Exploring Our Town - Botanical Gardens

Last Saturday was free Museum Day (I had posted this on Facebook last week) and we chose to go to the Idaho Botanical Gardens.  I had downloaded our tickets a few days before and we decided to go first thing in the morning before the crowds.  It was a gorgeous day, still hazy from the forest fires, but sunny and warm.  Perfect temperature for enjoying the gardens.

Even in fall the gardens are gorgeous.  We really liked all of the paths and trails that wind through to various spaces.  We took our time enjoying each place we found ourselves in, even checking out the darling playhouse in one of the children's gardens.

We spent a good two hours roaming about and as we prepared to leave we were happy we had decided to come early as loads of people were coming in as we left.  I prefer to roam these gardens when it is quiet and it was about to become anything but that soon enough.  Lots of families were there to take advantage of Museum Day.

I think it is a wonderful thing to have museums and gardens to visit and even more wonderful when they can offer discount or free days so they can be enjoyed by people that might otherwise not be able to afford it.  Especially with large families the admission adds up to a pretty hefty chunk of change.  Just for our little family admission to the gardens would have been $21 and not something we would have done that day, although it is well worth the price.

If you live in Boise or find yourself here visiting I strongly recommend the Idaho Botanical Gardens as a place to visit.  It is located off of Warm Springs Avenue and is right next to the Old Idaho Penitentiary, another great place to visit as well.  From here you can take advantage of many walking and hiking trails including the one that leads up to the cross on top of Table Rock.

I feel very blessed to live in such a beautiful city that offers so much to the people that live here.