Harrodsburg Presents Christmas for Grownups

PRLog (Press Release) - Oct. 2, 2012 - Grownups love Christmas as much as five-year-olds and Harrodsburg caters to them with holiday happenings that include civilized shopping (no malls, no crowds!), Christmas teas, the musical sounds of the season, holiday home tours and new Illuminated Evenings at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, with thousands of lights twinkling in America’s largest restored Shaker settlement. Indulge your inner five-year-old in Harrodsburg this holiday season; see the Calendar of Events for details: http://www.HarrodsburgKy.com.

Shopping far from the madding crowd
Leave the crowded malls behind and head to Harrodsburg’s Shopping Weekend, Nov. 23-24, in its Main Street and Downtown Historic District for a weekend that includes refreshments, caroling and visits from Santa. Duck into Back Porch Treasures, Beehive Gifts & Collectibles, Beaumont Inn Gift Shop, Victorian & Orchids Boutique and Junebug’s to find distinctive gifts for most everyone on your list. For the hard-to-shop-for? Browse J. Sampson Antiques & Books, The Old Country Store, Old Ft. Harrod Gift Shop, Kentucky Lit and the Kentucky Fudge Company, where you can also grab dinner or something for a sweet tooth.

There are lots of good dining options downtown: Beaumont Inn serves traditional Southern cuisine, including specialties fried chicken, country ham and corn pudding; cozy Blue Moon Cafe has soups, salads, sandwiches and homemade desserts; Granny’s features good ole’ home cooking – brown beans, cornbread, meat and veggies; the Olde Bus Station serves breakfast, hamburgers from the grill, plate lunch specials and its famous homemade soft-serve banana ice cream; and LaFonda’s dishes up an authentic Mexican menu.

Decked out homes for the holidays
On Nov. 17, Old Fort Harrod State Park hosts its Colonial Harvest Meal, Trade Fair and Open House. Shops the sutlers (merchants) set up in the cabins of this full-scale replica fort commemorating the first permanent settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains. Enjoy an authentic 18th century meal served in a blockhouse and accompanied by dulcimer music. The fort and cabins will be decorated for Christmas and the entire park is lit at night with candles.

For its Holiday Homes Tour on Dec. 1, the Harrodsburg Historical Society will present six houses and one church all dressed up in their Christmas finery. The tour includes historic Forest Pillars, which dates back to as early as 1820 when portions of the house were originally built. The Christmas Tea Room, a tavern once-upon-a-time and located at historic Morgan Row, will be open during the tour (as well as on Nov. 30). Enjoy chicken salad, pimento cheese and ham and olive nut sandwiches, chili and vegetable soup and plenty of dessert options, plus spiced hot tea, lemonade and coffee.

Light up your holidays at Shaker Village
Recall Christmases of simpler times during The Holidays at Shaker Village, Dec. 1-31, with  Christmas tours and music; special holiday lunches in the Trustees' Office Dining Room and afternoon teas on Fridays and Saturdays; and shopping for fine handmade gifts and toys in The Craft Shop, including the signature stacked oval boxes synonymous with Shaker craftsmanship. A free Jingle Bell Shuttle, operating 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily, will take visitors from building to building.

New this year are Shaker Village’s Illuminated Evenings, held 4-8:30 p.m. on Saturdays. Thousands of twinkling lights will wink on the buildings and grounds along the village road, creating a special magic as you celebrate the simple gifts of the season with classic holiday music, evening candlelight tours and a visit from one very special guest.

Visit www.HarrodsburgKY.com and click on the Calendar of Events to see all of Harrodsburg holiday happenings this season.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Karen Hackett, Executive Director, KHackett@HarrodsburgKy.com
Harrodsburg-Mercer County Tourist Commission, http://www.HarrodsburgKy.com
800-355-9192 or 859-734-2364


ABOUT HARRODSBURG, KY | Founded in 1774, Harrodsburg is Kentucky’s oldest city but it is far from staid. Amidst four National Register Historic Districts and 250 square miles of gently rolling pastureland is a town that bursts with historic charm in its superlative attractions: Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, the largest restored Shaker community in America; Beaumont Inn, the state’s oldest family-operated country inn; Old Fort Harrod State Park with full-scale replica fort commemorating the first permanent settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains; the authentic 115-passenger Dixie Belle sternwheeler, providing an up-close view of one of the most unique ecosystems in the country at the geologically ancient Kentucky River Palisades; an early American drug store at the circa 1865 Dedman’s Drugstore with original soda fountain. Located in the heart of Kentucky’s famed Bluegrass region, Harrodsburg is affordable and family-friendly and has a hometown atmosphere: streets lined with architectural treasures, shops given over to period crafts, restaurants dishing up traditional Southern cooking.

Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/11985910/1