Eden and I love, love, love the Betsy-Tacy books. I've read all of them many times, and Eden and I have read all of them together at least once, and the first four we've read more than once and she's read on her own. These books are by Maud Hart Lovelace, who fictionalized her own childhood, which was spent in Mankato, MN when it was just a young town. Now the Betsy-Tacy Society is located in Mankato, featuring both Maud's childhood home and her friend Bick's home as museums. I've been once, years ago, but this summer Eden and I decided it was time we went together. So we set out on a Friday morning to get all the fun out of Mankato that we could manage!
We arrived in time to have lunch downtown (the same downtown that Betsy and Tacy explore so thoroughly in Betsy-Tacy Go Downtown). We found a little diner to eat in, which was not original to Maud's time but still gave off a good Betsy-Tacy vibe. From there we found the Mankato Historical Society, which contains artifacts from Maud Hart Lovelace as well as a diorama of Mankato in the late 1800s. The Lovelace display was interesting, although most of it we had already seen pictures of, and we found at least two mistakes in the information given! The diorama of Mankato was very fun and gave us a better sense of what Front Street would have looked like in Maud's time. The hidden treasure in the Historical Society, that we hadn't expected, was a hands-on collection of old-timey technology, like typewriters, rotary phones, and pay phones. Eden loved it -- I could barely drag her away after almost an hour.
From there we went to the local library which has a Maud Hart Lovelace corner. The main reason we wanted to go is because the library holds the original glass pitcher which Bick (Tacy) gave to Maud (Betsy) at her 5th birthday, which was the first day of a life-long friendship which has delighted millions of readers since then. In the picture below Eden is standing next to a display case which contains pictures of Maud at five years old and the little glass pitcher.
From there we went to our hotel, ate dinner, swam in the pool, and watched Moana.
The next morning we slept in a little, but we were also eager to see more. So we decided to start the day by having a breakfast picnic up on the Big Hill, Betsy-Tacy style. We knew that at the very least that meant we needed cake! We ended up going to Hy-Vee to get donuts and then drove over to the houses and discovered we needed to drive to the top of the Big Hill. This was a little disappointing, but the path was long gone. As we drove up we discovered that the Big Hill has become quite populated since Maud's childhood, with lots of pretty houses. This was especially disappointing to Eden, who had been hoping to find the Secret Lane. But, we still had our donuts and looked out over Mankato just as Betsy and Tacy used to do. We could see the top of the Courthouse, just like they could! It's way in the distance behind Eden's head (between the house and the tree trunk) in the picture below.
After breakfast, we began our walking tour. At the Historical Society we bought a small book which gave details and locations about all the places mentioned by Maud in the books. Eden and I decided to walk the Betsy-Tacy neighborhood as far as the library, since that was Betsy's main stomping grounds. Below are pictures of the most important places, although we saw more than just these.
This is the grade school Maud and Bick attended. Mrs. Chubbuck's store was right across the street, and the school was just around the corner from where Maud and Bick lived.
Tib's "chocolate-colored house." It's just across the street from the grade school.
Lincoln Park, the "pie-shaped" park the trio loved so much.
Eden loved it just as much. She said it was her favorite thing on the walking tour.
The Carnegie library. It's now an art museum, but it's the same building immortalized in Betsy-Tacy Go Downtown. The library chapters are certainly some of my most favorite-of-all-times chapters in a children's book. They capture perfectly how I felt about my own library when I was that age. It was closed, which was very disappointing for us!
The Courthouse. This was right next door to the highschool, which unfortunately has been torn down.
This is the spot where Betsy's High Street house stood, with Cab's house right behind it. It was torn down in the 70's, which Eden I didn't know until we arrived at this spot. We were bummed!
The library is downtown, so we paused there and had lunch at a bagel place and got some lemonade to fortify us for the walk back to Hill Street. On the way back we paused and played at Lincoln Park again. That's what Betsy and Tacy would have done!
By the time we got back to Hill Street the museums were open, so we joined a tour of Betsy's house. The tour guide was a very nice lady who did a great job getting the little girls involved. Eden knew the answer to every question and actually corrected the tour guide at least once. (Betsy, Tacy, and Tib did NOT get in trouble when they made Everything Pudding!) Eden LOVED seeing the house, and actually begged the tour guide to let her go back in a second time, right before it closed, and without a tour. The lady very nicely let her go in again.
Sitting on the hitching post outside Tacy's house, just like Tacy always did when she was waiting for Betsy.
Sitting on the bench that Betsy and Tacy used for their earliest picnics.
The dining room in Betsy's house.
Eden standing in front of the table which Betsy and Joe inherited when they got married. Just like in the book, it was actually made by Maud's grandfather after he returned from the Civil War.
The stove Betsy loved to read by in the winter, and for which she was so homesick when they moved to the High Street house, which had central heating from a coal furnace in the basement!
In Mr. and Mrs. Hart's bedroom. There's a man's collar on the dresser, which reminded us that Tib said she could "fit her father's collar around my waist."
Eden in front of Betsy's beloved "desk" which was her Uncle Keith's trunk.
The actual bronze bowl which Mrs. Hart really did buy for herself one Christmas. "She bought it herself! She bought it herself!" Eden and I were thrilled to see this original piece!
The telephone which was installed when Betsy was 12, and which she let Winona use in an effort to get her to share the "comps" for Uncle Tom's Cabin with the trio. The picture is of Midge (Tib), Bick (Tacy), and Maud (Betsy).
Holding hands across the years with Betsy and Tacy.
Tacy's house.
Betsy's house.
After the house tours, we set off to find the cemetery. We found it without too much trouble, but had a hard time finding Maud's burial place. But, we did finally find it. People had left pencils on her gravestone, so Eden left one too.
We also found Cab's (Jab's) grave.
Eden sitting at the grave of her friend and mentor. I really could barely tear her away.
We left and headed home. What a lovely trip. Thank you, Maud Hart Lovelace, for writing such wonderful books!
