In January John and I took a day off during the week to visit the Milwaukee Botanical Domes which included a pub and grill for lunch and an adult beverage on Water Street.
We enjoyed it so much we agreed that planning a field trip once a quarter was something we wanted to do. While this may sound easy enough, it’s not. We both love our work and it can be hard to pull ourselves away.
But life is short. Time away is essential. This special time with John and seeing different sites in Wisconsin is food for this gals soul. And field trips aren’t just for school kids you know!
They have three and half floors that will take us through Africa, Asia, Europe, the Arctic, South and Middle America, the Pacific Islands and a Costa Rican Rainforest. It will be like traveling around the world in one day! Whew!
I’m especially looking forward to the free-flying butterfly exhibit. I have a feeling I won’t want to leave this one.
But I do know that when the day is done, I’ll have a new rejuvenation pumping through my veins and inspiration to feel my soul until our next field trip in summer.
I mentioned on my blog Monday that John and I were going on what I dubbed, “a field trip date” on Tuesday. We had so much fun and hope to do this quarterly. There is so much to see in our area that really only requires a hour or two drive.
And after having such a fantastic day, I’m wondering why kids should only have field trips—adults surely need this even more!
We visited the Milwaukee Domes and with the temperature only reaching 15 degrees yesterday it was a smart choice…and a welcome one to be in the overly large greenhouses of tropical, desert, and floral themes where it was warm and lush with greenery and vibrant colors.
I share photos below, so you can take a five minute visual field trip. But before I do, I just had to chuckle after shopping in the gift shop and what John said to me afterwards.
We browsed around the garden themed gift shop for a few moments before John meandered out into the hallway to wait for me. I was having somewhat of a hard time deciding what I wanted to purchase.
My heart jumped a bit in my chest when I spotted this book by Marta McDowell, Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life. But I had to make sure I wasn’t “missing” out on anything else and looked around for a bit longer.
I should have known better, because within moments I was back starring at this book. I ran my hand over the cover. I knew this was the treasure I had to take home with me. I could hardly even stand the wait to open it and start reading it!
I met John out in the hallway. He said, “So what did you get?”
I slowly slid the book out of the brown paper bag, as if holding a piece of gold. I smiled.
He said, “I knew you were going to get that book.”
I was surprised he said this. “How did you know?”
With a grin on his face as big as the Cheshire cat he said, “Because it has an old lady on the front.”
This is when I knew he does pay attention to me now and then. I played along to make sure my assumption was correct. “And I bought this book because Beatrix Potter reminds me of….”
“Tasha Tudor, of course!” He said.
As you may know, if you follow me here on my blog, I’m a bit enamored with Tasha Tudor – which I go in streaks about – and have been on a kick with her again lately. I now have all her hardcover books about her life that I bought second hand. I’ll never, ever tire of them. I’m sure of it.
Tasha had a huge, beautiful garden also and was a writer/illustrator. And someone, like Beatrix Potter, who absolutely lived her life on her own terms. Something I continually strive to do and likely why I’m so attracted to fellow creatives such as Tasha and Beatrix.
It certainly isn’t that I’m a good gardener, as I’m far from that. But there is something about how they weaved this into their creative lives that fascinates me, too.
But I digress. Back to John’s comments… it was in that moment, I felt so loved and so understood. It was really the highlight of my field trip date with him.
A memory I now hold as something quite special in my heart. Now onto the photos – enjoy!
Winter garden rich with bunny, dog, bird and deer tracks
Remember field trips as a kid? Oh, how I loved them!
It’s an impromptu-of-sorts plan that John came up with and it didn’t take much to convince me (okay- twist my arm!).
Tomorrow we are going to have a field trip date day! After a morning meeting I have, we will head to the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory – a fancy way of saying, Milwaukee Domes.
Their specialty showcase right now is “Attack of the Giant Monsters Train Show.” While I don’t know exactly what that means, John loves anything trains. So we shall chug on down there to check it out.
And me, well, to be around lots of beautiful flowers and greenery and snug and warm inside the domes — well, that will be a bountiful feast my eyes will most happily take in and my body will most relish after these last two days of frigidly cold temperatures.
I read somewhere where someone calls this a one day vacation – though their little getaway included an overnight stay. I like the idea of a one day vacation, or as I’m calling ours, a field trip date.
We will have lunch somewhere too and who knows what else may strike our fancy to stop and take in.
But all I know, is I’m super excited to be taking a day to head out on a little adventure. I’m sure it will inspire my creativity in some shape or form and this is always a good thing. Good for the heart and spirit!
