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.