Rip Van Winkle Gardens

"His mind now misgave him; he began to doubt whether both he and the world around him were not bewitched.  Surely this was his native village which he had left but the day before.  There stood the Kaatskill mountains--there ran the silver Hudson at a distance--there was every hill and dale precisely as it had always ken--Rip was sorely perplexed"

 Rip Van Winkle

I believe that we often think similar to  Rip Van Winkle. In times like we are experiencing right now, many of us are sorely perplexed on the epidemic and what that means to us and the world around us.

    I listed this quote because on my last trip I was able to visit Jefferson Island in Lousiana where I went to Rip Van Winkle Gardens.  On these gardens is one of the homes of Joseph Jefferson who played the role of Rip Van Winkle 4500 times starting in the 1860s.

    The gardens are on 15 acres and cost 12 dollars for adults and 8 dollars for children to get in.  The entrance of the gardens was amazing. Since we went in January they had not yet taken down the large Christmas tree at the entrance of the gift shop.  Upon entering the gardens, we were greeted by a peacock.  This is probably my favorite bird to film.  So it was a great joy to greeted by one when I entered the gardens.

Actually, the gardens are very beautiful and have a wonderful assortment of statues and fountains located throughout.

When we were there, the flowers were just starting to bloom and there was an amazing color of red and yellow throughout the gardens. I imagine if one visited the gardens in the spring or summer the flowers would be even more unbelievable.

A most intriguing feature at the gardens was the home on them which had a very unique architecture.  The tour of the home is a must but photographs are not permitted inside of the home. But although the inside of the home is amazing so is the outside of the home.  The back of the home was unique but the front had a large and wonderful wraparound porch.

   

    In the waters surrounding the property, we were able to see some alligators as well as an Egret sitting on an old pier beam. 

    If you are ever in the area of Jefferson Island, Lousiana especially in the spring or the summer I would highly recommend visiting Rip Van Winkle Garden