Tag: nature

New York Botanical Garden 2900 Southern Boulevard Bronx, NY 10458

(718)817-8700

https://www.nybg.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Botanical_Garden

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g47369-d103513-r1056012355-New_York_Botanical_Garden-Bronx_New_York.html?m=19905

My visit to the New York Botanical Gardens:

I had never been to the New York Botanical Garden before. Being a member of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, I never saw the purpose until my best friend invited me to see the Orchid Show which had been heavily advertised, I jumped at the chance.

The entrance to the Gardens:

It was a cool April afternoon when we arrived. The first wave of Japanese Cherry trees were in bloom as well as the daffodils.

We started our tour of the Gardens at the Conservatory where the Orchid Show was taking place. The Cherry Trees were coming into full bloom. I had never been to the NY Botanical Gardens before. Being a member of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for over twenty years, I just never saw a reason to come up here. Now I will be making many future trips (I also found out that my membership with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden gets me in here as well).

We visited two areas of the Gardens that day, the Conservatory where the Orchid Show was taking place and Daffodil Hill, their section of the Gardens were all the daffodils were starting to bloom at that point of the Spring.

The Garden’s Mission:

(From the Garden’s website):

The New York Botanical Garden is an advocate for the plant world. The Garden pursues its mission through its role as a museum of living plant collections arranged in gardens and landscapes across its National Historic Landmark site; through its comprehensive education programs in horticulture and plant science; and through the wide-ranging research programs of the International Plant Science Center.

The Conservatory

The Conservatory in the Spring

The turn of the Century Conservatory

Visiting the Orchid Show in 2026:

(From the Garden’s website)

New York City has never bloomed like this. At The Orchid Show: Mr. Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle, orchids collide with concrete in a dazzling reimagining of the Big Apple, from stoops and slice shops to the subway itself. Step into a breathtaking fusion of nature and cityscape artistry in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, and experience the flair and style of New York transformed by thousands of flowers.

The entrance to the Orchid Show

The sign welcoming us to the show

The inside of the Conservatory

The magnificent orchids

The orchids in the beginning of the show

The inside of the Conservatory

The beauty of the potted plants

The beautiful potted plants

They were more beautiful up close

The inside display of the Conservatory

The flowers lined the paths

Then we walked through the fountain area and got to see the beautiful turn of the century fountains. We walked all through the Conservatory that afternoon and these were the breathtaking plants that we saw that day. I had not seen this many orchids out of Hawaii.

The fountain elegantly decorated for the event

The fountain area in full bloom

All sorts of beautiful orchids lined the pools

They came in all colors and sizes

The Tropical display

The orchids in full bloom

The colors were fantastic

Then we walked through the desert display at the end of the Conservatory which was really nice.

The Desert display

The Desert Display

The start of some interesting displays at the end of the show

The Pizza display where I did really think we could order lunch

Blogger Justin Watrel in front of the car washing display

My best friend, Maricel, who toured with me

Blogger Justin Watrel at the end of the Orchid display

The end of the Orchid Show display

The Orchid Show was amazing and I will have to come back next year.

Then we walked the grounds. The New York Botanical Garden’s version of Daffodil Hill is not the same as the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens but still beautiful.

Leaving the Conservatory towards the other gardens.

The path outside the Consrvatory

The beautiful Cherry Blossoms in the gardens that day were in full bloom

We headed to the NY Botanical Garden’s Daffodil Hill display after the Orchid Show and walked down paths of flowering Cherry Trees. It was quite a site as everything was coming into bloom in the park.

The pathway to Daffodil Hill

The pathways to Daffodil Hill

The daffodils were just starting to come in and some were at peak bloom. Though not as impressive as the display at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden it is still impressive and had just come into bloom when we arrived that day. It is a nice place to walk around.

Daffodil Hill at the New York Botanical Garden’s version

Another section of Daffodil Hill

Walking back to the front of the gardens

The Garden Library from the turn of the last century

We even saw a cardinal eating a snack on the side of the sidewalk. He was happy pecking away at an apple core.

The cardinal snacking

He even started to watch us

History of the Gardens:

(From the Gardens website)

The New York Botanical Garden has been a connective hub among people, plants, and the planet since 1891. We’re rooted in the cultural fabric of New York City, here in the heart of the Bronx—its greenest borough. For more than 130 years, we’ve invited millions of visitors to make the Garden a part of their lives, exploring the joy, beauty, and respite of nature. NYBG’s 250 acres are home to renowned exhibitions, immersive botanical experiences, art and music, and events with some of the most influential figures inplant and fungal science, horticulture, and the humanities. We’re also stewards of globally significant research collections, from the LuEsther T. Mertz Library collection to the plant and fungal specimens in the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, the largest such collection in the Western Hemisphere.

At NYBG, we’re plant people—dedicated horticulturists, enthusiastic educators, and scientific adventurers—committed to helping nature thrive so that humanity can thrive. We believe in our ability to make things better, teaching tens of thousands of kids and families each year about the importance of safeguarding our environment and healthy eating. Our expert scientists work across the city, the nation, and the globe to document the plants and fungi of our world—and find actionable, nature-based solutions to our planet’s dual climate and biodiversity crises. And our eyes are always looking forward as we train the next generation of botanists, gardeners, landscape designers, and environmental stewards, ensuring a green future for all. At NYBG, we know that it’s nature—or nowhere.

That got us thinking about lunch and we were both starved. So I took Maricel out for a much delayed lunch at Virgil’s in Times Square. It was my treat to her for taking me to the Botanical Garden that afternoon. This is one of our favorite places to have both lunch and dinner.

https://virgilsbbq.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60763-d424440-r1056011275-Virgil_s_Real_BBQ_NYC-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

She enjoyed a some appetizers of Barbecued Wings and we shared these Pastrami Nachos, which I finished the next day they were so big. The food here is amazing!

The Chopped Pastrami Natchos

I had the Pulled Pork sandwich which I love but rarely have anywhere else. There is nothing like it and Virgil’s I consider the best place for barbecue in New York City.

The Pulled Pork sandwich with Potato Salad and Coke Slaw

Yum!

It was a wonderful afternoon out.

Day Three-Hundred and Seventy-Three Walking through the Light show at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden January 4th, 2026

I promised myself I would cut back on holiday activities last year. Since almost all of my older blogs have been revamped and updated to reflect the work on my newer visits and walks of neighborhoods and towns, I took a step back and revisited one last holiday activity I enjoyed last year, The Light Show at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

The Gardens have been running this show for several years to increase traffic in the Gardens during the winter months to great success. These type of lightshows are gaining popularity in botanical gardens all over the country similar to the drive through holiday light shows. They are becoming a new tradition for families in usually quiet parks during the holiday season. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has been an impressive show over the last four years that I have attended.

The directory of the ‘Lightscape Show’ at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

https://www.bbg.org/lightscape

The brilliance of the “The Tree of Stars” display at the entrance of the show

I love how they illuminated the trees to the music

The Christmas music illuminated the trees in the “Shadow Play” and created a festive beginning to the light shows

One of the best parts of the light shows is displayed in the Japanese Garden “Let the Magic Begin”. The water show keeps people dazzled for almost five minutes. I find myself every year having to watch it three times. Once to check it out, once to film it and then the last time to be dazzled by it myself. It is one of the reasons why I put up with 35-degree weather.

The beautiful lights illuminate the gardens at its start

Then the water show “Let the Magic Begin” begins

The video of the water show is so impressive every year (excuse my coughing)

The end of the water show was spectacular

I walked down the pathway toward Daffodil Hill and could not wait until the sea of yellow flowers returned in four months. In its place was a sea of lights and sounds in the display “Papillion’s”.

I next walked through a sea of butterflies and the skies were full of color in the ‘Papillion’s’ display

The trees were full of colorful butterflies in ‘Papillion’s’

I then walked through the Shakespeare Garden and came across the ‘Threshold’ display which was a sea of lights that flipped and sparkled around.

The ‘Threahold’ display in the Shakespeare Garden

‘Threshold’ in full color

‘Threshold’ changing colors

I walked around the spiral of spinning lights s and admired all the beautiful colors as it moved around. I walked around the Shakespeare Garden and looked at where the colorful flowers and plantings are placed in the Spring and Summer.

As I walked to the lawns of the Watershed, I passed the ‘Sway’ exhibition with its layers of colorful lights on the trees.

The colorful lights of ‘Sway’ as the music plays on CD

The video of the ‘Sway’ lights against the trees

The illumination of the trees in the gardens during the light show

The next display on the lawn of the Watershed was ‘Fluxit’, which looked like outside fire. It clicked and sparkled as the music played.

The ‘Fluxit’ display as it lit and moved

The video of the ‘Fluxit’ display

Once I left the Watershed lawns, I walked into the ‘Winter Terrace’, where in the warmer months are the Lotus Pools and seasonal plants and flowers are displayed. It was now decorated with topiary women guiding in the pools, the fountains were decorated with blinking lights and where the bar and restaurant were located. The area is really crowded with people milling around and taking a break from the walk.

The ‘Winter Terrace’ in full illumination

The Lotus Pools with the illuminated women

The ‘Illuminated’ women in the pool

One of the ‘Illuminated’ women

The fountain was shimmering with lights in the “Winter Terrace”

While I was walking around the frozen pools admiring the lights, many of the patrons were in the glassed-in banquet room having snacks and drinks. The building was packed with people eating and drinking.

I walked through the next series of displays ‘Flock’ and ‘Shadow Lantern’s on the edge of the Water Basin lawn. “Flock” looks like illuminated pigeons flying around the trees.

The display ‘Flock’ on the lawn’s edge

The ‘Shadow Lantern’s’ were quite brilliant

The ‘Shadow Lantern’s’ cast their brilliant lights all over the sidewalks with a sea of snowflakes and could hear the music in the background.

One of my favorite displays in the show was walking through the giant ‘Lilly’s of the Valley’ display to what sounded like a 1970’s folk singer. It was like a surreal trip through ‘Wonderland’ and I felt like Alice when she was shrunk walking through the gardens.

The ‘Lilly’s of the Valley’ display

Walking by the floral displays illuminated with brilliant lights

My video of walking through the giant patch of Lillie’s and watching the plants and trees change colors. It was a lot of fun to walk around.

The next display was another favorite of mine, the colorful and interactive ‘Winter Walk’ with lights and music to the song ‘Sleigh Ride’ that sounded like the New York Pops. The colors popped and popped with the music.

The ‘Winter Walk’ in full color as the music played

My pictures and videos don’t give the display justice as I filmed everything from the side view of the display.

The festive lights dancing to the song ‘Sleigh Ride’

Talk about putting you in the Christmas spirit even after the holidays were over. “Sleigh Ride” is still one of my favorite songs at the holidays.

I loved walking past the lines of trees that were illuminated

I followed the path down to where in the Spring, the Bluebell flowers bloom brightly and the whole area is a sea of purples and blues. Now it was ‘Bluebonnets’, a sea of purple lights. It was just picturesque and brought the gardens back even in the dead of winter.

‘Bluebonnets’ light display

The light flowers replacing the Spring flowers

The ‘Robin’s Trail’ display at the end of the ‘Bluebonnets’ display

As I entered the Cherry Blossom lawn, which is a sea of pinks in various hues, there was now the ‘Leaf on the Light’ display on all the trees.

The ‘Leaf on the Light’ display

Towards the end of the light display for the spectacular finish of the display in the Cherry Blossom lawn, you had to walk through the lines of Cherry Blossoms that line the pathways on both sides of the lawn. Only this side of the pathway was open and lit for the display.

I walked through ‘Pulse’ , where the trunks of the trees kept changing colors. It was an interesting walk down the pathway.

The lighting of ‘Pulse’ as I walked down the pathway

‘Pulse’ as it changed colors

All this led to the best part of the show, ‘The Sea of Light’, where the whole Cherry Blossom lawn became a dazzling sea of lights, sounds and music. I love the creation of the lawn light display every year I visit the show.

The ‘Sea of Light’ as it started

The ‘Sea of Light’ as it changed colors

The dazzling ‘Sea of Light’ performance and the lively music that accompanied it.

This was the best way to cap off the evening with its dazzling lights and music. Even as it got colder, I stayed longer to see watch it at least three times. I wanted to get the perfect video to share with everyone. If there was part of the show I enjoyed most, it was this part of the display.

As I left the gardens that evening, I exited through the ‘Winter Cathedral’, an archway of an illumination of lights that is the one place that foot traffic stops as people always want to take pictures here. While this display has moved around the gardens over the years, it is still the one display that has been been consistent every year.

The ‘Cathedral of Lights’

Couples were stopping here asking everyone to take their pictures. It was a popular spot to take pictures.

The ‘Cathedral of Lights’

The last display I walked through to exit that night was the ‘Firefly Field’ at the old main entrance of the Gardens.

The ‘Firefly Field’ blazing with Tony lights

It was a nice way to wrap up the show. The “Lightscape” light display at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden was spectacular this year and always different. As cold as it was, it was still an amazing night of sights and sounds.

It was a nice way to rest and relax as the holiday season ended. Until next year!

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

990 Washington Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11225

(718) 623-7210

http://www.bbg.org

Open: Sunday and Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm/Monday Closed/Tuesday-Friday 8:00am-6:00pm

Admission: Depending on the time of year/please check the website

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60827-d103900-Reviews-Brooklyn_Botanic_Garden-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://visitingamuseum.com/tag/brooklyn-botanical-garden/

The Garrett Family Preserve at Cape Island Creek 801 Wilson Avenue Cape May, NJ 07204

The Garrett Family Preserve at Cape Island Creek

801 Wilson Avenue

Cape May, NJ 07204

(908) 879-7262

https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/garrett-family-preserve-at-cape-island-creek/

Garrett Family Preserve

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46341-d7190574-Reviews-Garrett_Family_Preserve-Cape_May_Cape_May_County_New_Jersey.html

While I was searching for the Cape May Maritime Museum, I made a detour into a parking lot and came across the Garrett Family Preserve

The sign that welcomes you to the park

Visiting the Preserve:

(from the Cape May Visitor website)

The Nature Conservancy protects the 180-acre Garrett Family Preserve situated between Seashore Road and Cape Island Creek, offering a tranquil setting for walking, picnics, painting, biking, and observing nature.

The preserve offers six trails ranging from 0.2-0.5 miles in length, and a two-mile perimeter loop along the forested edge–four miles in total. Explore year-round on foot or by bicycle. Sights vary by season, with bird migration peaking in the spring and fall, and the wildflower field blooming from May through July. Beginning in late August into the fall, Monarch butterflies stop here to feed before their journey south.

Preserve amenities include a mobile bird blind, welcome kiosk, shaded pavilion with picnic tables, benches and picnic tables along the trails, and three adjustable art easels. From November 1st to March 1st, leashed dogs are welcome. Because this is a preserve, the Nature Conservancy does not provide trash receptacles. Be sure to take anything you’ve brought with you.

The size of the preserve

The history of the Garrett Family

History of the Preserve:

(From the Nature Conservatory website)

Originally slated for development, TNC acquired the property in 2000, as the preserve offered an unusual opportunity to manage a significant piece of land for migratory songbirds, whose stopover habitat, especially at the southern tip of the peninsula, has been all but wiped out.

In 2013, the generosity of the Garrett family enabled TNC to further protect Cape Island Creek for future generations by acquiring crucial land, improving and stewarding habitat, performing coastal research and installing enhanced visitor amenities.

After reading some of the history of the preserve, I decided to take a walk down the paths. I ended up walking down several paths that took me through woods and many natural gardens. I could see by how dry everything was how the lack of rain was affecting the preserve.

The pathways leading to different parts of the preserve

Following the pathways through the preserve

My first stop was the picnic area and rest stop

The Insect Hotel

The Insect Hotel

The description of the insect hotel

I thought this was an interesting concept of creating a place for insects to have a breather. It is a place of reproduction and in helping pollinate the preserve.

The fields of plants and wildflowers that make up the preserve

The flowering plants and wildflowers in the fields

Each of the paths took me through different parts of the preserve that were wooded or with meadows or an array of wildflowers that attracted birds, butterflies and bees.

The batches of wildflowers in the meadow

The Salt Marsh part of the Preserve was filled with more wildflowers that had bees and butterflies swarming them.

The Salt Marsh Habitat

The sign for the Salt Marsh Habitat

The the pathways though the meadows

The fields of flowers and plants in the marsh area

Th e next section of the preserve I visited was the Wildflower Meadows

The Wildflower Meadows in the late summer

The Wildflower Meadows paths

As I left this part of the preserve, I took many paths around the park lands. There are all sorts of fields of flowers and woods to shade the way during touring the preserve.

Going on the different trails throughout the preserve

I walked down the paths to the Bird Habitat area

The golden rod flowers attract all sorts of bees and butterflies

Flowering Honey Suckle

Beautiful flowering plants in the woods area

The colorful paths of flowers that lined the Bird Sanctuary

This all led to the end of the trails and a wrap up of how the pollinators work. How the plants, insects and birds play a role in nature.

The last thing I saw at the preserve was this butterfly sculpture by the parking lot

The history of the Garrett family

The park changes its complexity with each season. What I noticed at the end of the summer with no rain is how dry the fields were and the trees were changing colors early because the lack of moisture.

It will be interesting to see the preserve in the Spring and early Summer in the future. It was a nice walk through the preserve.

Tuckerton Seaport Museum 120 West Main Street Tuckerton, NJ 08087

Tuckerton Seaport Museum

120 West Main Street

Tuckerton, NJ 08087

(609) 296-8868

Home

Open: Sunday-Wednesday 10:00am-4:00pm/Thursday-Friday Closed/Saturday 10:00am-4:00 pm

Admission: Based on tours arranged during the season. Please check the website.

My TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g46876-d271270-r1033440153-Tuckerton_Seaport-Tuckerton_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The Tuckerton Museum and the Seaport at 120 West Main Street in Tuckerton, NJ

The entrance to the complex from Route 9

The entrance to the Tuckerton Seaport complex on a sunny Saturday morning

The complex was once a bustling fishing and shipping area that has now been preserved as a cultural site with tours, a series of restaurants and a museum.

The Mission of the Museum:

(from the Tuckerton Seaport Museum website)

Our mission at the Tuckerton Seaport is to preserve, present and interpret the rich maritime history, artistry, heritage and environment of the Jersey shore and the unique contributions of its baymen.

The dock area by the coffee shop

The artwork by the parking lot and coffee shop

I walked over to the main building which served as both the gift shop and museum. It was funny that the gift shop took both the first two front rooms of the museum. I had to look behind shirts to see the displays.

The docks and touring boats by the museum

The Seaport Tuckerton Museum at 120 West Main Street

The History of the Complex:

(from the Tuckerton Museum website)

Originally launched as the Barnegat Bay Decoy and Baymen’s Museum, the Tuckerton Seaport has evolved over the past twenty-two years into a community museum and community center occupying 40 acres located along historic Tuckerton Creek in Tuckerton, New Jersey. Tuckerton Seaport benefits from a prime location at the center of the Jersey shore, easily accessible via Exit 58 on the Garden State Parkway. Tuckerton Seaport works as a coastal cultural center to bring folklife traditions of the past and present to life through programs on land and water.

The museum was just opening up as I arrived and the staff was busy getting everything ready so I just walked around the museum. It is an interesting museum on New Jersey’s nautical past and the growth of the shipping and trading that went on in the turn of the last century. The museum also showed the bustling fishing industry that still exists today.

The Giant Chicken greets you at the door

The Giant Chicken was a road stop symbol of the White Way Farm Market and a tourist attraction

I thought it was rather cute and could see why people stopped

The view from the front porch of the museum was spectacular on this sunny day

The exhibit at the museum ‘Museum in the Making’, which is a through look at Tuckerton, its past and its contributions to the growth of New Jersey

The first room also served as a bustling gift shop with the main attraction this carving of the ‘Jersey Devil’

A display of Duck Decoys

A collection of woodcarvings of fisherman

The popular businesses that once lined Route 9 up and down the shore area

Displaying life down the shore in that era with quilting and sewing

The display of wood carvings and artwork on the first floor

The artworks made of driftwood by local artists

The driftwood art display on the first floor

The rooms both on the first and second floor were displayed by themes of Lenape Indian life at the shore, the Dutch and English traders, growth of shore farming, shipping and trade and fishing industries and the development of tourism in the area with steamships and the railroads.

The first room in the museum is a detailed look at the life of the Lenape and the froth of the fishing industry

The early life at the Jersey shore

The Native American display

The first part of the early development of Tuckerton started as the fishing and hunting grounds of the Native Americans until the settlement of the Dutch

The history of the Lenape

The arrival of the Europeans started the bustling shipping and trade industries that supplied the home country

With the growth of industry and farming many people started businesses to supply the population

Some started popular businesses that lasted over a century

E. Walter Parsons Jr. had a very successful fishing business that was in the family until 1984

With the rich soil in the area, local farmers worked the land providing fruits and vegetables for the growing population

Early farming equipment on display

The second floor galleries depicted the developing life at the shore with creating of modern life saving for the shipping and fishing industries and with coming of railroads, the bustling tourism industry with the change of leisure travel after the Civil War and the Industrial Revolution.

The second floor rail transportation display

The second floor display on shipwrecks off the Jersey coast

The development of modern Life Saving procedures

With storms at sea and affecting life in the area, as it still does today, there was a growth and development of modern Live-saving procedures and rescue methods.

The Life Saving exhibit

The use of the Lyle Gun in rescues

The series of pulleys and wenches are still used today in different forms. They had to create a safe way to rescue people not just from storms but accidents as well.

The Life Saving and Rescue display

Rescue display

The railroad made its way to the Jersey shore bringing tourists from both New York and Philadelphia and bustling North Jersey. This opened the area up to tourism as leisure travel grew at the end of the nineteenth century.

One example of a visiting tourist was the Cinderella Cramer display with long distance travel to the shore.

The first female passenger of the Tuckerton Railroad

Getting the rail ticket

Tourism developing at the Jersey shore

The Cinderella Cramer display representing that eras travels to the shore with Victorian standards and use of steamer trunks

Packing the steamer trunks for the long journey

Artifacts from the shore

Life at the shore still had its perils as it does today with storms affecting development and shifting shore lines

The lighthouse light display

The museum once served as a beacon for shipping and the top level served as a lookout. Today you can walk upstairs and enjoy the views.

Traveling up the tower stairs

On this beautiful sunny and clear morning that I visited, the views were spectacular.

The view of the port area of the complex

The view of the inlet and Lake Pohatcong across from Route 9

My video of the views from the top of the lookout

The Tuckerton Seaport Museum tour was a very thorough look at the community and its development over the last three hundred years. The exhibits showed the progress the community has made and where it is headed in the future as the shore communities keep changing.

With the economy, the rise of AI, climate change and overall population growth toward the shore, it will be interesting to see the changes of the future.

Leaving the museum complex at the end of the trip

Tuckerton has an interesting past as a shipping and fishing destination and now you can tour the buildings and see what life was like back then and there it is moving in to the future today.

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