Last week, Bob and I went to Frederik Meijer Garden and Sculpture Park. Our daughter and SIL gave us a membership again this year and it's so nice to be able to enjoy different events they have going on, even when the garden section is under snow.
Every year they have a butterfly show in the 5 story, 15,000 square foot conservatory. It's the largest tropical butterfly exhibit in the United States. There are over 60 species of butterflies exhibited from Africa, Asia, Central and South America.
This one is set outside the building and is a fun one. You can see different faces on it, depending on the angle you are looking at it from.
Here's the conservatory from the outside.
Can you see those spots of brilliant blue? Those are our favorite butterflies; the Common Morpho from South America. They are so beautiful!
When you leave the conservatory, you have to go through an air lock and check to be sure no butterflies are sneaking out on your clothes or bags.
This glass sculpture in on the ceiling in the cafe is by Dale Chihuly who is known for his blown glass sculpture.
We had a great time and both of us remarked about the beauty God has given us in His creation; from the mountains, canyons, trees, to the tiny things like flowers and butterflies of all colors!
Butterflies also remind us that just like the butterfly is completely changed when it emerges from the cocoon, we are also changed when we accept Christ!
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" 2 Cor. 5:17
24 comments:
Hi Mari! What a great gift from your daughter and SIL to be able to spend time in such an interesting and beautiful place enjoying God's creations. Great pictures! I hope you have a good week. See you again soon!
You are SO lucky to live close to this place. All the gorgeous flowers, sculptures and butterflies. I would practically love there if it was near me! I DO see the faces in the first sculpture, that is so cool! And the sandwich looks delicious. I love Chihuly, and was able to see one of his exhibits.
The bronze sculptures are all looking fine art with class
Wow, breathtakingly beautiful. I had wondered about that---leaving without any butterflies on you, smiles.
How lovely! You have membership there and can go whenever you like?I would go every day! God bless.
If I had a bucket list and the ability to follow it, this would be at the top of my list. would love to see that conservatory and the statues are amazing, I do love sculptures and this is a perfect gift, the membership..
Love the butterflies and the sculptures, too!
Our sun gave us a membership in a castle garden nearby for Christmas. It is a nice present so is yours. I love butterflies farm and we have one on the coast ( I also love the blue ones so beautiful!) glad you had a nice day out. The sandwich looks…SO good!
The statue is unusual and nice.
What a neat place! I’d love to sit and stare at that one sculpture and count how many faces I could find. Very cool.
We have a butterfly garden here but it’s not as big. I haven’t been to it in awhile. Back when I had my daycare, I would order those butterfly kits in the spring. The children always enjoyed watching the cocoon and then when it was time to release, I had some who cried.
I’d love to live near a place like that. It has so much to see there.
That was incredible - the building is made all of glass - awesome. So did they give you some sugar water to spray on your arm to have the butterflies come to you? The flowers - that red is so pretty.
What a delightful gift. The butterflies are amazing and the butterflies emerging from the cocoons would have me standing there all day.
Love Chihuly and his work. Lovely colors too. and oh boy that sandwich looks so yummy.
It sounds like the perfect day for you and your hubby.
Yes, we are all new creations in Christ.
Sue
What an amazing place! I think I would visit often to get a flower, butterfly and art fix. Perfect especially this time of year waiting for real Spring to show up! Lol And looks like a tasty lunch too. God is so good and a master artist for sure! And such a perfect analogy of how we are changed and made new in Him. Love that!
What a lovely post, Mari. I enjoyed all of the pictures immensely. Isn't it neat to go into a conservatory of butterflies? Our daughter and SIL took us to Longwood Gardens in PA one spring and we loved the area where the butterflies were!
The glass sculpture on the ceiling of the cafe is amazing! Handblown glass is becoming a loss art these days and those colors are so beautiful together...and so intricate.
What a wonderful gift to a very charming spot! I love the butterflies and your photos are fantastic! The flowers are so pretty, too. Such a great place to visit. The cafe looks like a great place for lunch too.
What a lovely way to spend a day.
Cathy
What a wonderful place to visit. Beautiful.
We have a butterfly house at our local museum but it is not nearly as big as that. It's always a magic place to visit though. I haven't been for a long time, maybe it's time for another visit.
My sister and I took my mom there once. We loved the butterflies too! Wish we lived closer though to visit more often. It was quite a ride for us, but a special one. What a wonderful gift your daughter gave you. Janice
I am late getting to posts but LOVED seeing this beautiful conservatory! The butterflies are so pretty. The sculptures are fun and Chihuly is amazing. We had an exhibition of his work at the museum where I worked. The Orlando Art Museum had some and so did St. Pete. It was advertised to visit all three installations. Good stuff!! Thanks for sharing and that sandwich looks so good!
What a beautiful place! I enjoyed seeing the butterflies and that orchid is gorgeous.
What a wonderful place to visit.
I enjoyed seeing the sculptures and the beautiful butterflies.
Your lunch looks good too!
Wishing you a happy new month of April ... the year seems to be passing by so quickly!
All the best Jan
Oh goodness...I would love this place. Sam and I went to a place similar to this when we were in Canada. I enjoyed every minute of it. And the sculptures are so neat. This looks like a very good sandwich...it's so fun to do things like this and I'm glad you all had this opportunity...Happy almost April.
What a lovely place!! Reminds me of our sister trip to Hershey Gardens a few years ago. They have a butterfly area too.
That sandwich looks delicious!!
What a great place! We would love this!! We have a small nursery in our area with a butterfly room, but nothing this grand. We try to go every year, but it gets really crowded.
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