I ventured out today with just Matt and Summer. Our goal was the butterfly exhibit at the Conservatory in Downtown Cincinnati. What occurred was anything but a butterfly exhibit. But it was so much more. :)
As we drove we relied on our navigator to lead us out of our small country town and in to another world it seemed. Passed highways, and busy roads, as Summer fell asleep, Matt and I talked like we rarely do and saw what we rarely saw. Graffiti, and rundown buildings. Parts of the city that are known for danger. Sadness and fear. We locked our doors and drove past.When we got close to Eden Park our destination, a very beautiful part of Cincinnati, we saw lines of cars and longs lines of people. We could hardly believe they were there for the butterfly show too? We couldn't even park there so we drove on and parked about a 1/2 mile away. This was the best gift. And this is where our adventure continued...
Eden Park is filled with beautiful things. Wonderful stone bridges, and fountains, and ponds. As we climbed out the car the kids ran right to this huge 2 story wall of stone. They climbed and could see the city! They could see the Ohio river and the bridge to KY. They could see the skyline. They were explorers and loved it.
Matthew in his "thinker" pose.
We continued on to the exhibit, but as we did we would find pockets of neat.
bridges
paths
abandoned buildings
fountains tucked away in the trees
When we got to the Conservatory, they told us the Butterfly exhibit LINE would take over and HOUR. But the flower Conservatory itself is FREE to go through. So that is what we did. I can remember my parents taking us here when I was little... The foggy pictures are due the extreme humidity and my lens fogging up.
This was a little cave that the kids would run through that I told Summer a monster lived in. (the same thing I was told by my brother as a kid) She felt so brave running through!
A little bit of Independence goes a long way...
So when we came out Summer wanted to touch the steel butterfly across the street on the hill. Matthew was like' Heck no!" But I said, for goodness sake....we came her to touch a butterfly...I'm as heck going to let her at least touch this one...So me and her crossed traffic and did just that!
We stopped at the actual Park of Eden park and saw the swollen Ohio River...
and a duck dive for fish!
and got some culture under our belts while we were there too!
Who knows where the day will lead you...but if you let it...it can really take you somewhere wonderful!
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