Destinations

By Jan Shepherd, 12/2/2001

ivil War battle reenactment

Dec. 8-9

The Army of the Potomac suffered one of its most humiliating defeats at the Battle of Fredericksburg on Dec. 13, 1862, two days after launching its attack on the Virginia town. The toll was more than 15,000 dead, 12,600 of them Union soldiers. This year's reenactments and ceremonies are expanded to two days: On Saturday, some 200 participants in period uniforms will fight at Ferry Farm, one of the key battle sites, and in late afternoon they will skirmish in the city streets. For the first time they will put up a 40-foot section of a pontoon bridge, similar to the one Union troops built for crossing the Rappahannock River to reach the city. On Sunday, the National Military Park will host lectures at Ferry Farm and ceremonies at the Kirkland Memorial honoring Confederate Sergeant Richard Kirkland, who gave water to the wounded Federal soldiers at battle's end. Author Frank O'Reilly will lead reenactors of the 28th Massachusetts Regiment, Company B - known as the Irish Brigade - to the memorial.

City of Fredericksburg Visitor Center, 800-678-4748. Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania National Military Park, Fredericksburg, Va. www.nps.gov/frsp/vc.htm.540-373-6122.

Strawbery Banke Museum

Through Dec. 30

The 10-acre settlement in the heart of downtown Portsmouth, N.H., represents the changing neighorhood from the Colonial era to the mid-20th century. On winter walks, guides relate the true stories of the residents with visits to sites such as the Abbott store, a 1940s mom-and-pop enterprise, and the Shapiro house, where a Russian-Jewish immigrant family lived when they arrived in the late 19th century. The 90-minute excursions are Thursday through Sunday except on Candlelight Stroll weekends. For those who want an old-fashioned holiday experience, the popular Candlelight Strolls feature caroling, bonfires, and refreshments today and Dec. 8-9, 4-9 p.m.

Strawbery Banke Museum, Marcy Street, Portsmouth, N.H. 603-433-1100. www.strawbery

banke.org for fees, times.

`Blossoms of Light'Through Dec. 31

Denver's winter evenings begin to glow when the Botanic Gardens turns on the lights. More than 250,000 bulbs are twisted into fancy forms and strung around, up, and over trees, shrubs, walkways, and bridges. Cold weather doesn't dampen Denverites' romantic spirits, so designers create ''kissing spots'' with balls of mistletoe at key places around the gardens. Strolling dancers, carolers, and bell ringers add their spin on the festive scene. Located in the middle of the Mile High City, the 23-acre arboretum was created in an old cemetery in 1959. Known for native plantings, it has more than 15,000 species. In 1966, the Boettcher Memorial Conservatory for tropical and subtropical plants was built.

Denver Botanic Gardens, 1005 York St., Denver. 720-865-3544. www.botanicgardens.org.

Jewish Museum exhibit

Through March 17

''The Emergence of Jewish Artists in Nineteenth Century Europe'' is the culmination of more than three years of research for curator Susan Tumarkin Goodman. Gathering 70 paintings by 21 Jewish artists from seven countries, she examines how they dealt with spiritual, cultural, and national identities at a time of great social change in Europe. The paintings were last seen together at the beginning of the 20th century. Among the artists are Camille Pissarro, Max Liebermann, Simeon Solomon, Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, Vittorio Corcos, and Vito d'Ancona, all among the leading names of their time.

The Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave. at 92nd Street,

Manhattan. 212-423-3200. www.thejewishmuseum.org.

Inns & cookies

Dec. 8-9

The inns of the Mount Washington Valley roll out the welcome mat and pass out the cookies on the fifth annual self-guided inn-to-inn tour. The daytime event began with 11 inns and now has 19 inns and B&Bs grouped into two routes from Crawford Notch to Tamworth, N.H. The southern route sites will be open Saturday, the northern route Sunday. Visitors view the inns' common areas and partake of the innkeepers' favorite cookie recipes. The oldest place on the tour is the 216-year-old 1785 Inn. Encouraging the seasonal spirit, the inns will be decked out in holiday finery.

Mount Washington Valley, North Conway, N.H. 603-383-4200 or 603-356-9460 to reserve tickets. www.theopendoorinns

.com or www.countryinnsinthe

whitemountains.com for ticket reservations.

`Sesame Street'

on the road

Dec. 9-Aug. 25

Big Bird lands with his buddies Ernie, Elmo, Oscar, and others for an extended stay in St. Louis with ''Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?'' For the TV show's young fans, the traveling exhibit brings the characters and their neighborhood to life with hands-on activities about letters, words, numbers, and diversity. A timeline traces the show's milestones as a TV phenomenon, starting with its debut in 1969. The exhibit even has a Big Bird nest where kids can read a book.

Missouri History Museum, Lindell and DeBalivere in Forest Park, St. Louis. 314-746-4599. www.mohistory.org.

Gemini exhibit

Through Jan. 21

The exhibitors' list is a who's who of contemporary art: Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Rauschenberg, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, Robert Motherwell, Man Ray, Claes Oldenburg. The common thread is that each of them, among others, produced limited edition prints or sculpture at Gemini G.E.L. (Graphics Editions Limited), a landmark printmaking workshop in Los Angeles founded 35 years ago. Since 1981, the National Gallery of Art has collected work produced in the studio as a way to enhance its archive of 20th-century works. ''Best Impressions: 35 Years of Print and Sculpture from Gemini G.E.L.'' pulls together a select group of 50 pieces from the gallery's collection of 1,600 works.

East Wing, National Gallery of Art, 4th Street at Constitution Avenue, Washington, D.C.

202-842-6353. www.nga.gov.

A Bach Christmas

Dec. 13-14

For some, true harmony is combining Bach with a trip to Vermont. As part of its winter series, the Vermont Mozart Festival presents the sounds of Johann Sebastian Bach for the annual holiday concert in two places: Stowe and Burlington. William Metcalfe will conduct the 14-member chamber orchestra and the 32 voices of The Oriana Singers in Cantata VI from the ''Christmas Oratorio,'' Magnificat in D major, and carols and motets for Advent and Christmas. The festival is a 28-year-old summer music series held over three weeks in beautiful outdoor locations in the Green Mountain state. The 24-year-old winter series is presented through April in Burlington.

Vermont Mozart Festival. Dec. 13 at Stowe Community Church, Stowe, Vt.; Dec. 14 at First Congregational Church, Burlington. 800-639-9097, 802-862-7352. www.vtmozart.com for tickets, schedule.

Destinations is a weekly feature on events and places around the region and country. Write us at Destinations, Sunday Travel, Boston Globe, PO Box 2378, Boston, MA 02107-2378.

This story ran on page M3 of the Boston Globe on 12/2/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.