GOLD in the CLOUDS : Vacation Day 3: Sandwich on Cape Cod

Wednesday was our 3rd day in Plymouth and we chose to do something that I wanted to do. The Battleship Cove visit in Fall River on our Anniversary (30 June) was for Dave. Although if you are on Facebook with me, you know I also loved it.

I had really wanted us to go back to the Botanical Heritage Gardens and Museums. We had been there during Memorial Day weekend circa 2004 when we camped in Sandwich that year and the girls were 5 and 8. But it was rainy, gloomy, chilly the morning we went to the Gardens and hardly anything was blooming yet. So we took them inside the Auto Museum there and then on the carousel. They must have ridden that 5-6 times and then we ended up in Wareham to visit their grandparents (Dave's folks) and get warm by the fireplace. Wareham is where we had the T family beach house on Buzzards Bay which is just over the Bridge from the Cape.

So I was very excited that it was a gorgeous, although hot and humid, day. We were thanking God for the ocean breeze!

Sandwich is the oldest village on Cape Cod. It's quaint with beautifully manicured lawns and pretty Cape Cod bungalows, ranch style homes, and now more colonial type homes. Some are very simple and some are much more ornate.

There's a very small shopping district with quaint gift shops and art galleries.

We headed first to the Botanical Gardens which is at the end of a row of homes that are quite pricey and just beautiful and some are like mansions. Definitely a more up scale part of town.

There are 100 acres at the Gardens and at the admissions center they give you a map. Most of the paths connect. Some do not. At one point we were a bit confused as the map wasn't great but we figured out where we wanted to go and the above pic took us to a beautiful maze where it was a very sensory experience with sight, scent, sound, and touch. It was very shady in the maze and I neglected to take photos because I was reading what all the trees/plants were. This photo above was one of my favorite walkways through the gardens.

Here are some hydrangeas that were just gorgeous. Much prettier in person than in the pics.

Dark blue ones were my fave

the light blue ones were pretty too
We didn't know there were so many varieties!

The Botanical Gardens have 155 different species of hydrangeas. Click on the link to read about this.

I also loved this section, paying homage to the Wampanoag tribes.

a replica of a Wetu, the homes of the Wampanoag

The "three sisters": corn, beans and squash
that the Wampanoag people taught the Pilgrims to plant
This is why these vegetables are featured in a traditional Thanksgiving feast

Across from the Wetu and Wampanoag Garden was the Cranberry House in an historic building that actually comes from NY! This holds the largest museum collection of cranberry history in the nation!

Where the Cranberry Collection is exhibited

We will start celebrating Cranberry Day!
Who knew??!!

iconic signage from the 1940s

An example of a cranberry sorting table

We were allowed to pick these up.
They are scoops to harvest the cranberries.
The one on the right, when I lifted it, was like lifting
both of my 4 lb weights.
The one on the left I couldn't lift! It was VERY heavy. Dave could.
Can you imagine using these for 8-10 hour days???

After the Cranberry Exhibit, we continued onto the various gardens. Here are my fave photos from the walks:

a species of day lilies

a Yew tree

Beets in the vegetable garden

An historic windmill...is called
The Old East Mill and was built in 1800
it was used to ground corn meal for the Union soldiers of the Civil War
and was orginally located in Orleans which is further out on the cape
It was moved to Sandwich in 1967.

a trail to the pond where it was a bit cooler
and definitely more shady

Peas in the veggie garden.....
they were so ready to be picked and eaten!

onions!!

I really liked this whole garden area
with the yew trees

Dave by the yew tree

I loved this pot of flowers
and the shadow it's making

The labyrinth section was peaceful and beautiful
We walked the labyrinth and had some prayer time
and it was a half mile walk!

on our prayer walk

we thought this bench was super cool

Dave just loved this stone wall

We enjoyed the sundial near the front entrance

Shawnee Pond at Botanical Gardens

the trail from Shawnee Pond.....so pretty

A pretty little water garden

Another fave water fountain garden
I especially loved this one

a pollinator busy working!

Riding the carousel on one of the historic
handcrafted carriages
We ended our time at the Botanical Gardens with the Carousel
in memory of when our girls did this in 2004.
1 July

Fish tacos with pineapple salsa and the house salad; Dave had the seafood reuben and the caesar salad
We ended the day with the BEST food, BEST prices and
BEST drinks....at Dillon's Local
We ate late and then enjoyed time on the hotel terrace overlooking the Atlantic