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We had our usual breakfast. The weather was supposed to be bad today - snowy and such. So, we decided to take time off from location scouting and play tourist.
Our first stop was Molly Brown's house and museum. Nice place! We were there almost two hours, including browsing the gift shop. Photography wasn't allowed inside the house and there were too many obstacles parked in front for pictures of the exterior, so no photos of this house.
Our next stop was the Denver Botanical Gardens. We had soup at the snack bar and chatted with some people taking a master gardener class. Very interesting. Then we walked around the conservatory. I took lots of pictures.
The planting area near the front entrance had pots of tulips mixed with the regular plantings. These are some of the photos I took there.
The photos above were taken inside the conservatory at the Denver Botanical Gardens. The photo on the left is of a flower that I couldn't find a name for. If anyone can identify this or any of the other unidentified flowers on this page, please contact me. The center photo is an overview of part of the conservatory from the upper level. The photo on the right is a red hibiscus.
More flowers from the conservatory. The photo on the left is an interesting flower from a freycinetia cumingiana, a member of the screwtape family. The center photo is a flower from a Chinese yellow banana (musella lasiocarpa). And the photo on the right is one of the many unidentified orchids in the orchid area of the conservatory.
The three photos above show different leaf patterns. Each of these leaves is huge!
More colorful goodies from the conservatory. The photo on the left is, I think, another variety of ginger. The center photo shows the colorful leaves of a 'Pink Diamond' Ti plant. The photo on the right shows a flower and some fruit on a banana tree, taken from the upper level.
While on the upper level of the conservatory, I spotted this little fella shown at the right. I didn't know if he was trying to escape or had just found an opportunity to carve a niche for himself. Obviously, a seed had landed and taken root.
Back outside to wander the grounds for a while. It's a nice place, even in the dead of winter. I'd love to see it again in the spring! Some of my exterior photos follow.
The photo to the left above shows an agave plant (after blooming) with the conservatory in the background. The center photo shows a statue of children playing leapfrog reflected in a reflecting pool. The statues around the Botanical Gardens at this time are part of the Chapungu collection touring the country. The photo to the right is of maiden grass the way it looks in winter.
The photo on the left above shows a fountain that dominates the outside area with the conservatory in the background. The photo to the right shows a reflecting pond. I'm sure that, in warmer weather, the pond is full of water and the lovely blue pots are full of flowers.
Near the entrance to the botanical gardens is a children's garden, full of places to dig and, in the summer, things to touch and smell. This area is marked by an archway with glass and metal "insects", two of which are pictured here. To the left is a glass lady bug and to the right is a glass spider, which perches in the center of the archway entrance.
We then navigated our way to the Downtown Aquarium, which was overpriced and a bit of a disappointment. I didn't even take my camera out while we were there.
We left there a little after 5 and headed for Sweet Tomatoes for our final hit before returning home. Then back to the motel for the evening.