Photo Friday: A Day In the Country

Last Friday, my husband took the day off to celebrate our anniversary. I spent a lot of time trying to come up with new things we could do, while still remaining outdoors and social distancing. I think I did a darned good job with this road trip to the country:

Our first stop was Secrest Arboretum, which is part of The Ohio State University's agricultural research center. It sits on 115 acres in Wooster, Ohio.

We were pleasantly surprised at how lovely it was and how many things were blooming, even in late July. This pond had koi fish swimming in it.

Lots of pathways, both paved and grassy. There were probably a dozen themed gardens to explore.

The entrance had a beautiful field of coneflowers in every color.

I was impressed with this granite table and seats. Pre-pandemic, I think it was to encourage people to use the gardens as a meeting place. Some people online said that they had sat and played board games.

There were a number of unique sitting areas, like this butterfly bench.

Or you could relax among the cacti.

We really enjoyed the tree walk and saw new things, like this Trembling Aspen. When the breeze blew through the leaves, it made a unique sound, similar to raindrops.

This fir tree was zebra striped. Very cool!

My husband and I had been joking in the car that we were going to pretend we were in Sonoma for the day, only seeing corn fields instead of grapevines. Imagine our surprise to see this redwood forest at the arboretum. They were called Dawn Redwoods and grow very quickly. The seeds were planted in the 1940's.

Speaking of Sonoma, our next stop was to this little country winery. We picked up a box of crackers with our flights and the grand total was $6. It wasn't California wine, but it was definitely drinkable.

And the view wasn't bad either!

After that, it was lunch time. We headed to Pine Tree Barn which sells home furnishings and Christmas decorations. We weren't there to shop though; we were headed to their restaurant that overlooks the pine trees.

It was a lovely day to dine outdoors. I had the veggie quiche and a cashew spinach salad with raspberry dressing. Afterwards, we walked around the downtown area in Wooster for a half hour before heading to our second winery of the day.

There were a few people seated to the right of the picture, but again, we had the place to ourselves for the most part. Well, it was us and a half dozen chickens who were running around.

This time, we got a bottle of red wine and took in the view. After a glass, we put the cork back in and finished the rest at home the next day. I don't have a photo of our last stop, but we were so inspired by the arboretum that we stopped at a greenhouse on the way home and picked up a half dozen new plants to try in our own backyard.

Anyone else have some upcoming road trips?