Friday, July 10, 2009

Inniswood Metro Gardens - Blendon Woods

Monday was one of those days where we changed plans about 398099087283 times. I originally suggested going up to Lake Erie. Then the plan got changed to Mohican State Park. Then it was changed to Hocking Hills State Park, specifically, Old Man's Cave. Then we just decided to do a local park instead.

So we went to Inniswood Metro Gardens in the Columbus suburb of Westerville. I have never been there before, and that makes me sad, because it's really gorgeous. We had a picnic lunch first in the small picnic area (there are only about 5 tables or so) and then we walked through all the gardens, except for the rock garden (which is the one I primarily wanted to see), because it was closed for maintenance. Must be sure to go back.

I would love to see how these gardens change with the seasons.

We followed this with a short trip to Blendon Woods Metro Park, since it was close by. I hadn't been to that park in years. We didn't see much there. We went to the observation shelters by the wetlands, but there was nothing to see. I remember it being a much nicer park than it was this time around.

Inniswood was definitely the highlight of the day.

Click here for photos.

For more information:

Inniswood website
Blendon Woods

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Franklin Park Conservatory - Chihuly Reimagined

I've been in Ohio since last week, visiting family. This past Thursday, we decided to go to Franklin Park Conservatory. My mom always wanted to see their Blooms & Butterflies exhibit, and I knew that they had some of Dale Chihuly's glass art on display there as well. I've become quite a Chihuly fan, especially since he's from Tacoma and I was exposed to his work at the Museum of Glass.

Their new exhibition - Chihuly Reimagined - debuted on July 4th, but even though we were there 2 days earlier, we still got to see everything up close. It's truly an amazing exhibition. The glass pieces fit in wonderfully with all the plants.

This is definitely worth a visit.

Again, I feel that this is a place more worthy of pictures than words, so I'll let the pictures do the talking now.

Click here for the Franklin Park Conservatory website

Click here for pictures.