7/26/2010
Since we spent way longer on the Old Mission Peninsula than we had thought we would the almost four hour drive to Grand Rapids that night seemed very daunting. We were back to using the GPS and it sent us on some very indirect, unpaved country roads. They all had names based upon the lengths of the roads – 8 Mile Road, 29 ½ Mile Road, etc. Who settled this place? Robots?
We eventually made it to the Grand Rapids Best Western. Again, a very nice hotel we got very cheaply using Priceline’s Name-Your-Own-Price feature. Thanks, William Shatner.
In the morning we took the short drive to the Frederick Meijer Gardens. Apparently, the founder of the Meijer grocery chain was really into collecting modern art. Now his collection is peppered around a hundred-odd acres of botanical gardens.
I thought this was a bit pricey for what it was - $12 a person. When I showed the ticket lady my little AAA keychain card she insisted on seeing my actual full-sized wallet card. This is for a 50 cent discount, lady. Speaking of which, I know I used to praise these AAA discounts, but more often than not I’ve noticed these “50 cents off!” deals. In this case, that’s barely 4%. Well, whoop-dee-doo!
Anyway, onto the gardens. The plant life was very pretty, but we weren’t too in love with the art. I know all art is subjective, and modern art doubly so. At one point on our walk I saw a large, slanted cube on display. A couple of yards away was another black cube. The same artist? I wondered. Nope. This cube had a little sign next to it explaining that the statue was being renovated. I was staring at a pedestal. I couldn’t tell the difference. Am I a philistine or what?
The centerpiece of the collection is The American Horse, based on sketches by Leonardo. In which case shouldn’t it have been called The Venetian Horse? Never mind.
There was also a very large children’s garden. Daniel had a lot of fun playing with a room-sized model of the Great Lakes, with little boats and mini-waterfalls to splash in.
Daniel made a friend and made me proud. A little one-year old boy gibber-jabbered to him, and Daniel gibber-jabbered back. Despite being baby talk it seemed like a real conversation. They splashed around for a little bit and then Daniel picked up a toy sailboat and gave it to his new friend to play with. What a cool kid, huh?
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