Quail Botanical Gardens in San Diego, CA

This past summer we discovered the Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas, CA (near San Diego). It just opened a new children's exhibit that I had heard about it and we wanted to check it out...so I dragged my sister, Jules, along with her 2 kids + my 3 kids and we had a carpool! We actually received FREE parking because we carpooled - yippeeee!!

The admission fee was very reasonable. Thankfully we were able to park on the main level because the overflow parking is quite a distance and a hike away! The park is quite hilly. Pushing our stroller was doable, but quite the workout.

It was warm that day, but be careful in the extreme heat because there is not a tremendous amount of shade.

The map they provided was a little tricky to navigate, and we ended up back in the parking lot. Start at the Guest Center towards the top and head LEFT and past the gazebo for the new children's exhibit.

As a self-proclaimed, "wannabee", gardener I was gaga over the wide variety of unique plants that were displayed. Their beauty and uniqueness was incredible! I've visited the Huntington Library several times and the Getty and have not seen such breadth in variety displayed. All I can say is "Wow!"

The kids moved fast towards the children's exhibit (once we got started on the correct path). We could barely catch up with them. The new children's exhibit included a HUGE treehouse (made out of concrete) which the kids could climb all over. Intertwined among the tree and tree house were plants and flowers...it was gorgeous!

The new exhibit also included a section with rocks which kids could drum on and they made unique sounds. A male guest was playing these drums like an expert and we thought he was a hired performer! There was a small hut with paper and pens for sketching plants, and LARGE Adirondack chairs for sitting in, along with a chalk board "wall" for sketching. I adored the large chairs and asked SweetP to pose in one for me, because they reminded me of Lily Tomlin's sketch as a little girl in the old SNL episodes!

Up, above the treehouse, was a running, fresh water rock stream. The kids could've played for HOURS in this stream. They moved the rocks around and piled them high creating a dam. They splashed and ran and laughed! We had a difficult time pulling them away, but it was getting late and our stomach were rumbling.

Bring plenty of sunscreen and water! The snack shop was closed and the sun tends to be intense!

We left the new children's exhibit and trudged up the hill (it feels like a killer w/kids & a stroller), past the gazebo and past the lily pond, which was beautiful and a great spot for photos! We then moved past the Guest Center and down another hill which led to the bamboo forest. It was so amazing! Large bamboo and small covered this forest, along with many other species of flora and fauna. The kids moved quickly through this exhibit and we struggled to keep up pushing the stroller down the paths which weren't paved as well.

I was exhausted at this point, but my sister insisted on visiting the older children's exhibit, and I'm so glad that she did, because it was so much fun! It wasn't as uique and updated, but had some fun quirky features, like a grassy knoll with green topiary sculptures, and a shed with grass and plants of all varieties on the roof! It also contained a little playhouse with an enclosed backyard which reminded us of the garden in the book "The Secret Garden." There was a miniature train set which ran and a woman posing as the "Conductor," and it was fun. The kids looked at it for about 5 seconds and ran on! The topiary's shaped like animals were a fun attraction and hidden all over.

Next we traveled up a small hill, opposite the street, from the older children's exhibit, which was supposed to be a mock underwater garden, like something you'd see under the ocean.

The "Underwater Ocean Garden" was highly overrated in the brochure and by this time, since we had visited the main attractions first, the kids (& the adults) were ready to go and hungry! If you have to skip any of the attractions; I'd recommend this one. It needs to be re-vamped!

However, overall we had a great day! The new children's exhibit was worth the drive, and the children had a fun time playing and splashing. I was glad that they were able to enjoy a "botanical garden." They were skeptical, at first, and thought their summertime could be enjoyed and spent better at the beach. It was a unique experience. We saw many mothers with small children there on "playdates."

Immediately after I posted our experience on my FaceBook, a friend mentioned that she attended a wedding there. It seemed like a beautiful place to get married, because they have a gorgeous gazebo, but I'm not sure about facilities to host the reception? I guess you'll have to call...

Enjoy!

http://www.qbgardens.org/
Garden Hours 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily, except Christmas and New Years Day.
Admission: Adults - $12.00; Seniors, Students and Active Military - $8.00; Children (3-12)
- $6.00; 2yrs old and under - Free!
Members
Free*
Parking = $2.00 (unless - you GO GREEN & Carpool - GreenCarpool to QBG and Go Green. If you have 4 people or more in your car when you come to QBG we will waive the parking fee.

Free admission on the first Tuesday of every month!

Our trip to Bodie, California - A famous California Ghost Town

We drove up to beautiful, mountainous Mammoth, California to enjoy a week's vacation of hiking, and fishing, and gorging on mouth watering, flaky pastries from the local bakery, and eating breakfast every day at "The Stove" restaurant. The hiking was amazing and included viewing Devil's Postpile, which is a geological miracle -- hexagons formed from volcanic activity pressing up through the earth's core to cool against the icy mountaintop and break into perfect hexagons. Amazing! We also toured the San Adreas Fault line and showed the kids how the earth's surface is connected to underlying plates which are jutted up against one another -- pushing, pulling, shoving and constantly moving - sometimes creating earthquakes -- the kids mouth's were wide open!

However, the highlight of our trip was stumbled upon by accident. Looking through the vacationers guide in our Condo we saw an advertisement for Bodie. It didn't look too far away (12 miles) and said "historical" which always appeals to me.

The 12 miles seemed long, but the lake view on the way is incredible. The last 4 or 5 miles is on dirt, and there's a dirt road up to the town, through the mountains which was a little sketchy for me, not liking heights or dirt roads (I'm a city girl, what can I say?).

However, as we drove over the top of the hill into Bodie -- my mouth dropped down...way down! There before us were little houses and outhouses and an old cemetery and church. I felt like we were walking onto the set of "Little House on the Prairie" and I'd swear I saw Laura running down the flower covered hill on the side of the town followed by Jack, her dog.

Anyway, I could hardly wait for my husband, Brian, to park the car (they had a nice asphalt lined parking lot available -- thank you!), and there was a minimal fee to enter the park which is owned & maintained by the State of California.

I jumped out of the car and sprinted over to the artifacts near the bathroom. Amazing equipment and tools left out in the open just as if someone dropped them yesterday (but they were left over 100 yrs ago!). The State Park had nice restroom facilities -- no, we weren't expected to use the outhouses!

It was mildly warm (we were there in July), but not overbearing even though it was summertime in Cali. My 11 year old daughter, SweetP, and I ran down into Main Street where there was a church, the door open for viewing. It was perfect with pews and steeple and everything! The only object that had been taken by thieves was the "10 Commandments" hanging above the pastor's pulpit, go figure!? Given that one of the Commandments is "Thou Shalt Not Steal."

The main rush to Bodie had started in 1877 with the formation of the Standard Mining Company. In 1879 Bodie boasted a population of 8,000 people with 47 saloons, houses, brothels, and 6 restaurants, 7 barber shops, and of course - a Wells Fargo Office. There was many a shooting on the weekends with most of the population consisting of young, ambitious men hoping to stake a claim and strike it rich! In 1878 the school opened and a Methodist preacher started the church. In that same year a baseball team was started and a brass band. In 1881, Bodie started to decline in population and in 1887 only 1500 residents were left! Talk about a boom & bust! Much of the town was destroyed in 1932, but thankfully enough buildings were spared in the fire to preserve this quaint town with so much history to tell us.

We walked all around the town --viewing homes with stables out back, oggling outhouses (they were sooo cool!), the gold refinery, blacksmith shop, what was left of the bank (they had a robbery, of course), and the home of a relative of Teddy Roosevelt. The school was one of the most amazing buildings. You can look inside the window and see the schoolroom plain as day; it looked like the students and teacher had been in a rush to leave and left everything behind - when they left it was close to Halloween for there were decorations everywhere. Fitting for a ghost town! We theorized that maybe a large blizzard was predicted and people just dropped everything and high tailed it out of there.

Another fascinating building was the morgue. It looked more like a quaint little shop, but filled with caskets -- sadly, some were very tiny. A carriage with large black plumes was parked out back ready to carry its next passenger into the cemetery, which wasn't far away.

The mercantile was filled to the brim with tools and supplies and dress making patterns -- just like the Olsens's Mercantile in Walnut Creek!

Most of the homes were locked up and visitors are forced to peek through windows (which feels awkward to be a peeping Tom). A couple of the homes were open for visitors to walk through. We saw wallpapered walls, and beds, and tables, and an old fashioned stove. It was amazing to be walking through a home that had not been lived in for over 100 years!

There was a free tour offerred, which we didn't take, only because we discovered it at the end of our visit. A small, quaint museum offerred hundreds of artifacts which had been recovered and preserved.

I love history and so does my oldest daughter --we were like kids in a candy store. I could have spent at least one more day at Bodie.

When we asked the rangers if they believed there was still gold in dem' dare hills -- one was brave enough to reply - "yes, absolutely, but don't even think about it -- it's protected by the state of California and a criminal offense to even attempt to mine." -- hmmm, maybe an answer to our state budget crisis?

The stories from there are amazing and poignant and powerful and tragic. I hope you make the trip to discover them for yourselves. It's well worth it!

I can't encourage you enough to visit Bodie, California -- it's like taking a time machine into the 1880's!