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Thursday, September 19, 2013

Vacation comes to an end...

For our last day of vacation we stayed quite close to home.  We went to the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids.  We've been here numerous times, but always enjoy it, plus they are always adding something new.  The Gardens and trails cover almost 100 acres and the sculpture park on its own is 30 acres.  It's listed s one of the 30 must see Museums in the world.   If you are ever in the area, you need to check it out!


Here's the view as you walk up to the building.  It's gorgeous before you even get to the actual gardens.

 

I learned something new on this visit.  These concrete beams go through the whole building, and I just found out they are shaped to represent trees, which is quite fitting. I never paid much attention to them before.

 

They are decorating for Fall and it looks great.

 

There are some fun things to look at inside, as well as special exhibits, but the best is outside.  We loved looking at the berries and leaves on the plants.

 

The birds were very busy that day.

 

There are lots of different gardens there - woodlands, bog, childrens and this farm garden.  All of the gardens have pieces of art placed in them and I thought this was a pretty cute one.

 

The Grand Rapids arch.

 

 An entrance to one of the sculpture areas.



This is one of the better known sculptures - the American horse, modeled after a Da Vinci work.  It's 24 feet tall.

 

Here's a few more sculptures.  There is such a range of style, there's something for everyone.

 

I love the waterfalls they have. 

 

This is one of the new sculptures.  It represents a neuron and it looked quite pretty in the sunlight!

And that ended our outings for the week. Vacation is wonderful, but we're blessed with our jobs as well.

13 comments:

Susan said...

Looked lovely and peaceful. I found it interesting that some of the displays were in such an open, country like setting.

Kim said...

I am embarrassed to admit that I have never walked around the outside gardens before. We have our work holiday gathering there every year, so I have seen the huge display of Christmas trees representing a big variety of countries, etc. However, after looking at your pictures, I have been reminded to take in this beautiful setting, that is so close to home!

Nancy said...

What a beautiful ending to a wonderful week together...These gardens really hold some amazing sculptures. I love the idea of the steel beams shaped like trees....

Jennifer Hays said...

I've read elsewhere about this place and I would really like to visit someday. I appreciate seeing your photos. It looks gorgeous and I especially like the pumpkins and fall flowers they have. I like the statues too; my daughter loves pigs and she would like to have one of those pigs in our yard! :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing this visit. Looks like a fabulous place to spend the day - so much to see.

Have a good weekend.

Jenny said...

I love museums and this one looks like a very special one indeed. The sculptures are wonderful. I'd love to take pictures of that American horse one! So big!

Rebecca said...

I've been there once - quite long ago...At that time, I was introduced to Chihuly (I think that's how you spell it) the famous glass blower. I was "blown" away by his work that was on display at the time.

We must get back there. It IS an amazing place.

Kim said...

The Gardens have been on my "want to see" list for years. Despite being in the area multiple times, we've never had time to go. Maybe one of these years :)

Hootin Anni said...

Yep, you got that right....jobs are important too.

Love this trip through the art works and the architecture of the building made of concrete trees. Amazing.

Now, I don't know...I'm sure it's not pertaining to your sculpture gardens, but I read somewhere that all the civil war sculptures around USA if the horse has one foot raised up, the soldier/general was wounded, the horse having all four feet on the 'ground' the soldier/general survived with no wounds....and if there are TWO feet raised on the horse sculpture they died in action. Or something like that.

None the less...I LOVED your tour of the gardens!!

Linda said...

Beautiful!!! So sorry your vacation had to come to an end. Glad you had fun though. Blessings

Betsy Brock said...

That is a very impressive place! I can see why you've been there often....

Would the Meijers be the Meijers of the food/retail chain?

Terri D said...

What a beautiful place!! How wonderful that it is maintained so meticulously, and I love that they have included sculpture throughout!

LL Cool Joe said...

Love, love the sculptures. It looks an amazing place. I'd love to visit.