Visiting with Mark Twain

Welcome to another week! I hope you enjoyed the beautiful, 60-degree weather early last week. Thursday’s snow jolted me into the realization that it’s late fall.

I had the most amazing day on November 8. Do you remember Elizabeth Jane’s Café in Jamestown? It was an amazing Hawaiian-themed restaurant that operated between April 2004 and December 2008. I loved eating there. The menu consisted of a great blend of super-healthy meals and decadent desserts.

Elizabeth Jane’s Café reopened for one day only at The Mark Twain Manor.

If you’ve never been to The Manor, it’s a gorgeous antebellum mansion once owned by Dr. William Gibson. It has been home to many restaurants in the past, including Elizabeth Jane’s. Every room was decorated in a Christmas theme, and each had its own Christmas tree decorated with one color scheme. The library, where my mom, daughter, and I ate, was bedecked in jade. The solarium area was decorated in scarlet, and the dining room was decorated in cobalt.

There were also smaller Christmas trees in the hallways. Guests had the chance to donate one dollar to the Jamestown Future Foundation’s efforts to restore The Manor. If they did, they got to hang a velvet bow on the petite trees.

Saturday’s menu was warm chicken salad on a wheat bun and a salad made of spring mix lettuce, dried cranberries, glazed pecans, and chopped apples tossed in raspberry vinaigrette dressing. A spiral orange slice and three red raspberries decorated the plate. Guests had their choice of coffee, hot tea, or bottled water. We also got a huge piece of pineapple-pecan cake iced with cream cheese frosting. Yum…

My favorite part of the experience, though, was meeting Mark Twain. A Mark Twain living historian strolled to our table and asked if we were familiar with any of his books. Even if I hadn’t enjoyed the meal, even if the building wasn’t beautifully decorated, this conversation would’ve been enough to make me remember the day for months to come.

I majored in history and English in college. I love both subjects, particularly local color American literature and the American Civil War. Very few people outside academia have as much passion as I do about these subjects, so I don’t have many opportunities to talk about literature and history anymore.

“Mark Twain” and I talked about his travels with Dr. Gibson in China and around the world, including Dr. Gibson smuggling a ginkgo out of China. This was illegal. You can still see (and smell) the gingko tree outside the Mark Twain Manor today.

We also conversed about Twain visiting Dr. Gibson’s home. He recalled coming to breakfast in his pajamas, and Mrs. Gibson tersely announcing that in her house they “dressed for meals.” She meant he’d better be in a suit and tie, even for breakfast.

Afterward my mom, daughter, and I went to Abigail’s. The store sells primitive crafts, home décor, and antiques. It was decorated in a country Christmas theme. I wanted to buy everything in the store. They served warm apple cider and homemade cookies in their toasty-warm greenhouse area. It was magical.

I hope you have an enchanting experience this week. Blessings!