Wherein I sing the praises of Longwood Gardens
We had our field trip to Longwood Gardens today. The weather was perfect. Breezy, partly cloudy, and not hot and humid. At least two groups of my students received compliments from random old people (it was Senior Day today) for their good behavior. I couldn't help but notice how well-behaved our students were compared with the kids from another school that was there today. Those kids were running around and wading in the water (big NONO according to the rules).
We're going back on Saturday to see Gaelic Storm in the evening, but I plan on getting there a few hours earlier so I can do all the artsy shots that I wanted to do today but couldn't.
This is inside the main conservatory. Holy crap, I'm in love with this place. That's water in the middle.
There's a water lily area in an outside courtyard next to the above pictured area.
There's a bell tower and a waterfall. I would be happy hanging out there everyday.
This is the Century Plant. The flower spike has been growing at the rate of 5-6 inches PER DAY. It grew so tall and quickly they had to remove the glass panes in the roof above it. They expect it to bloom any day now. I'm hoping it's in bloom when we're there on Saturday for the Gaelic Storm concert. I'm very curious to see what the flowers look like. It's in the Silver Garden with all the cacti, so I'm guessing it is a type of cactus.
We ended our day with a fountain show. I think the Gaelic Storm show on Saturday night will end with a colored lights fountain show. At least that's what I think I read.
I've decided that I need to visit Longwood several times during the summer. It's only 20 minutes away and I could easily spend an entire day there just wandering around. It's incredibly peaceful and the grounds are so big that oodles of people could be there and you would never know. Very rarely did we encounter our students as the other teacher and I wandered around today. If you're ever in the area, you really should check it out.
We're going back on Saturday to see Gaelic Storm in the evening, but I plan on getting there a few hours earlier so I can do all the artsy shots that I wanted to do today but couldn't.
This is inside the main conservatory. Holy crap, I'm in love with this place. That's water in the middle.
There's a water lily area in an outside courtyard next to the above pictured area.
There's a bell tower and a waterfall. I would be happy hanging out there everyday.
This is the Century Plant. The flower spike has been growing at the rate of 5-6 inches PER DAY. It grew so tall and quickly they had to remove the glass panes in the roof above it. They expect it to bloom any day now. I'm hoping it's in bloom when we're there on Saturday for the Gaelic Storm concert. I'm very curious to see what the flowers look like. It's in the Silver Garden with all the cacti, so I'm guessing it is a type of cactus.
We ended our day with a fountain show. I think the Gaelic Storm show on Saturday night will end with a colored lights fountain show. At least that's what I think I read.
I've decided that I need to visit Longwood several times during the summer. It's only 20 minutes away and I could easily spend an entire day there just wandering around. It's incredibly peaceful and the grounds are so big that oodles of people could be there and you would never know. Very rarely did we encounter our students as the other teacher and I wandered around today. If you're ever in the area, you really should check it out.