When we started planning girls weekend, Stacy said she wanted to go to the Anderson Japanese Gardens. I added it to the list. We were planning on spending time in Rockford so this would be a good activity.
The Anderson Japanese Gardens is open seasonally 9-6 Monday-Friday and 9-5 on weekends. They do have a Christmas display in December. Admission is $14/adult. There are two parking lots. Our GPS took us to the overflow parking so we had to walk to the visitor center to pay but was right by the car when we finished.
It is 12-acre Japanese garden of winding paths, streams, waterfalls, & traditional architecture. That is a pretty accurate description. We saw more waterfalls at the Japanese Gardens than we did at Starved Rock State Park.
We picked up a map at the entrance and thought we would not get through the whole garden before it closed. We had about an hour. We managed to get through the whole garden before they closed.
Winding paths took you to various areas of the gardens. We both were expecting more flowers. It was a lot of greenery, waterfalls, and Zen like settings. Nevertheless, it was still very beautiful.
I really enjoyed all the waterfalls. I love the sound of falling water. There are several waterfalls all around the park in various forms.. babbling brooks to more straight down waterfalls. The waterfalls alone were worth the price of admission.
The gift shop is full of Japanese gifts and snacks. I would have like to try some snacks but didn't really want to carry them around the garden. Some of them looked intriguing.
Even though it wasn't what we were expecting, it was still worth the visit. It is a beautiful setting for a stroll or a wedding. It is definitely worth checking out when in Rockford.
No comments:
Post a Comment