After an uneventful five-hour trip, we got to Mom and Marc’s house. Aunt Linda and Uncle Kenny were there, and so we had a good visit together that was quite fun. Mer and I finally got to give Mom and Marc a couple of small art presents we got them last time we were in Amish country, back in January. Mom had lots of good food kicking around, most notably strawberry shortcake, made Maine-style (building it on a biscuit instead of shortcake). It was quite tasty.
Kenny and Linda left before we were up and around on Sunday. Mer had brought along a tourism book about Michigan with the plan of seeing sights, so that is what we planned on doing. We took it easy and visited with Mom and Marc some, and so we did not get out the door until about 12:00. Our first stop was Fernwood Botanical Gardens, which is about fifteen miles south of Bridgman, where Mom and Marc live.
Mer and I had a great time at the Chicago Botanical Gardens last summer, and so we were looking forward to Fernwood. Happily, Fernwood did not disappoint. It was much much smaller than Chicago’s, but that was okay, as we were able to do the entire garden in about three hours. It was especially fun in that it was the opening weekend for ten sculptures that were set up around the grounds. I am very fond of sculpture, and so that was a fun addition to the grounds. Jumping ahead of myself, we did see all ten, and I liked two of the sculptures very much, and the rest were okay.
The gardens were pretty, and we got to see the reception of a very cultural wedding of people from Africa (I’m not sure where). They had ethnic robes that were very pretty, and not much English was spoken. The gardens did make for a great wedding site.
As for the gardens themselves, they were very pleasant. Most of the flowers were past blooming, but everything was very green and well cared-for. There was a model train garden that had replicas of famous buildings from around the U.S. and the rest of the world, with three working model trains. There was a Japanese garden with raked stone and “islands” of plants in the middle. There was a very cool water wheel near some falls of a small stream. There was an herb garden that was very fragrant. It was well done.
The botanical gardens also included larger grounds that had paths through them. So, we walked around the perimeter trails of the woods. That included walking down to the very pretty St. Joseph River, and the long climb back up again to a reproduction five-acre prairie. The only slight marring of the day was that the gardens are near a motor-cross track, and the dirt bike engines could be heard most of the time, especially down by the river.
After we got back to the car, we had a pretty drive over to Tabor Hill Winery. While neither of us drinks wine, it is pretty country, and they give free tours of the winery. It was interesting to see all that goes into making wine, including a small room with historical wine-making tools. We skipped the wine tasting, but were a bit tempted by the ridiculously overpriced chocolate.
We then headed back to Mom and Marc’s, where we ate supper (Marc’s burgers are excellent). Mom and Marc had previous dinner plans, so we ate supper while they got ready. I then had a bit of a rest (and more dessert), such that I overcame my original tired stodginess and agreed to go to see a concert band perform up in St. Joseph – a town about twenth-five minutes north of Mom and Marc’s.
The day was very pretty, and we actually found parking. I had been afraid of a hot sun beating down on me, but it was almost 7:30 by the time we found the concert (after some wandering around), so the edge of the heat of the day was done. We missed about half the concert, but the half we did catch was enjoyable. It was probably a fifty-piece band, and they did show tunes, and songs, and a few pieces specifically written for concert band.
After the concert, we wandered down to the beach (which at St. Joe’s really is down – there is a steep bluff you take stairs down). We waded in the water, and then watched people play in the nearby enormous fountain that includes shooting off water canons every fifteen minutes or so. Next to the fountain is a carousel. That seemed festive, so we rode that twice, the second time both getting to ride giant cats (a leopard and a tiger). It seemed all-American.
Once we got out of the indoor carousel, we were able to see that the day was ending with a great sunset. We sat on the beach and watched the sun go down, and then we headed back to Mom’s, getting home about 10:30 or so. It was a good tourist day – a good mixture of seeing sights while not getting all worn out.
