While I was in San Diego, my friends and I walked around the botanical garden in Encinitas. It was the perfect day for it; the sun was hitting all the flowers and plants just right.
Thank you for looking at these photos I took and reading along! I hope you enjoyed ♡
I was just in San Diego visiting my friends, and you know I had to go see the sea lions! Please enjoy these photos from the La Jolla coastline.
I had heard from a coworker that there was an island along the coast of Maryland that had a beach and wild horses. It wasn’t until two years later, on a weekend trip to Ocean City with some friends, that I saw for myself.
The beach was so pretty. And the sky looked like it had been painted. I took a lot of pictures of the soft pink clouds hanging just above the horizon.
After admiring the views and tossing around a volleyball for a while, we packed up our beach gear and got into our cars to search for the horses.
I don’t know how, because as far as I remember, we were wandering pretty aimlessly, but we drove onto a street that was meant to be blocked off (only no one was manning the tollbooth). Almost immediately, we spotted two horses, and as we continued to drive, we could see groups of them at different points along the road.
I knew there would be a beach. I knew there would be wild horses. But I had no idea that Assateague Island also had coastal wetlands! And they were amazing.
I’m so glad we ended up taking this day trip to Assateague Island. We got in some beach time, saw the selling point (the horsies, of course), and even stumbled upon an entirely new ecosystem we weren’t expecting to find there. And can we all agree that marshes are severely underrated? I think some of the best pictures I’ve ever taken are in this collection. Thank you for looking at them ♡
Last summer, I went to the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens to see the lotus flowers and water lilies. My coworker had told me about the Lotus & Water Lily Festival the year before, but I hadn’t made it in time to see the blooms. This summer, I was determined to see the aquatic gardens during peak season and take way too many pictures of the beautiful flowers. And that’s exactly what I did.
I had to get there early because it was supposed to get really hot on the day I decided to go, and the lotuses can close up in the heat. I made an entire spreadsheet with multiple tabs for the packing list, a map of the aquatic gardens and Anacostia River Trails, special events being offered that day, and a link to the Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens alerts and conditions webpage. I was definitely overprepared because I didn’t end up going to any of the special events or walking along the river; there was so much to see just walking around exploring the gardens all day.
Should you ever want to attend the Lotus & Water Lily Festival, please feel free to make use of the maps above and my non-exhaustive packing list.
These two very kind visitors standing near me while I was taking photos noticed my camera and pointed out a turtle in one of the ponds. It was so cute! Oh, to be a turtle climbing onto a lily pad on a sunny July afternoon…
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed these pictures even a little bit as much as I enjoyed taking them ♡
In July 2022, my family and I were in France for a wedding, and during the leg of the trip when we stayed in Paris, my mom and I went to a botanical garden called the Jardin des Plantes.
My mother has been doing flower arrangements since her late teens or early twenties and co-created the Flower Guild ministry for our church in 2002. Whenever I see a plant I don’t recognize or want to know more about, I can ask her. I’m still thinking of starting a podcast with my mom where we focus each episode on a certain plant and she answers my questions or tells any stories she might have about that plant. We’re perfectly situated to have a plant-themed podcast considering that her name is Fern.
Flowers are probably my favorite things to photograph, maybe because it’s difficult to take a bad picture of a flower (though I’ve definitely done it). I also love all of the variation you’ll see when you spend a lot of time looking at plants. It’s a reminder that there are so many different ways for something to be beautiful. So when I considered what my first photography post should be about, our trip to the Jardin des Plantes de Paris stood out in my mind.
They were so bold. The only ones security didn’t bother when they walked on the grass.
Thank you for reading! And for looking at some pictures I took while I had a nice day with my mom ♡
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