Wednesday, July 23, 2014

A Visit From My Sister in Florida


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Cornus kousa (Korean dogwood) is one of my favorite trees. Can you see why? How about those berries? They will slowly turn reddish pink and will quickly be consumed by birds. I took this picture at Patti's Settlement located in Grand Rivers Kentucky. I love this place and if you are local and have not yet been, there is no time like the present. I had the opportunity to visit Patti's Settlement while my younger sister Joanne was here visiting with her husband, and two granddaughters. They all had a great time. Here are some pictures from our recent visit.
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Patti's Settlement is based on an 1880's town. In it are several stores, a wonderful restaurant (Patti's), several gardens, a small zoo, a playground, and gardens. There were a lot of seating areas scattered around to make enjoying the garden absolutely delightful.
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Here is Samone, Joanne's oldest grandchild and granddaughter. She is standing next to the largest wind chime I have ever seen. It made a really low and echoing sound when 'chimed.' It is easily taller than Samone and she is ever bit of four feet.
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There were flower designs nicely displayed in creative pots. There were also a lot of fruit trees bearing fruit, and lots of hardscaping to make the settlement quite user friendly for all visitors.
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I liked this display of trees due to the variety of color and textures. Wow.
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In addition to visiting Patti's Settlement we also visited the Golden Pond Planetarium and the Woodland Nature Station located at Land Between the Lakes (LBL).   We here in Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky are very lucky to have such a beautiful natural recreation area nearby. Each trip I make to LBL always delights me. Here are Samone and her younger cousin Carmen standing in front of an elk at the small museum located in the Planetarium. Also located at LBL is an Elk and Bison Prairie. This prairie is a 700 acre prairie that is very native and beautiful. I can see my Wildflower Hill becoming like this prairie-with time. There is a large herd of elk and bison who call this prairie their home. The cost is a mere $5 to enter the enclosure where you can loop around the paved road as many times as you'd like looking for the elk and bison. On the day we were there we saw several elk but no bison. 700 acres is a pretty big area so there is no guarantee you will see the animals. Even if you don't be sure to notice all of the natural and native vegetation and beautiful prairie plants visited by birds, rabbits, and all sorts of other wildlife and pollinators. You cannot go wrong with visiting Land Between the Lakes as the cost for all attractions is very low and the return immense. While we visited the Woodland Nature Station we saw a show that allowed us to howl to the coyote on display. Do you know he howled back to us??? It was SO cool! Add to that the fact that the momma and daddy red wolves also began howling along with us and you have a wonderful experience that is also a learning experience for families.
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On the way to the attractions at LBL be sure to stop and explore Stewart County's historic past as the center of the iron industry in the 1800s by stopping by the Great Furnace. The above picture was taken near the Great Furnace and it shows my sister, her husband Gary, and her two granddaughters (Samone on the left and Carmen on the right). Thanks so much for your wonderful visit Joanne! I look forward to more and one of these days I might make it down your way too....

in the garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

6 comments:

  1. Looks like you all had a great time.

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  2. A 700-acre prairie sounds so wonderful; I'd love to visit this! Thanks for all the info, Tina. It seems the only times we're in Kentucky we're driving through the state on our way to somewhere else. But it's close enough that we could make this a weekend getaway. Glad you had a good visit with your sister and family!

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  3. I too love Land Between the Lakes but rarely do I visit. Last time I was there, we did see the bison and enjoyed the day with my parents. So glad you were able to share this wonderful place with your family...

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  4. What a magical place for a family reunion! When I worked at Defenders of Wildlife in the 1980s, I worked on the campaign to protect red wolves. There was some controversy over whether they were a true species.

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  5. More cool places to check out some day. Thanks for sharing your visit. Those chimes are huge! I'll bet the sound was wonderful.

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  6. What an interesting place - something for EVERYone.

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