A Beautiful Weekend

Why are weekends so short!? We returned last night from spending a beautiful, relaxing weekend in southern Delaware and Kennet Square, PA with some dear friends. The weekend consisted of lazy mornings paired with a visit to the famous Longwood Gardens, a chef's tasting dinner at Terrain and then we topped off the weekend by attending the horse races at Winterthur's Point-to-Point.

LONGWOOD GARDENS:

Longwood was originally owned by Pierre du Pont, of the du Pont empire, who proved to be one of the more gifted gardeners in the du Pont family. The land was originally a farm, owned by a Quaker family until Pierre purchased the farm and turned it into what is now today. In 1946, Pierre turned the gardens over to a foundation, and after his death in 1954 the first director was hired so that future generations could come and enjoy the immaculate expanse of flora.

Perfect symmetry

Secret Garden

Justin hitching a ride from his bud, Watchman

Roosting goose

Tree house!

 

There are miles of walking trails within these meadows

Smelly Ian, as the kids call him, giving fun stroller rides

Inside the conservatory 

Walking through the gardens is truly a magical experience. The morning we were there, there was a mist in the air, and I felt as though I had been plucked and dropped into a story book. Paths take you along small ponds filled with geese, through a field of rainbow colored flowers and a court of whimsical topiaries where  Alice of Alice in Wonderland could have easily jumped out behind one of the arbor creations. I highly recommend a visit!


TERRAIN:
I'm sure many of you are familiar with the shop, Terrain, that is owned by Anthropolgie/Urban Outfitters. Visiting this shop has been on my bucket list for a long time, and when I learned that our friend Ian had set up a dinner there for us, I had died and gone to heaven! First off, the shop is really more of a nursery but the non-plant items they have there are beautifully curated. I felt like my brown thumb was turning green on the spot as I walked through the beautiful displays. The Mister asked me if we could make our house look like this and of course my reply was, "Well yes! Just give me the credit card."

Sorry for the poor photos...I only had my iPhone with me!

Inspiration for our backyard

I had no clue that there was a restaurant at Terrain, and I died and went to heaven twice that night!  Our dinner reservations were for a chef's tasting menu, which meant rounds and rounds of delectable food continued to pour out of the kitchen. We passed plates and ate our meal tapas style as we all tasted the various dishes. We enjoyed everything from steak, duck, squid, soft-shell crab, lentils, fiddle head ferns, to pecan pie, strawberry rhubarb pie, and cappuccinos. I literally rolled out of my chair...All the food was local and organic, and we had the chance to chat with chef at the end of dinner in hopes of stealing some of his secrets!

Dinner in the greenhouse

Our beautiful table setting

 WINTERTHUR POINT-TO-POINT:
(Brownie points to you if you are still reading) On Sunday, we got all gussied up in our hats, bow-ties, and preppy-wear for the Point-to-Point races at Winterthur. The Mister and I went two years ago and had a blast although it was a whopping 98 degrees that year. Thankfully, we were greeted at the races with a breeze in the air and slightly overcast skies that made the afternoon perfectly pleasant.  I'm an animal lover and loved being around the horses and dogs, but the best part was the people watching...seriously. On so many occasions I wanted to snap some photos of what-not-to-wear sightings, but I had brought my manners.

Here's our motley crew...we tried out best to not end up on the "not-to-wear" list!

Here is a taste of the action:

                                   

It was an amazing weekend!!! Here's to next Friday!