We went again to the Garden of Lights at Brookside Gardens (see the previous trip here). We went on the Saturday before Christmas and had to wait quite a while to get into the parking lot. Perseverance paid off and we wound up in the smaller lot right next to the train display. That became our first stop.
Conservatory at Brookside Gardens
The conservatory is a big greenhouse, so they had plenty of plants on display. We only stopped to look at one since we wanted to catch the trains.
Poinsettias
The train display was more or less exactly the same as previous years, but that's okay since it's a fantastic display.
Big train table!
Other end of the table with a conservatory replica
Dragon!
The side display recreates a trolley route from Washington up to the Cabin John Hotel.
Georgetown Car Barn (with Exorcist stairs!)
Band and dancers at Glen Echo!
Cabin John Hotel
We wandered through the outdoor lights, which were delightful as usual.
Just outside the conservatory
Loch Ness Monster recreation
A fox
A turtle
Some trees and teepees
A dragonfly
At the Visitors Center, they were serving snacks and had entertainment. The band was The Eclectiks, a Celtic-inspired group that did pop classics and more traditional tunes. Naturally, they played Christmas favorites in their own style.
The Eclectiks
The garden is celebrating fifty years of existence and commemorated that in light!
Birthday lights!
The visit was fun and we will probably go back next year!
The Garden of Lights wasn't just lights in the garden. Down the hill from the visitor center are the conservatories. The conservatories are basically greenhouses with plants still growing in them. They were open for touring and, naturally, they had some Christmas plants on display.
Pointsettas
Okay, not as Christmasy
A waterfall hiding in the lushness
The big draw at the conservatories was the train set provided by The Washington, Virginia, Maryland Garden Railway Society. In addition to making an incredible model railway, they added in some fun characters (like Wonder Woman, Yoda, Moana, and many others). If that wasn't enough, they also made scavenger hunt sheets (with pictures) for the younger visitors. Our kids had a great time trying to find everything on their sheet. They even had three different sheets of scavengables! We had a good, long time in the warmth of the conservatory, for which we parents were quite grateful.
One end of the main train set
A little town
Wonder Woman takes the train
A pond with Yoda on the shore
The other end of the train set
The conservatory, much like the one we were in
The train set along the wall had a bunch of actual historical spots, some of them no longer extant. The kids were clueless but we adults enjoyed seeing places like Glen Echo Park, which brought up many fond memories from our dancing days.
We went back to the visitor center to get some hot cocoa (which we had promised to the kids). The Cafe, in addition to providing hot cocoa and snacks, also sold smores kits for people to use on the outdoor fire. The best part of the cafe was the band playing. Close Enough for Jazz is the "official jazz ensemble for the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL)" (at least, according to their web site. Who knows how many unofficial jazz ensembles they have?). My wife and I enjoyed dancing to jazzy versions of Christmas classics. We don't have any footage of us dancing but we did get some of the band playing...
The Garden of Lights is going on through January 1, 2018, and presumably will be back next year. I think we'll be back next year too!
We toured the Garden of Lights at Brookside Gardens in Maryland. We've been to the garden before during the day (see here). Coming at night to see Christmas lights makes the garden quite attractive in the wintertime. What a great idea! Entry is by the car, so loading up our van made our visit a bargain.
Entrance to Garden of Lights at Brookside Garden
Lights on a walkway
More of the walkway
My kids on a balcony
Trees
Supposed to be lightening and clouds, looks better in real life
By garden beds
Regular old trees
Lake with dolphins!
Another walkway
Son on display
A gazebo that looks like a carousel
The kids!
Lily pad pool
Covered walkway
Walkway without flash (and in the other direction)
A lion
Another pool
More lights
Reflecting pool
The Garden of Lights display also has a nursery with live plants and a fantastic train set, which we'll see in the next post (plus the jazz band at the cafe)!
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