Escape to the mountains, sit by a cozy fire, bite into a peppermint soufflé and visit a Christmas tree farm. Picture a better Christmas tree family tradition? I recently experienced the perfect weekend holiday-season getaway at the Old Edwards Inn in Highlands, North Carolina.
The charming European style boutique resort is offering a Christmas Tree and Elf Village Package from November 24 – December 23 that incorporates a very unique experience we cannot find in the big city. That is visiting a Christmas tree farm farm where you can walk around hundreds of trees growing in open fields against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is simply magical to walk among the live trees whether it is a crisp sunny winter day or snow falling on the firs.
The Tom Sawyer Christmas Tree farm is located about 30 minutes from the Old Edwards Inn in downtown Highlands, where you will get directions and a gift certificate to visit the farm. You want to go there on a weekend when an entire Elf Village comes to life. For the kids, there is the Meet and Greet with Santa, Horse Drawn Carriage and a post office for the children to mail their letters to Santa. Adults and kids can rent elf-costumes before they head on back to meet with guess who, Santa himself!
Once you have had your share of play, its time to pick out “the tree.” This means you have to walk around the farm and choose from hundreds of perfectly shaped Christmas trees awaiting spectators like you this time of the year. Once you have your pick, the handy helpers cut, wrap and load the tree for you to take home. He even gives you a lesson on how Christmas trees grow (only a foot each year, that too in the summer time did you know?) And when you have it lit and decorated, you can tell everyone the story of the Christmas tree – how it grew on this hillside farm in the mountains of North Carolina and made it all the way back with you (to wherever you live).
Besides the festive atmosphere of Christmas trees, elves, Santa and snow, there is also the breathtaking natural beauty you can enjoy at Tom Sawyer’s. Take a walk around the trees and the lake, and pack a picnic to make it a wonderful family day out.
Once back at Old Edwards, the parents enjoy a relaxing spa ritual while the kids get the Elf Tuck-In. The only way to end the perfect day is a gourmet dinner at Madison’s and please do yourselves a favor and order the peppermint soufflé with melted white chocolate right away. Now that’s a Christmas tradition you want to go back for every year!
