Visiting an old friend 10/25/2016

500+ mum flowers all from 1 plant, and on 1 stem!

Whenever we're in the neighborhood (within 50-100 miles), we take the opportunity to stop in to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA (just north of Wilmington, DE). Every season, every year is different and a sensory treat. This year, we had looked forward to seeing a somewhat revised version of a nighttime light and sound show here that we had seen twice last year. Unfortunately, we discovered that the light show was only offered from Wednesday through Sunday, and we were visiting on Monday. But this was the start of Longwood's Chrysanthemum Festival in the conservatories, and we had never seen that, so we went anyway. Wow! More than 17,000 chrysanthemum plants were grown into ball, spiral, column, and pagoda shapes, and other forms as well. The amazing thing is that these forms are all trained from single stems! Longwood has one of the oldest chrysanthemum collections in North America, consisting of 230 different types. Since we were there early in the festival run, many of the plants were not in full bloom, and the 1000 + bloom chrysanthemum (on 1 stem in ball form) had not yet been put in place. It was going to be delivered from the greenhouse on the next day.

While in the Conservatories, we stopped in to see the fabulous Orchid Room, the Acacia Passageway, the fern wall room and the Chrysanthemum Bonsai (you have to see them to believe them).

One Chrysanthemum plant  that has been wrapped around a column. We were told it would be in full bloom within a week or 2.

Outside, we took a few hours to stroll among the trees, which are for us some of the most interesting features of Longwood Gardens, home to many National

and State Champion trees (the largest of their species). It is such a blessing to be able to walk among these perfect giants in the quiet of such a beautiful setting.

More photos here: https://goo.gl/photos/Vqj8g5bCyN5kVFm29

Minnewaska State Park 10/25/2016

Although the day was blustery and threatening to rain, we headed to Minnewaska State Park in the Shawangunk Range of the Catskills, with the goal of hiking to Sam's Point and the Ice Caves. Sam's Point is an overlook of thOn this day, the mountains were in peak fall color, and gave a spectacular display. From Sam's Point, we continued on up Ice Cave Road to the Ice Cave Trail. we had done this trail a few years ago and toroughly enjoyed it. This time, the road was lined with blueberry bushes in bright red fall foliage. In April of this year, there had been a 2000 acre fire that destroyed much of the tree cover here.. But the fire allowed the blueberries to thrive in the increased sunshine, resulting in carpets of red on both sides of the road. Gorgeous! The ice caves trail is an easy hike that takes you through a rock fall that created caves along the side of the mountain. Although the trail is very narrow and steep in places, it is a fun walk.

Here are some more pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/AAHS8Bgopr2P6SHt8

NY--Walk across the Hudson and Storm King 10/25/2016

I'm so glad we decided to come back north in October. By the time we got here, all the foliage was at

View from the Walkway: The Mid-Hudson Bridge

peak color, providing us the experience we would never have had this year if we had stayed home.
Since we had never done the walk across the Hudson, we headed there first. The Walk across the Hudson is a former railroad bridge that has been converted to a walking/biking trail. The bridge runs between Highland and Poughkeepsie NY and offers fabulous views north and south. Another day in the 70s made for a delightful stroll.

Pictures are here: https://goo.gl/photos/vXYDm33DEBYaX4Xu9

Alternative Landscape Components

We then headed over to Storm King Art Center, an open air museum in Mountainville, NY. It purportedly has the largest collection of contemporary outdoor sculptures in the US. It is about an hour drive north of NYC and sits on 500 acres. The sculptures are situated in locations all around the landscape: some in the woods, some on hills, some in open grassy areas, and all situated exactly per the artist's wishes. Although the landscape looks natural, each installation was carefully crafted according to the wishes of each artist. Truthfully, my taste and understanding of art had me scratching my head at some of the works. One of those was a piece called "Alternative Landscape Components", trees, rocks, and bushes made of plastic pipes, and steel drums.

In the visitor center, we experienced the Dennis Oppenheim exhibition "Terrestrial Studio", which included a piece called "Two Jumps for Dead Dog Creek", an installation of 2 x 4s and sand

Two Jumps...

imprinted with footprints. I may be obtuse, but this does not compute as art, unless art is whatever the artist says it is. Hey, at the MOMA in NYC, we saw the iconic blank framed canvas. Brilliant art, or big joke? In another room of the center museum, a video screen showed a video recording of Mr. Oppenheim walking in the woods and attaching sticks and brush to his body. Title of the piece was "Toward Becoming a Scarecrow". Yaaaaaaaaaawwwn.

But many other works were interesting. "Sea Change", 2 curving stainless steel poles that turn slowly in opposite directions, was mesmerizing. Another work, (title unknown) was composed of 3 giant frames mounted on 10-12 foot high poles. When you lie on the ground under each piece, the sky is the framed piece of art.

There are so many monumental sculptures, it's hard to see them all as you wander throughout the Storm King property. It's definitely worth a visit.

There are more pictures here: https://goo.gl/photos/3zP1ckEh6QWojphCA

Short trip north--Smokies 10/25/2016

We left Florida on the 10th on a little jaunt north to see family and friends, and get a taste of autumn. Mission accomplished! Our first stop was Smoky Mountain National Park. While the park was not at peak for autumn color, it was beautiful as usual. Mountain ash had lost their leaves and were sporting large clusters of bright red berries. The skies were bright blue and temps were in the 70s, and the hiking was fabulous. We walked up Clingman's Dome and then took the hike to Andrews Bald, the highest grassy bald in Smoky Mountain National Park, and a ridge that offers amazing views of the mountains. We stayed in a campground in Pigeon Forge, TN. Pigeon Forge, like Gatlinburg is a succession of dinner theaters, restaurants, gas stations, and every national chain establishment ever established. (It is also the home of Dollywood, and is Dolly Parton's home town.) Driving down the main drag in town, you pass, in rapid succession, Wonderworks, The Titanic Museum, Hatfields and McCoys show, Hollywood Wax Museum, Dixie Stampede, Biblical Times, etc. etc...

Love the mountains, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg--not so much. Traffic is horrendous.

Here are some photos we took on our visit there.