonderful old wooden barstools, complete with backrests, and foot rails and swivel—for seven dollars! Those will have a new home in the back “pub” room at East Wind Games!
There’s a WordPress “blogging challenge” each week, it seems. I just stumbled upon it today. It is designed, by the creator of WordPress, I think, to challenge us all to become better bloggers. To push our blogs to be better and more interesting to read, than blogs at other sites, I imagine is the real goal. But, at any rate, the current challenge is for us to “blog our passion.” A great idea, and one I might have attempted to experiment with . . . but what, exactly IS my passion? I was having a similar discussion one night last week with a couple of my best girlfriends. Is it Sewing, or Costuming? Is it Travel? Perhaps History? Is it Gardening? Or is it Interior decorating—or Antiques? Hmmmm . . . I think that perhaps, I covered all my bases with today’s blog!
~MB
