Every year, the unofficial kickoff to the fall season is — for us — the Cabaret at Andalusia. The first time I attended this event, I rented a dress and hustled a college boyfriend into a tux. Our spot at the kid's table was assumed. The food was delicious. And the party immediately became, for me, the epitome of elegance.
Early into Ben and my relationship, he learned the Andalusia would be a corner stone of our fall season, a moment when I pivot down towards the Delaware River and gather with family and friends to celebrate and support history, conservation, and excellence.
Andalusia came into the Biddle family by marriage. When Nicholas Biddle (1786-1844) married Jane Craig (1793-1856), she came with a house. Nicholas Biddle went on to lead the Second Bank of the United States and get into a battle with Andrew Jackson that pops up on many an AP US History test, but he also transformed the Craig home into what many point to as one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in the United States.
The home was lived in by Biddle family, my family, well into the middle of the 20th century before being turned into a museum. In the 21st century, the youngest generation of leadership has made the gardens a critical cornerstone of the property, championed by Kristin Biddle. Most recently, famed British gardener Lady Arabella Lennox-Boyd has been reinterpreting crucial moments in the gardens, like the central green walk and next the graperies, adding layers that emphasize the natural context of the garden and allowing it to cascade through the seasons from early spring to late fall.
We always remember to arrive a little early for the Cabarete so that we can stroll through the garden before sunset. This year, Kristin's garden at the end of the Green Walk was a symphony of purples and oranges, punctuation marks that truly celebrate the season.
Now, more than 15 years after my first trip to the Cabaret, I still sit at the kid's table but us kids have grown. We can drink and bid, and support Andalusia in more than spirit. This year, I joined the Board as a representative of the family. We dined and danced, and strolled into the gardens, relishing the last moments of the season in beautiful fashion.
In the morning, we took a moment in the small working garden, a home for herbs and vegetables and plants that are out of the greenhouse but awaiting a new home. The more modest scale was an inspiration of what wonder can come from small starts.
