KENSINGTON GARDENS, LONDON: Respite from the Hustle and Bustle of City Life

South Flower Walk, Kensington Gardens, London.

It was a beautiful autumn day and it seemed that half of London was in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park—bicycling, jogging, pushing prams, walking dogs, or just enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. For us, it was our second full day in London, and a walk in the park seemed like a good way to combat jet lag. (Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park form a continuous green space in the center of London, totaling more than 600 acres. Once a private hunting ground for royalty, it became a public space in the 19^th century.)

At the Queen's Gate entrance to Kensington Gardens.

We entered the park at Queen’s Gate, just a few blocks from our hotel.  Inside the park entrance we oriented ourselves on the large map. There are dozens of crisscrossing paths, but maps posted throughout the park prevented us from getting lost.

The Kensington Gardens in literature. Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial in background.

At first, we followed a path through the flower garden. Our last visit to the park was in April, when spring flowers were just beginning to bloom. Now it was the end of the growing season with the plants were giving out a final burst of energy.

Autumn leaves.

From there we headed toward the Serpentine, the narrow lake in the center of the park. Near the lake is the Serpentine Art Gallery (temporarily closed) where we watched children enjoying a large outdoor sculpture that invites viewers to get lost amidst its hanging yellow fronds.

Penetrable BBL Jaune by Jesus Rafael Soto

Only one road crosses the park and it goes over the lake on a bridge. (To the east of the bridge the lake is called the Serpentine and is in Hyde Park. To the west it is called the Long Water and is in Kensington Gardens.) 

View of the Serpentine from the bridge.

As we stood at the center of the bridge we got a spectacular view of the lake and of Central London in the distance. 

Below us, water birds perched on pilings and swam in the water and people floated by in paddleboats.

Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park provide a refuge for wildlife in London.

We then continued along the edge of the lake on the Kensington Garden side, passing some swans, until we came to the Peter Pan monument. 

Swans.

Peter Pan monument.

I remember reading the Peter Pan book by J. M. Barrie when I was growing up and trying to imagine what it would be like to grow up in London.

Tree-lined walk.

Kensington Palace

It was then time to circle back to our starting point. As we crossed the middle of the park we could see Kensington Palace in the distance. On another trip we’ll have to explore the Round Pond and gardens around the palace that are open to the public.  

Map of Kensington Gardens.

PERRYSBURG, NY, HISTORICAL MUSEUM: Window Into the Past

Perrysburg, NY, Historical Museum. Holy Family painting by Mercy Ann Lockridge

A year ago, on this blog, I wrote about my great-great-grandmother’s painting, a family treasure that had been passed down through the generations to me. It is a copy of a famous Renaissance painting by Raphael called The Madonna of Divine Love. We called it The Holy Family. My great-great-grandmother, Mercy Ann Lockridge, painted The Holy Family in about 1865 while living in Western New York near the small town of Perrysburg in Cattaraugus County. I wanted to find a permanent home for the painting and the Perrysburg Historical Museum seemed like the perfect place. So, I donated it to the museum, shipping it from my home in California to Perrysburg. 

Perrysburg Historical Museum.

In July of this year I had a chance to visit Perrysburg and see The Holy Family in its new home, and to meet Steve Stockwell, the Perrysburg Town Historian. When we arrived, he greeted us at the door and gave us a personal tour.

Perrysburg, NY, Town Hall. 

The Perrysburg Historical Museum is housed in the Perrysburg Town Hall, a building that previously was the town school. The museum is open one Saturday a month, or by arrangement. The Holy Family is displayed in a former classroom, surrounded by other historical pieces--artwork, maps, photos and documents. 

The room is packed with books, furniture and cabinets filled with mementos, all tied to the people connected with Perrysburg’s past. I was pleased to see my father’s book, Lutie and Mercy Ann, about the Lockridge family, on display for interested visitors.

Steve Stockwell with antique firefighting equipment. Steve is a volunteer fireman.

Handmade wooden plank toboggan.

Two more rooms of the museum are on the ground floor level of the building and used for the display of larger items. In the room that was once the school gymnasium, antique firefighting equipment and a homemade toboggan are among the items on view.  

Scale model of the J.N. Adam Memorial Hospital.

Close-up of one of the main buildings of the sanitarium.

The other ground floor room is devoted to a huge 3-D scale model of the J.N. Adam Memorial Hospital, once the primary treatment site for tuberculosis patients in New York State. It is located just outside Perrysburg. The hospital operated as a tuberculosis treatment center from 1912 to 1960 and then was used as a mental health hospital until it closed in 1993. I recently read Light and Air, by Mindy Nichols Wendell, a historical novel set in 1935, at a time before antibiotics were widely used to treat tuberculosis. Although the book is written for children, adults can enjoy it too. It provides a sensitive look into life at the J.N. Adam hospital at the time. The author was inspired to write the book after a visit to Perrysburg.

Historical photos of the J.N. Adam Memorial Hospital.

Once an architectural showplace, the buildings of the J.N. Adam hospital have since fallen into ruin. Photos on the wall of the Perrysburg Historical Museum and the detailed model help preserve the memory of its grandeur and bring it back to life.

The wealth of local history in the Perrysburg Historical Museum is astounding. Although my ancestors only lived in Perrysburg for about a decade (in the 1870s and 1880s) I felt a real connection to the town. Mercy Ann’s daughter, my great-grandmother, was married in the Lockridge home in Perrysburg in 1875. (I have a copy of the invitation in our family mementos.) 

The former Chapman estate in Versailles, NY.

Among the guests at the wedding were Hiram and Maria Chapman from the nearby small town of Versailles. (Pronounced ver-sales.) Hiram Chapman was a well-known ship captain who sailed on Lake Erie and was a family friend.  It was the Chapman family who loaned Mercy Ann Lockridge their copy of The Holy Family so that she could make her own copy. (See my post of Sept 15, 2025 for the full story.) So, after leaving the museum, we did a short drive from Perrysburg to Versailles to see the Chapman home and the unusual grave marker for Hiram and Maria Chapman in the Versailles cemetery.

Grave marker for Hiram and Maria Chapman, Versailles, NY.

Western New York State is packed with history. Even if you don’t have a personal connection like I do, the Perrysburg Historical Museum is worth a visit if you are in the area and a fascinating window on an earlier time in American life.

The Chapman gravestone is in the shape of a tree trunk.

THE GARDENS AT LAKE MERRITT: One of Oakland's Hidden Treasures

Bonsai garden, the Gardens at Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA.

I first became aware of the Gardens at Lake Merritt after reading Caroline Hatton’s post about her visit to the bonsai garden in June 2025. This past summer, while I was in Oakland, I went there for the first time. While I had walked around Lake Merritt many times, I had somehow bypassed the gardens, which are tucked behind Fairyland, the historic playpark that inspired Walt Disney’s Disneyland. (Fairyland continues to be popular for families with young children.) The Gardens at Lake Merritt are in Lakeside Park at the end of the peninsula and above the boat house.

My family at the garden gate.

An ornate iron gate marks the main entrance to the Gardens at Lake Merritt. Inside the gate are a network of paths leading through the seven acres of themed gardens—a succulent and cactus garden, sundial garden, pollinator garden, rhododendron garden, to name just a few. MAP 

Succulent.

Immediately inside the gate one sees dozens of community garden plots where people have planted flowers and vegetables.

A pair of monarch butterflies.

Poppies gone to seed.

Agapanthus and acanthus in bloom.

We wandered the garden paths through sunshine and shade, eventually circling back to the bonsai garden near the entrance. 

Bonsai Garden.

Inside the bonsai enclosure, tiny trees are artfully displayed, each with an explanatory label. The garden is maintained by volunteers. We talked with several who explained how the trees are cared for and about the art of creating bonsai.

Daimyo Oak, quercus dentata. Donated by Dr. Robert Gotcher.

One of the most impressive tree is the oldest in the garden--the Daimyo Oak. "Historically, this is one of the most important bonsai and the longest in cultivation in the United States. In 1863, during Lincoln’s presidency, Anson Burlingame was envoy to China. This tree was a gift to him as he passed through Japan on his return to the United States. The peninsular city of Burlingame was named after Mr. Burlingame." 

For more about the Bonsai Garden go to Caroline Hatton's post BONSAI AND SUISEKI AT THE GARDENS OF LAKE MERRITT at this blog on June 8, 2026.

We visited the Gardens at Lake Merritt on a sunny Saturday morning in early July. The weather was pleasant, warm but not hot, and the garden was not crowded with people. It was the perfect day for a family outing. Afterwards we ate a delicious lunch at an Ethiopian restaurant on nearby Grand Avenue.

The Gardens at Lake Merritt are open Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 3:00 pm and on Weekends 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.  Entry is free.

Stone sculpture in the cactus garden.

HISTORIC LEWES, THE OLDEST TOWN IN DELAWARE

Replica of the Lewes Lighthouse, Lewes, Delaware.

The town of Lewes, founded in 1631 by Dutch settlers, is the oldest town in the state of Delaware. Located at the coast where Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean, it sits behind a long, sandy beach and grassy marsh.

Log cabin occupied by an early settler.

In early September, we spent a weekend in Lewes with our extended family, staying in a vacation house near the beach. Years ago, I had read a children’s book called Cornstalks and Cannonballs, about how the citizens of Lewes had defended their town when it was under siege by British warships during the War of 1812. The Cannonball House, the only building actually struck during the siege, is now a museum, the cannonball still embedded in its wall. During my visit I was curious to find out more about the story and about local history.

Historic buildings at the Lewes Historical Society Museum, Main Campus.

Lewes is filled with many historic sites and museums, following its course of history from the time of the native Americans (the Lenape) who have lived in the area for thousands of years, through the Revolutionary War and up to the 20^th Century. 

Site of the home of Leah Burton, an advocate of women's rights.

I started my explorations at the Lewes Historical Society Museum main campus, located on Ship Carpenter Street. There, in a park-like setting, a variety of structures are on display, moved there from their original sites. They range from a log cabin used originally as a dwelling, to a schoolhouse, a doctor’s office, a general store and several other buildings. Refreshments are available at the historic Sussex Tavern.

Schoolhouse bell. Wooden shingles were common on 19th Century buildings.

19th Century school room. Desktops have holes for ink bottles.

Until the 1960s Lewes schools were segregated. They were not fully integrated until 1966.

Although the schoolhouse is meant to reflect those typical of earlier generations, the wooden desks are exactly the same as the ones I sat at in my elementary school in the 1950s.  I remember when my third grade teacher passed out bottles of ink so we could practice our penmanship.

Revolutionary War surgical instruments.

Detailed signs throughout the park explain the significance of exhibits and make it easy to do a self-guided tour. And in the general store—filled with antiques available for purchase—there is a volunteer to answer questions and provide information to visitors. From her I learned that in the book about Lewes that I had remembered so well, the story had been fictionalized. The cannonballs and bravery of the citizens is all true, but there never were any cornstalks painted black to look like rifles. 

Antique dolls.

Singer sewing machine.

Among the antiques on display at the house behind the general store were a China doll similar to one my mother played with as a child and a Singer sewing machine just like my grandmother’s. I first learned to sew on her treadle machine.

Train outside the Lewes History Museum.

From there I went to the Lewes History Museum at the town Community Center at 101 Adams Avenue. It is located in what used to be the town library, now in a new larger building next door. At the museum we saw an excellent short video about the history of Delaware. Parked outside, between the Community Center and Library is a historic Pennsylvania Railroad train, complete with engine, coal car and caboose.

Zwaanendael Museum, built in 1931 to honor the 300th anniversary of Lewes.

The Historical Society also operates the Zwaanendael Museum, which features the maritime, civil and social history of Lewes, and is built in the Dutch style of the 17th Century.  We didn’t have time to go inside or to visit all of the other historical sites of Lewes in our short visit. Clearly, we will have to return some day! If we go there five years from now, we will be on time for the celebration of its 400th year!

WEEKEND AT THE BEACH, LEWES, DELAWARE: Sun, Sand and Nature

Beach at Cape Henlopen State Park, Lewes, Delaware.

As gentle waves lapped the shore of Delaware Bay in Lewes, Delaware. gulls skwawked overhead, children flew kites and built sandcastles, and beach goers enjoyed the water and fresh air. It was Labor Day weekend and the weather was perfect. We were in Lewes for a family reunion. During our stay we took several walks on the beach and along the paths in nearby Cape Henlopen State Park. As always, we had our eye out for birds and other wildlife. Here is some of what we saw.

All along the water's edge, we watched shorebirds foraging for food. Delaware is on the Eastern Flyway of North America, followed by millions of birds on their annual migrations. 

Laughing gull (juvenile).

Semipalmated plover.

Ring-billed gull.

Besides birds, we also found the remains of both blue crabs and hermit crabs that had washed up along the shore.

Atlantic blue crab.

Hermit crabs. The long tail is called a telson. The crabs come on shore on warm summer nights to mate and lay eggs.

I wrote about hermit crabs in my book Living Fossils: Clues to the Past but had never seen them in person. I was thrilled to find them on the beach at Lewes. Horseshoe crabs have been around for a long time. "One hundred and fifty thousand years ago, a horseshoe crab crawled onto the shore of a shallow lagoon in what is now southern Germany and searched for worms and shellfish in the damp sand. Nearby, dinosaurs preyed on insects and small animals, and lizards sat in the sun. In the air, winged reptiles soared and one of the earliest birds, archaeopteryx, flapped its wings."

The dinosaurs and winged reptiles are long gone. We only know about them from their fossil remains, but horseshoe crabs are still with us, changed little from ancient times. They are living fossils. 

Jellyfish are also ancient creatures. One afternoon we found dozens of them washed up on the sand. Some were nearly ten inches in diameter. We had to be careful not to step on them. Some jellyfish can give a nasty sting, although the moon jellyfish usually does not.

Moon jellyfish (Aurelia sp.)

Cape Henlopen State Park.

We also visited Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, formerly a military site, and now a place for public recreation. As well as a large public beach, the park has a campground and many trails for walkers, joggers and bikers. We took a path from the parking lot at Herring Point that went through coastal woodland and tidal wetlands.

On our walk we followed well-marked level paths through the woodland and across the marsh. 

View from the bridge. The marshland seems to go on forever.

Goldenrod along the path.

We thoroughly enjoyed our three days at the beach and the chance to reune with our family and create new memories. We would love to go back someday.

On the path near our rental house over the dunes to Lewes beach.