The magical world of Chanticleer.

A few months ago my friend Kristilyn sent me a link from NPR about some gardens in Pennsylvania that sounded amazing. I had been waiting all summer for a road trip to check out Chanticleer, and we finally made it happen a few weeks ago.

If it seems like this blog is a little garden heavy, well, it is. I'm amazed how many gardens there are in this area. When I told the kids we would be going on an adventure...to another garden!! they were not excited. (We had actually just been to Brookside Gardens the day before.) But I knew they would love it, just like they love all the gardens. And they did. (I didn't mention that we were actually going to TWO gardens. You can't pass up Longwood Gardens when it's just down the road. But more on that in the next garden post.)

Chanticleer is my new favorite place. The NPR article declared it to be one of the most delightful gardens in the world. My garden visits aren't that worldwide, but I would have to agree. We all fell in love with Chanticleer. The girls said they wished they lived there. We explored for several hours and could have spent much longer just lingering in one of the many gardens. Every path brought a new surprise. Wide open spaces to run, secret paths through the woods, streams to play in, ponds with fish, ruins covered in greenery, and unique chairs of all sizes and materials.

There were several uniquely designed drinking fountains throughout the gardens. Definitely a highlight for Oliver.

Oliver (if you can spot him), lagging behind and doing his own thing.

The "ruins" were were my favorite spot. It was like being on a Tim Burton set. It was built to look like the ruins of a house that had been there before.

There were statue heads floating in the water.

Oliver worked on this peach for a long time.

This sculpture, made to look like a fallen tree, was a fun surprise on our walk through the woods.