Yaddo

I have a confession to make.  I'm a mom and I hate playgrounds.  There, I said it.  I don't hate them enough for me to deprive my children of their God-given right to swing and slide, I mean look... here's proof.

But if you gave me the choice between going to the Crossings one more time or listening to my enginerd husband explain the intricacies of his latest research, I'd be hard pressed to choose.

I'm not sure why they irk me so much, but for some reason I just prefer finding places to have fun that have nothing to do with that bouncy purple dinosaur.(My kids don't always let me get away with that, but I sure do try).

Enter Yaddo.

If you have never been there, you should go, and if you have, you know that there is something magical about the place.

The rose gardens, the statuary, the pergola (I had no idea that's what it was called), the fountains... it's all the little details that give this place a special  feeling that's hard to find in a schoolyard, and even sans twisty slide, my kids love it. It's just a great place to wander around and feel like you've walked into a scene from The Secret Garden.

We just went last Wednesday, and while the flowers have yet to bloom, the fountains are still dry, and the statues are still boarded up, we still managed to have the best time.  The gravel paths alone entertained the kids for at least a half an hour with all their digging, and burying, and carrying on.  

Here are some of our favorite parts:

The entrance gate.  We must spend at least 20 minutes hanging out here while the kids get me to guess the 'secret password' so I can get in.  Usually, I give up and just go around the side.

The pergola...or the place they like to pretend is from The Sound of Music. (In the song Do-Re-Mi, Fraulein Maria and the kids run through something kind of like this, and my kids have since made that connection) Note all that glorious gravel.

The steps (there are several sets of these that you can't see in this picture). 30 minutes of up and down, up and down and they still aren't tired.  The nice thing, too, is that you can stand in one part of the garden and see your kids all the way on the other side.

This rock garden is in the wooded section in the back of the gardens. Granted, it's not much to look at now, but there is a mermaid statue, ferns, and tall pines that make it very fairy-tale-esque.

The Yaddo Gardens are open to the public seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to dusk and is very easy to find.  Here are some directions.

*They also have a very clean port-a-potty which has come in handy on several occasions.

Purple dinosaur rating:  None. Just the way I like it.