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A Saturday in Autumn
Sun, Oct. 19th, 2003 01:05 pmYesterday was a mild, sunny, crisp fall day, and so rather than staying inside, the Boyfriend and I took advantage of the weather to take in the loveliness of the area while we could.
A world under glass
Our first stop was Volunteer Park (a Frank Law Olmstead gem) to enjoy the foliage (which hasn't really started turning there yet) and The Conservatory, a fabulous greenhouse, home to exotic plants of all kinds and open year round. (At the Volunteer Park link above, you'll find a slide show and will be able to see some of the beautiful flowers on view.) I love the Conservatory. Its exhibits change year 'round, and one of my favorite things to do is to go when the daffodils are blooming, January through March. Yesterday we spent quite a bit of time in the Succulents Room, admiring the myriad desert plants there. After our stroll, we had some lunch then hit the road.
Children of the (Stunted) Corn
We drove out to Redmond to the South 47 Farm to indulge a desire I've had since last year: to navigate a corn maze. The drive out was pleasant with the weather so clear, and the farm itself is on a main drag through Redmond, so it was an easy trip. When we arrived, we discovered--much to our dismay--that the entire corn maze was no more than 3-4 feet tall and rather weedy, a result of the summer drought (which was why they were calling the maze The 50 Year Drought Maze--see an aerial photo of the design here). We decided to grab maps, go forth and navigate it anyway since we both could use the exercize, and since it featured a sort of trivia quiz over its course. Some of the signs with questions on them included hole punches, and visitors who completed the maze and found all the hole punches (with which to punch holes in the map) received a miniature pumpkin. That was it: we were off! We did it in about an hour, and had quite a bit of fun, especially trying to point kids in the right direction--since for them, it was still a tall, scary maze.
When we finished, we got our little pumpkins--they were white, and the proprietors were calling them Ghost Pumpkins--and I discovered that the farm also offered a cut-your-own flower garden. I grabbed a bucket and came back with a bouquet of dahlias, zinnias and sunflowers that now graces my kitchen table. They also had a pick-your-own pumpkin area, a place where you could dig your own potatoes (something I've done once, but wasn't up to yesterday), a cut-your-own herb garden, and a petting area where kids could see ducks and miniature goats.
We ended the day by coming back to my place, having dinner and watching an old favorite movie of mine, Bell Book and Candle, with Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart. All in all, a perfectly lovely day.
A world under glass
Our first stop was Volunteer Park (a Frank Law Olmstead gem) to enjoy the foliage (which hasn't really started turning there yet) and The Conservatory, a fabulous greenhouse, home to exotic plants of all kinds and open year round. (At the Volunteer Park link above, you'll find a slide show and will be able to see some of the beautiful flowers on view.) I love the Conservatory. Its exhibits change year 'round, and one of my favorite things to do is to go when the daffodils are blooming, January through March. Yesterday we spent quite a bit of time in the Succulents Room, admiring the myriad desert plants there. After our stroll, we had some lunch then hit the road.
Children of the (Stunted) Corn
We drove out to Redmond to the South 47 Farm to indulge a desire I've had since last year: to navigate a corn maze. The drive out was pleasant with the weather so clear, and the farm itself is on a main drag through Redmond, so it was an easy trip. When we arrived, we discovered--much to our dismay--that the entire corn maze was no more than 3-4 feet tall and rather weedy, a result of the summer drought (which was why they were calling the maze The 50 Year Drought Maze--see an aerial photo of the design here). We decided to grab maps, go forth and navigate it anyway since we both could use the exercize, and since it featured a sort of trivia quiz over its course. Some of the signs with questions on them included hole punches, and visitors who completed the maze and found all the hole punches (with which to punch holes in the map) received a miniature pumpkin. That was it: we were off! We did it in about an hour, and had quite a bit of fun, especially trying to point kids in the right direction--since for them, it was still a tall, scary maze.
When we finished, we got our little pumpkins--they were white, and the proprietors were calling them Ghost Pumpkins--and I discovered that the farm also offered a cut-your-own flower garden. I grabbed a bucket and came back with a bouquet of dahlias, zinnias and sunflowers that now graces my kitchen table. They also had a pick-your-own pumpkin area, a place where you could dig your own potatoes (something I've done once, but wasn't up to yesterday), a cut-your-own herb garden, and a petting area where kids could see ducks and miniature goats.
We ended the day by coming back to my place, having dinner and watching an old favorite movie of mine, Bell Book and Candle, with Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart. All in all, a perfectly lovely day.
