The Cheshire Cat is an esteemed guest. The Mad Hatter, too. White Rabbit, Bill the Lizard, and Mock Turtle should be there as well.
Queens County Farm Museum hosts two Alice in Wonderland Tea Parties on Saturday, May 31.
These Victorian-style events will feature freshly baked scones with clotted cream and jam, sandwiches, bite-sized pastries, fruit, lemonade — and a cast of characters from Lewis Carroll’s classic story.
Oh, and various kinds of tea, too.
Prices run from $35 for children (ages 4 to 12) to $55 for adults (ages 13 plus), and the two-hour sessions start at 11:30 am and 4 pm.
The dress code is Victorian Casual, and a prize will be awarded for the most whimsical outfit. Attendees will certainly eat, drink, and cosplay, but the schedule includes a themed scavenger hunt, trivia for adults, and a drawing contest. It’ll take place outdoors if the weather permits.
Published in 1865, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a children’s book full of fantasy, colorful characters, and riddles that people of all ages enjoy. The protagonist (and namesake) falls asleep in a meadow. Thus begins a dreamscape during which she follows White Rabbit down a hole and into a wacky world that includes a baby who becomes a pig, a grinning cat that randomly appears and disappears, a childish queen who orders death sentences for minor offenses, and a hookah-smoking caterpillar.
Alice plays a surreal form of croquet, testifies as a witness in a stolen-tarts trial, and narrowly escapes her own beheading by realizing that all these oddballs are actually from a pack of cards. That’s when she wakes up.
The author, Carroll (1832 – 1898), was a British mathematician, teacher, ordained deacon in the Church of England, and photographer at a time when the art form was just becoming possible. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was his real name, but he adopted a pen name to tell his stories.
With a main entrance at 73-50 Little Neck Pkwy. at the Floral Park-Glen Oaks border, Queens Farm is spread out over 47 acres. In constant use since 1697, it’s the Big Apple’s only working, historical farm with livestock, heavy farm machinery, planting fields, and a vineyard. There’s a large, free parking lot on site.
Photos: Unsplash/JD-Photos