Charlotte in New York (7 page)

Half-fill a shallow box with sand. Set rows of empty eggshells close together in the sand, each shell cut off at one end, wita a drainage hole at the bottom. Fill the shells with clean earth and sow a poppy seed in each. Keep damp and place in a sunny window. When seedlings are ready to plant in spring, gently remove the shell from the earth so as not to disturb the roots. Plant in the ground and water.

August 17, 1894

Appledore Island
The Isles of Shoals

Today at the ledges, Papa introduced me to Mr. J. Appleton Brown. He comes every summer to give painting lessons to Mrs. Thaxter. Papa says everybody calls him “Appleblossom Brown” because he likes to paint apple orchards. I wonder if I'll have a nickname one day for what I like to paint best.

He was making a watercolor, and Papa and I set up our easels. I squeezed the colors of Appledore onto my palette:

Tonight we're having a clambake on Smuttynose Island. Lizzy and I will find driftwood for the fire. Seaweed, too, for steaming lobsters and clams. I heard everybody is coming—they're bringing out the whaleboats to ferry people across the channel. But we'll sail out in our little boat, the Skimmer. Papa is down in the cove getting her ready. I'd better hurry! He wants to leave on the tide.

September 7, 1894

24 Fifth Avenue
New York

Papa and Mr. Foster are so excited about the paintings they made in Appledore that we all rushed back to New York so they could include them in the exhibition. I don't mind a bit—the circus is in town! This morning, Raymonde took Lizzy and me to Madison Square to see the parade, and what a parade it was! “Four hundred horses, twenty elephants and one thousand performers,” a policeman next to us shouted over the brass band, “nothing like it anywhere else in the world.” When it was over, the parade marched into Madison Square Garden and disappeared.

Madison Square Garden

Tonight we went to the performance. The policeman was right! I've never seen such a big circus—three rings, two stages and a ceiling full of acrobats, all going on at once! I didn't know which way to look. Raymonde said, “C'est formidable!”—that's terrific!—over and over again. And it
was.

I even found something at the circus for Monsieur Monet—a new American candy called Good and Plenty. It's delicious, and he won't find it in Paris!

October 10, 1894

24 Fifth Avenue
New York

Tonight was the exhibition. It was a big success! Lots of paintings sold, including Papa's paintings from Brittany and Appledore. Monsieur Durand-Ruel looked very pleased, and he invited everybody to dinner at Delmonico's afterward. Mama was excited because President Cleveland was there. Lizzy and I didn't care about him—the famous reporter Miss Nellie Bly was at the next table. She took a trip around the world in just seventy-two days, the fastest time ever—a world record! She traveled by ship, train, horse, rickshaw, tugboat, sampan and donkey. I have the “Around the World with Nellie Bly” board game.

Monsieur Durand-Ruel ordered oysters and champagne for the table. Mr. Hassam made a toast to “Our art and our travels!” And Mr. Louis Sonntag raised his glass to “the great city of New York and all who paint her!” Everybody cheered and clinked glasses. Mr. Prendergast told us that when Mr. Sonntag was only thirteen, he made a painting of the Brooklyn Bridge, and it was exhibited at the National Academy of Design.

I drank my champagne but gave my oysters to Hippolyte. After that, we had “lobster à la Newburg.” And, for dessert, “baked Alaska.” “La spécialité de la maison!”—the specialty of the house—said Monsieur Durand-Ruel. And no wonder, with yummy ice cream and sponge cake on the inside and flaming meringue on the outside. While Mr. and Mrs. Havemeyer were busy talking, Electra ordered three more for our end of the table!

When we got home, Papa and Mama stayed up late talking. I tried to stay awake so I could hear what they were saying. But I couldn't, and when I came to breakfast there was a painting of me sound asleep in the parlor. Papa must have stayed up all night to paint that. No wonder he's still asleep!

Thanksgiving Day, 1894

24 Fifth Avenue, New York

For days, Raymonde has talked of nothing but “dindon,” “patates” and “tarte à la citrouille.”