12th Wedding Anniversary - Norfolk Botanical Garden


An Airport Ambassador captures Ruth and Joe at Norfolk International, Virginia.

Ruth and Joe’s Twelfth Wedding Anniversary Day Trip on US Airways, November 10, 2008: Photos and Ruth's Haiku

We flew to visit Norfolk Botanical Garden on the 10th day of the 11th month on our 12th anniversary (10 11 12). The Garden is celebrating its 70th anniversary (1938 - 2008)!

 

While Ruth walked from Norfolk airport to the Garden during layovers as an off-duty crewmember, our first visit together came to be today. We sat in the sunshine at Friendship Pond with its gorgeous fountain and ate the gourmet picnic lunch we had packed.

 

After strolling through lovely garden paths and enjoying a tram tour of the trails, we bought a delicious slice of chocolate cake at the Garden Café to share on the terrace overlooking the tranquil Japanese Garden.  The weather was cloudless and delightful, the scenery peaceful and gorgeous, and the locals nice and friendly. Airplanes coming and going were full this day (Veterans Day weekend), and we were very thankful we had seats—together—on our selected flights.

 

At 2:30 in the afternoon we exited the Garden Gate, headed back to check in for our 3:45 p.m. - 5:02 p.m. flight home, and arrived comfortably and safely in plenty of time for our chiropractor Dr. Marc Surprenant's 7 p.m. Dinner with the Doc at the upscale Ballantyne Village, catered by Southpark's Earth Fare. A wonderful stress-free conclusion to a marvelously beautiful day celebrating a dozen years of our marriage!

 

Pause the mouse on a picture for its caption. Click a photo to enlarge, & a title to jump to the photo series.

The Title Photos:

We walked over to the Garden from the airport, out the front of the terminal, across the metered parking lot, and through the Garden gate, beginning and ending our reflective visit at Mirror Lake. The Hofheimer Camellia Garden, created in 1992 in memory of Alan J. and Aline F. Hofheimer, founding members of the Virginia Camellia Society. Norfolk Botanical Garden strives to "promote for the people of Tidewater, Virginia, a Garden that will always remain an inspiration, and lead the home gardener to greater enjoyment and accomplishment" in their own yard, and to "present rare and exotic plants in variety only exceeded by few other sections of the world" (NBG mission statement, 1958). Magnificent design and beauty modeled along classic lines of the Italian Renaissance of the late 16th century! Behind the water lies a grand coronation court, the traditional International Azalea Queen crowning site each April.

Mirror Lake, at the Norfolk Botanical Garden Historic Area

Hofheimer

Camellia Garden

Around Baker Hall Visitor Center

Renaissance Garden & Coronation Court
 
The city selected Norfolk Municipal Garden to be the scenic backdrop of the International Azalea Festival, an annual festival that celebrates the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries. Our plane at Norfolk International Airport, a public airport three miles (5 km) northeast of the central business district of the city of Norfolk, Virginia, USA. Ready to climb with the ever-changing computer age, technologically advanced Norfolk was the first airport to develop its own web site, and the newly installed Internet access booths let travelers plug in and log on for e-mail, banking, business, and reservations. Flying home above Norfolk International, the third busiest airport in Virginia (behind Washington Dulles and Washington National, respectively).

Bicentennial Rose Garden and across to the NATO Tower

Norfolk

International Airport

US973ORFCLT: Ground Portion

US973ORFCLT: Flight Segment
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"The mission of Norfolk Botanical Garden is to enrich life by promoting the enjoyment of plants and environment through beautiful gardens and educational programs."
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Mirror Lake, at the Norfolk Botanical Garden Historic Area [Return to Title Photos]
Starting out on the Garden's 12 miles of exquisite walking paths, we stopped at Mirror Lake Loop to take our first 12th wedding anniversary photos. The idea for Norfolk Botanical Garden came from Frederic Heutte, a young horticulturalist, and Thomas P. Thompson, Norfolk City Manager 1935-1938. The city of Norfolk provided 75 acres of high, wooded ground & another 75 acres—155 acres of peninsula on the Little Creek Reservoir—to establish a city garden. Heutte and Thompson believed, with Hampton Roads' uniquely suited climate, Norfolk's azalea garden could rival those drawing thousands of tourists annually in Charleston, S.C., even during the depression years.
 
A crew of more than 200 African American women and 20 men assigned to the Azalea Garden project labored dawn until dusk, cleared dense vegetation, and carried the equivalent of 150 truck loads of dirt by hand to build a levee for the Mirror Lake. The laborers received twenty-five cents an hour for their hard work. In less than a year, by March 1939, the African American WPA (Works Progress Administration) workers planted four thousand azaleas, two thousand rhododendrons, several thousand miscellaneous shrubs and trees, and a hundred bushels of daffodils. Autumn leaf litter with vibrant red and yellow colors: deciduous sweet gum and maple leaves surround a cypress tree cone resting on fallen forest foliage. By 1941, five miles of walking trails showcased 75 landscaped acres displaying nearly 5000 azaleas. To show city support, the name changed in 1955 from Azalea Garden to Norfolk Municipal Gardens.
       
       
       
       
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Hofheimer Camellia Garden [Return to Title Photos]
The predominant camellias in this garden are varieties of Camellia japonica (almost 500 different types) and Camellia sasanqua (more than 20 different types). The camellia garden features one of the largest collections of camellias on the East Coast and more than a hundred other species and hybrids. Friendship Pond and Mirror Lake complete the watery milieu in the Garden's 155 acres of gardens; the water features & fountains add attractive sounds & motion. Ruth at Hofheimer Camellia Garden's Friendship Pond, showcasing approximately 700 of more than 1,600 camellia plants that grow in Norfolk Botanical Garden.
The American Public Gardens Association's North American Plant Collection Consortium (NAPCC) named the Garden's camellia collection an Official North American Collection in 1997, one of only two NAPCC collections focusing on camellias. The large Hofheimer camellia collection features more than 500 varieties that thrive in Southeastern Virginia and reach peak bloom during fall & winter, displaying dazzling color when few other flowers blossom. Camellia japonica and Camellia sasanqua are among the Garden's featured November/December blooms. Water plays an important part in the scenery throughout Norfolk Botanical Garden, which is surrounded on three sides by Lake Whitehurst.
The International Camellia Society named the Camellia collection a Garden of Excellence in 2001, one of only 11 gardens with this designation in the world. Camellias, some of the toughest plants in a garden, tolerate harsh pruning, windstorms, occasional tidal flooding, and tourist traffic. Yellow jacket (right) zooms in on a bloom. The Garden's camellia collection, including 1,100 varieties, was cited as one of 10 national collections in 1997. Small-leaved, fall-flowering Camellia sasanquas are early bloomers. Big-leaved, winter-blooming Camellia japonicas steal the spotlight in January.
       
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Around Baker Hall Visitor Center [Return to Title Photos]
Crepe myrtle leaf color floats in a Sunken Garden pool. We enjoyed an overview of peaceful scenes like this in the 8-minute video of the Garden and learned a lot from Visitor Services Senior Assistant, Sandy Griebel. Brilliant crepe myrtle foliage graces the parking lot. Boat Basin: the place to embark for a boat tour. Scenic canals divide the garden into three major sections.
       
       
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Renaissance Garden & Coronation Court [Return to Title Photos]
Mossy-based spouting lion fountain. View coming from the Matson Garden, where a mated pair of bald eagles raised a family of 3 eaglets in March from their nest about 90 feet up a loblolly pine tree overlooking Renaissance Garden & Coronation Court. A reflection of the Garden's plants and flowers from all over the world, with something for everyone to enjoy. The misty rainbow spray accentuates Renaissance Garden—spouting lion, vista, terraces, stone fences, statues of the seasons, reflecting pool, and fountain.
       
       
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NATO Tower and Bicentennial Rose Garden [Return to Title Photos]
Joe from the top of the NATO Tower with an airplane approaching the runway just past the NATO vista. The NATO Tower, named in honor of the nearby NATO installation, provides a birds-eye view of the area with redwoods and blue atlas cedars. "Great Blue Herons", a public commission wildlife sculpture by William Turner and David Turner. Impressive 3.5 acre rose garden produces peak bloom May and October: 3,000 rose bushes of 430 varieties, one of the largest collections on the East Coast.
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
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Norfolk International Airport [Return to Title Photos]
Beautiful airport lobby, serving the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of southeast Virginia (along with Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport in Newport News) and northeast North Carolina. Surrounded by year-round beauty, the Norfolk International Airport has become a national role model for reconciling expanding air facilities and a delicate ecological sanctuary. We enjoyed awesome autumn weather on the Garden grounds and smooth air travel, both directions. Today's highs were in the upper 50º's Fahrenheit, in Charlotte, NC, as well as in Norfolk, VA.
Our pilots, seated in the cockpit, prepare the E 190 for departure, as the Embraer narrow body, twin-engined, medium range jet airliner, produced in Brazil, refuels. Joe (right) at our gate on Veterans Day, an annual American holiday honoring military veterans (a federal holiday and a state holiday in all states). Jetway connecting to our plane. As early as 1903, Hampton Roads also connected with aviation. The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, Virginia, was one of the first newspapers in the country to publish an eyewitness account of the Wright Brothers historic first flight. Our pilot on his walk-around inspection, participating in the 200 ORF daily arrivals & departures to & from major American cities, ranking ORF in the country's top 65 airports in terms of passengers served annually.
       
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US973ORFCLT: Boarding and Pushback
Leaving the gate. US Airways Magazine in our seat back pocket. Departing the terminal. Final preparations for taxi.
Joe likes to fly. Announced at the 1999 Paris Air Show and entering production in 2002, the E 190 aircraft—like the ones we flew on this day—is experiencing ongoing success. Commonly referenced with simply an "E" prefix, this jet is technically still an Embraer Regional Jet ("ERJ"). Good-bye!
       

US973ORFCLT: Taxi [Return to Title Photos]
Glimpse of Baker Hall Visitor Center taxiing; Norfolk's Botanical Garden is located on the airport grounds. The neighboring Garden, creating a beautiful buffer between the Airport & the outside world, provides an educational experience entertaining visitors of all ages. In 1938, city-owned Truxton Manor Golf Course converted to Norfolk Municipal Airport. This site became southern Tidewater's permanent home for commercial air travel. Gibbous moon over our C23 taxiway, adjacent to the grounds of the botanical garden on Lake Whitehurst, about 4 miles northeast of downtown Norfolk.
       
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US973ORFCLT: Take-off
The control tower whizzes by on take off. Airborne runway view. Lift off offers an aerial view of downtown Norfolk. Our wingspan view of 28.72 m (94 ft 3 in) ends with a winglet: computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis design allowed the airliner to cut fuel consumption.
       

US973ORFCLT: Climb to Altitude [Return to Title Photos]
Leaving the airspace of Norfolk International Airport, which covers an area of 1,300 acres (5.3 km2). Excellent window view from our comfortable seats in the E-190 family, a larger stretch of the E-170 model in the 100-seat range fitted with a new, larger wing and a new GE CF34-10E engine, rated at 18,500 lb (82.30 kN). Pondering our lovely visit and planning a return trip to Norfolk Botanical Garden and its Flowering Arboretum at 6700 Azalea Garden Road, Norfolk, Virginia! We'd like to return and see the gardens brilliantly abloom with one of the East Coast's largest display of azaleas, early April to mid-June.

Most browsers (like Internet Explorer) display all 68 hover captions accompanying these scenes with picturesque prose.

 

 

 

 

Our twelfth wedding anniversary Norfolk Botanical Garden visit portrayed in poetry:

 

— Ruth's Haiku—

 

Airport Garden Stay:

Fall foliage, flowers, fountains,

Round trip in one day.

 

 

 

Photos and Webpage:  (of and by) Ruth and Joe

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