Serenity in the Secret Garden
Inniswood Metro Gardens has so much to offer to spark the imaginations of children and adults. As you walk its pathways you’ll enjoy the inner peace and tranquility that the gardens inspire. A favorite restful retreat at Inniswood is the Secret Garden. Located within the Sisters’ Garden this is the ideal place to read, relax or just rejuvenate.
Once in the Sisters’ Garden take the path downhill from the Sky Woman statue through a child-sized trellis covered with branches. And because it is a secret garden, there are some other hidden ways you can find to enter.
The Secret Garden was designed to resemble the remains of an old abandoned brick building wherein a garden has sprung up. Still statues, surrounded by bubbling water and a variety of plants and vines, create a picturesque setting.
Most of the walls are embedded with marbles and quotes about nature and gardening. Go behind the heron fountain and you’ll find a place to sit in solitude where you can hear water flowing into a small pond.
Unwind down on the farm
Spend an enjoyable morning or even a day with your family at Slate Run Living Historical Farm, a working farm from the 1880s. Take a leisurely quarter-mile amble down a dirt path from the parking lot to the farmhouse.
Outside the house, swing back in time on the rope tree swing or try some old-fashioned toys like the ring toss, hoops or bowling pins on the lawn or just lay back under the grape arbor and watch the clouds go by.
As you stroll around the grounds, let your senses open up and guide you as you take in the soothing sights, sounds and smells of the farm.
The aroma of stew cooking over the wood stove or the woodsy smell when you step into the smokehouse where bacon and ham are curing will tickle your taste buds. As you head back toward the barns, you’ll be greeted by “oinks, moos and quacks” as you see pigs, cows, ducks and other animals.
Listen to the ringing of the blacksmith’s hammer or the dinner bell calling the farmers for the mid-day meal.
Take some time to watch the farmer maneuver the 1,500-pound Percheron horses through the crops or watch the farm ladies in the summer kitchen canning and preserving crops from the heirloom garden.
