Midsummer

It’s midsummer and the waterparks, beach and pool are no longer contenders for your activity list. You may be feeling your fill of packing up a beach bag with snacks, suntan lotion, a bathing suit and towel, and heading down the shore or to a nearby pool week after week.

What’s Next? Well if you love the seasons’ display of awesome flowers, gardens, and greenhouses, maybe a trip to a flower garden, a park or botanical garden could be a wonderful way to see what’s blooming.

Recently, I met up with a cousin I haven’t seen in many years and we found a meeting place between both of our residences. We choose Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The history of Pierre S. du Pont’s creation of Longwood Gardens began in the early 1900’s. We discovered we both share a love of gardening, shopping, thrifting and dining. This particular location proved to be a welcoming stop to have our reunion as it checked most of our desired boxes for our short stay.

The day we choose was warmer than usual proving to be wonderful to just wander along forestal paths lined with tall shade trees and lovely wildflower garden patches with inviting benches. We were offered the best opportunity to piece our memories together and reminisce on the lovely city garden our Grandmother kept 50+ years ago.

Time stood still as we weaved and meandered our way through gorgeous greenhouses, mature and manicured gardens while witnessing the spectacular blooms which acted as a soothing and cooling balm to the hot summer sun above.

We treated ourselves to a scrumptious late lunch at the fine dining restaurant tucked away amongst the lush grounds, giving us more time to lavish in our life accomplishments and travel log over the past 2 decades.  We found our way to the inviting gift shop and perused the well stocked plant shop with many unusual floral specimens for home planting.

It was so enriching to give ourselves this gift of spending a day lingering in a wonderland filled with flora, fauna and history, before heading back to our hotel to refresh and check out the small town of Kennett Square.

How do you create sanctuary in your summer days? Do you have a special garden plot that you tend to? Maybe its merely a corner of your room where you have house plants filling the air with oxygen gifting you a cleansing breath.  Where ever you find solace Mother Earth gives us the wonder of living beauty. Enjoy the journey! August 2024.