Olde Fashioned Christmas at the Mill

This morning, we bundled up and took my parents to a community event I'd been looking forward to for weeks--Olde Fashioned Christmas at the (Lanternman's) Mill.

 

The city had dressed up the local historic Mill in Christmas finery for the event:

The Mill and surrounding area is beautiful any time of year, but it looked especially charming in the snow.

When we walked inside we were greeted by artisans with their beautiful crafts. There were homemade soaps and Christmas ornaments, painted rocks and pictures, professional photographs of the Mill and surrounding area, and goods made out of beeswax (like the little snowman ornament we took home), pine cones, and wood.  This man was carving the cherry wood spoons seen in the next picture:

 

 

This woman showed us how she spun yarn on her little spindle for her woolen yarns and crafts.

There were also musicians playing cheery Christmas music...

 

Travis and the girls listening to the band:

...and lovely harp arrangements floating through the air.

 

 

 

After touring a couple floors of the Mill, we headed outside to walk around for a bit.

Dad and I had our first taste of roasted chestnuts, which were surprisingly yummy, and tasted like candied mashed potatoes! Now we understand why these treats are a Christmas tradition.

 

Then we meandered over to the covered bridge to watch the river:

 

And back over by the Mill to get a closer peek of the falls:

 

 

Aren't these icicles so neat?!

 

 On the way back to the Mill, Bethany spotted this bench and excitedly pointed it out to Travis. "Do you want to sit on it?" he asked. "Yea!" she replied. "Do you want me to sit by you?" "Yea!"

It was pretty darn sweet to see these two all cozied up together.

 We headed back inside to get warm and see if we could find Santa (who hadn't been on the upper two floors we'd toured).
We found him downstairs!

And got a candy cane from Mrs. Claus.

 We perused the crafters stands set up on that floor, then headed down to the belly of the Mill to see the water wheel.
This is where the water comes in, and then flows over the wheel.

  

 It was a fun morning at the Mill!