The story was classic Dutch, one of life in the lowlands of northwest Europe fraught with epic floods and maritime might that tested the mettle of a proud, no-nonsense people (tall people, too) who liked to profess that God may have created the world, but it was up to the Dutch to create Holland.
Like any good story, fact and fiction were inextricably woven into a charming, storybook tale.
It was indeed a colorful picture despite the chilly, gray spring day. The mostly authentic homes and shops (close to 130 in all) brought in from harbor towns up and down the coast of Zuider Zee offered a charming slice of Dutch life at the turn of the 20th century.