I was thinking you guys needed a little Jae in your day.
I wanted to tell you guys about how I went to the botanical garden yesterday with one of my friends from high school.
So, I hadn't seen my friend in awhile because he was in New york for college. Normally when he's in town we just go to a sushi place and catch up. We decided to switch it up this time. He randomly got tickets to the botanical garden from a relative and said it would be a cool place to get some pictures. I had never been to the botanical garden but, I heard it was pretty cool since there were so many different things to see there.We get to the garden a few hours before dusk and found that it looked like a quiet zoo. Instead of there being a bunch of animals in habitats, there were a plethora of plants in habitats. I was a tad bit skeptical when I walked in because all I could see at first were a bunch of cacti, which pretty much sums up the desert but, as you take the different trails you see other plants that flourish in different parts of the state. I've lived in Arizona my entire life and I saw plants that I had never seen before.
My friend and I walked the entire garden in about 2 hours. It was a pretty big garden and once I saw the map I was a little nervous because I don't like to walk in the heat for long periods of time. There were a lot of shady parts to the garden that made the heat bearable. The trails were filled with so many different plants that I'm sure I probably missed one or two.There was also natural wildlife living in the habitats. Animals like quail, rabbits, lizards, and even squirrels. I didn't even know we had squirrels in Arizona! That was a nice surprise, it added some liveliness to the garden. Another thing I noticed, was that it was tranquil and surprisingly quiet. There were no signs saying that you had to be quiet but, something about the garden... Some unspoken rule was in place where you wanted to talk low when you were going through the trails.
Anyways, when walking through the trails there were a couple of places to sit and chat. Of course, my friend and I were already talking as we walked the trails. Call me old fashioned but, it's always nice to just sit down and talk. Once we finished walking through all the trails we decided to go get some food at a fine dining establishment called McDonalds. A broke college kids' heaven. It was a fun adventure but, there are much more to be had in these next 3 months!On a side note, I wanted to let you know that there is so much more to the botanical garden than just plants. There are beautiful lights at night, dances and other performances that add to the garden. It was a great place to go to and relax/get a little exercise.
If you are from Arizona then, I recommend checking out the botanical garden. Here is their website.
If you are not from Arizona then, I still recommend that you go to your local botanical garden (if there is one in your state) to see some beautiful plants and learn about what surrounds you in your environment!
Tell me what your favorite plant is in the comments!
-Jae
