So it’s my wife’s birthday today, yes TODAY! She rather have a really thoughtful gift than anything I can buy from the store, so this blog is one of a few complete surprises I have for her. I took her to the Descanso Botanical Gardens to jump start her birthday weekend and this is how it went.
The Garden
It was so hard to make this birthday special for her because you know, COVID *insert eye roll* and just as things were slowly opening back up and I wanted to do a fancy dinner at some amazing outdoor restaurant (not a parking lot thing), all restaurants had to close, again, and I had to really think of something else and a change of scenery is just what we needed. One thing I love about this woman is that she is totally down for an adventure so she didn’t mind walking around the garden.
If you’re not a member you’ll need to buy advance tickets online as none are sold at the gardens. We wanted to see everything so our first stop was the Japanese-style garden, our favorite part was The Wishing Tree. It is a celebration which occurs every year in Japan. It is associated with people of all ages making a wish, writing it on colorful strips of paper (tanzaku) and tying them to a bamboo tree.
The Ancient Forest is literally another world. I’m a Cali girl at heart so I love a good Palm Tree but the tall trees in the forest were magical, I could’ve stayed there all day. The collection includes more than 180 plants including several endangered species. Virtually unchanged in form since the days of the dinosaurs. As we made our way to the Hilltop Gardens we passed the Boddy House (currently closed) passed the Sturt Haaga Gallery (also closed) anyways, we made our way to the top and had an amazing overlook with the perfect view of the mountains. I brought a surprise for her and this looked like the best place to give it to her (and IT WAS!).
We headed back to the front to grab a drink before going to the other side of the garden. As I mentioned, a few things we wanted to experience are closed due to COVID but The Kitchen at Descanso Gardens is still operating but you have to eat in a designated area but you can take your drinks in the garden (two Bourbon Apple Cider Smash PLEASE).
Next stop! Rose Garden. To our surprise we saw an artist painting red roses (I’ve always wanted to see someone do this and was so excited, it practically felt like it was my birthday). I really wanted to get to the lake because the surprise I had was to read to her because it’s super intimate and I just wanted to cozy up with the birthday girl. So we made our way through the Rose Garden and to the Lake where we sat under this huge tree right by the Lakeside Lookout and I read a few chapters. Afterwards we finished exploring the garden, we went through Oak Woodland, California Garden, and Oak Grove.
I have other plans lined up for her today and it’s almost 1am hahaha so anyways Happy Birthday My Love! Cheers to another year around the sun!
