Anna Maria Locke

Chihuly at Meijer Gardens

AnnaComment
The other day I realized that I never shared the most gorgeous pictures from my little Michigan trip last month.
Ben and I took a daytrip to Grand Rapids on a hot and muggy day to visit the Frederik Meijer Gardens, an enormous botanical and sculpture garden. 

This summer there was a special exhibit featuring Dale Chihuly, an incredibly talented glass artist.
Chihuly specializes in blown glass sculptures that have an organic look and feel to them, like some sort of freaky flower or creature you might unexpectedly come across in nature.
The exhibit was breathtaking. You would be wandering around the expansive gardens and lawns and turn the corner to find another exhibit of technicolor glass. It was so cool!
 
[each swirl is a separate piece, numbered and mounted on a metal frame]
Oh, and the actual flowers and botanical part of the gardens is equally gorgeous.

They even have a "carnivorous plant" exhibit! The biology nerd in me was super excited, but it is basically just a little room filled with pitcher plants.
 
A couple of my favorite sculptures...
"The American Horse"
enormous
The alphabet people 

And I think Ben's (and maybe my) favorite part of the whole place was the Children's Garden. ;)
It has a special secret entrance....
A flowing model of the Great Lakes system

and wooden boardwalks and treehouses in the forest.


Overall, I would definitely recommend a trip to Meijer Gardens if you are ever in the Grand Rapids vicinity. They have different seasonal exhibits and even concerts in an outdoor amphitheater. It's definitely one of those places where you can wander around all day and feel like you are in a different enchanted world.