I've been waiting impatiently to get to the famous botanical garden before the summer season is over. No matter how well done, an autumn and winter garden are just not as good as a spring and summer one. First, though, we had to buy something to sit on. Due to the wedding boxes we drug from Arizona to Austin, we had to leave behind the easy chairs we normally travel with. We buzzed over lots of Richmond following up on thrift stores and Craigslist items. In two days we managed to buy two easy chairs - Drake actually got a great leather recliner - as well as a table and chairs, a six foot bookcase (there are no drawers or shelves in this apartment), two chests of drawers; mine is missing the bottom drawer, but for $10 it was a bargain, and I just consider the open area to be shoe storage. We acquired all of this is two days for under $200. Since it's all going to be resold or donated in December, it doesn't pay to go upscale.
Then we had to go get our health club settled. This one is swank, swank, swank. It's gorgeous, new and reasonable. Boy, are we going to be spoiled when we leave here. They provide all the towels, both work-out and bath towels. There are hairdryers and air diffusers (cool air blows on you) in front of the individual lighted makeup stations). There is an indoor salt water lap pool, an exercise pool and a spa. There's another pool and health food restaurant on top of the building, and the parking is covered. All the exercise equipment is the latest,and there's a large selection of classes included in the price. It's less than 10 minutes from the apartment. Of course, now I have to go exercise. There's always a fly in the ointment, isn't there?
Yesterday, perfect weather day incidentally, we headed for the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden a highly touted 'must see' United States garden. Ginter was a wheeler dealer of the 19th century who made and lost four fortunes in his lifetime. The last fortune was made in real estate as he developed the first Richmond suburb. The property where the garden is located was purchased by him to be used by Richmond bicyclers in pursuing the new bicycling craze that was sweeping the country in the 1890s. (Bicycling did more to modify the heavy, unwieldy women's clothes of the 19th century than the previous 100 years of clothing reform.) After his death, Ginter's niece, Grace Arents, purchased the bicycling property with the clubhouse and founded a convalescent home for sick children along with her companion, Mary Garland Smith. ("Companion" is exactly how the brochure describes her!) Grace died in 1926 leaving life rights to Mary of the property and the stipulation upon Mary's death, Richmond would turn the property into a botanical garden and name it after her Uncle Lewis. Well, Mary lived to be 102! She didn't die until 1968. The property was pretty much abandoned, and languished until in 1981 when a group of committed horticulturists and botanists got the botanical garden off the ground. In about 30 years the City of Richmond has managed to sponsor the creation of a nationally famous botanical garden thanks to this group of citizens.
It's not very big when compared to Montreal's garden, but each area is exquisite. There are also 14 buildings - gazebos, and the like, scattered throughout the property with numerous benches and places to simply sit and contemplate the beauty of this place. There's an imposing glass conservatory with a dome sitting in a lawn area used for concerts. As always, the pictures tell the story.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/115478608971584948192/albums/5920903614294834001?authkey=CIjS6J-CvK-DwgE
