Almost directly across the street from Huntington Beach State Park is Brookgreen Gardens, which is touted as "a unique melding of art, nature, and history." It is all that and more! Brookgreen Gardens accreditations makes clear how unique this place is: "Brookgreen Gardens is one of the few institutions in the United States to earn accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, as well as being designated a National Historic Landmark and being listed on the National Register of Historic Places."
Those who know us may think that with John's knowledge of history and museums, and my interest in gardening and art, we set out for the Huntington Beach area specifically in search of this unique place, but in fact it was a serendipitous find - a once-in-a-lifetime find, to which we plan to return later in March to see it for a second time in its full early springtime blooming glory!
As it was, we visited this treasure in mid/late February when some of the earliest blooming trees, shrubs, and bulbs were just emerging. Brookgreen has a fascinating history which I will not repeat on the blog but will encourage anyone who is interested to find our more about the history and intent of this amazing creative endeavor to follow this link and/or Google the name to learn more. My camera and I went crazy, and though I've tried to limit the photos I include here, its been difficult to pick from the plethora of photos I took.
