Historic Speedwell


I am a fool for Charles Dickens so I'm easily played when "Dickensian X'mas" was advertised on the NJ tourism website. Yesterday afternoon, after it had stopped snowing, we headed off to Morristown because I was curious about the village of Speedwell and the X'mas activities they had there. I must really thank Adrian for agreeing to this activity on a below freezing day. Hehe!

Well, Speedwell is famous for its iron works and the birthplace of telegraph. The owner of Speedwell Ironworks, Stephen Vail was asked to build the engine of S.S. Savannah. This ship was the first steam powered vessel to sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. So, it's appropriate to start the tour at the Vail Homestead. No photography allowed inside, unfortunately.

The Vail Homestead

After the interesting tour, we headed towards the carriage house and attended Mr. & Mrs. Fezziwig's Ball. Here's a clip of some costumed actors and ad-hoc volunteers dancing.

Mr. & Mrs. Fezziwig. Mr. F is supposed to be old, isn't it?

See you next time!

L'Hommedieu House which is also the Visitor's Center.

The upside: Frozen Guests like us could help ourselves to cookies, hot chocolate and cider at the basement of L'H House. There's arts and crafts activities for kids down there too.

Captain Moses Estey's house overlooking the pond. Estey was a veteran of the American Revolution.

Red berries near the pond.

This is my favorite photo and I now have it as my desktop wallpaper in conjunction with the season :)

Next up: Fosterfields Living Historical Farm.