Anniversary Trip

Thirty four wonderful years ago… but I reminisce. Barbara and I went on our annual anniversary trip. We started out by driving to one of our favorite areas on the Delaware, Pennsylvania border. Our first stop was Winterthur museum and gardens. With our membership to the American Horticultural Society we got in for free, great investment. Anyone who likes gardens should look into joining; the membership gets you into gardens all over the country. We took the tram around the gardens and got off at the Enchanted Woods, a fairy tale garden for children of all ages (someone made a fool of themselves in the birds nest). We also took a short walk from there to the Quarry Garden. Then back up the small hill to catch the next tram to the house. We then walked past the Campbell Collection of Soup Tureens and up the stairs to the reflecting pool garden (this used to be the swimming pool when the Du Pont’s lived here but since has been turned into a reflecting pool). There we saw a frog in amongst the plants. After that we went back to the car and on to our next stop.
When we got to the Brandy Wine River Museum we had a picnic with riparian entertainment (those who watch Keeping Up Appearances will know what I mean). After our picnic we explored the museum. We then left and went to the hotel just down the street to rest up for the exciting evening ahead at Longwood Gardens.
Before going on to Longwood Gardens we had a very nice dinner at Applebee’s. Once at Longwood we walked through the Rose Arbor garden, past the Theatre Garden and down the Flower Garden Walk. After that we went to the outdoor theatre and found our seats for the concert by the Kennett Symphony of Chester County entitled Hooray for Hollywood. The concert was very enjoyable but the evening was not over yet. After the concert we strolled over to the main entrance of the conservatory for the Illuminated Fountain Show. This is one of Barbara’s and mine favorites. I did not have a tripod stand with me so I could not take any pictures this time so I got one from my archives and included it in the album. After the fountain show we went back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.
In the morning after breakfast we went back to Longwood to do some exploring. We decided we would explore the west end of the gardens. We found our way to the Chime Tower just as it was striking 11 o’clock. Then we went around that and down past the fountains for an up-close look at some of the nozzles and lights that where used the night before in the fountain show. It is just amazing to me that all the calculations for all the pipes and pump sizes where done by hand when these fountains where built. We then explored the Idea Garden which is always full of new and interesting plantings. We decided to have lunch before we left for home so we went over to the Terrace Restaurant where we decided to have a sit down meal instead of doing the cafeteria style, it cost a little more but it was our anniversary after all. For a map of Longwood Gardens see map at this address: http://longwoodgardens.org/docs/MapOutdoor2009.pdf
All in all we had a wonderful anniversary weekend trip.