Daycation, Part One

We went for a "Daycation" on Saturday.  Maggie loves "daycations" and likes to tell us the difference between a "daycation" and a "vacation".  She gets a kick out of the simplest things!  I will probably be breaking this post up into two because we did a couple of really fun things while we were out.  We drove up to the Mendocino Coast to a town named Fort Bragg.  It's absolutely gorgeous there.  If you have never had the opportunity to see the Mendocino Coast line, you need to.  It's my absolute favorite place to visit.  I love to drive down to the little town of Mendocino and walk through all the neat little stores.  There is a great little shop that has the biggest and best chocolate covered strawberries!  And a really fun toy store that has lots of toys from way back when.  But now I am getting off on a completely different subject, as we didn't do that this weekend!  LOL  We ended up staying in Fort Bragg and going to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens and then we headed to Glass Beach.  Today's post will be about the Gardens!

The garden is 47 acres of beauty.  As you walk down the trails and pathways you find yourself at the back of the garden right along side the coastline.  There are benches that sit in lush green grass so you can sit and watch the water rise up and crash on the giant rocks in the water.  The Pacific Ocean is breathtaking.  We really couldn't have picked a more beautiful day.  We all dressed warm thinking it was going to be chilly by the water, but everyone took off hats, sweatshirts and enjoyed the warmth the sunshine provided!

This is the season when the Rhododendrons, Camellias, Daffodils, Magnolias, and a few other flowers are in full bloom.  The colors were so deep, bright.  They were truly amazing.  Here is just a small glimpse into what we got to see!

Aren't they beautiful!  And there was so much more, I just didn't know which pictures to share!  LOL

And here are a few of the ocean shots. 

And a couple of random pictures from the garden

We really had a wonderful time.  I can see where you could really spend a couple of hours just combing through all the little trails and pathways.  I have read that there is about 130-150 different species of birds in the gardens as well.

I am looking forward to going back in September when the Dahlia's are in bloom.  They are one of my favorites!

I can't wait to share Glass Beach with you! What a neat beach with a very interesting story!