Fall in Central Park

After we visited the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, we headed over to Central Park to enjoy the fall colors. We ended up in the northernmost part of the park, a section that we hadn't been to before. It was so beautiful.

On the way to the park, we found this statue of Fredrick Douglass. He is one of Brian's favorite historical figures. Fredrick Douglass was born into slavery, but eventually taught himself to read, escaped to freedom and went on to become an author, newspaper publisher and influential abolitionist. His speech "Self Made Men" is one of Brian's favorites. And he had some seriously awesome hair.

The park was gorgeous. It was a beautiful fall day, clear and crisp with lots of sunshine. The trees were filled with bright yellows, reds and oranges and the sound of crunching leaves filled the air as we walked over the fallen ones.

We found Harlem Meer. The water was so still that it reflected the surrounding trees and buildings. We stopped here for lunch and it was such a nice place. So quiet and peaceful. A little slice of heaven in the busy, noisy city.

We found the portion of the park called the North Woods. It was designed specifically to look like the forests of the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. I could have stayed there for ever! It was wonderful and I soaked up the beauty and stillness and fresh air as much as I could.

Before leaving the park, we visited the Conservatory Gardens. They reminded me a lot of the Buchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada, where Brian took me on our honeymoon. These are the only formal gardens in Central Park. We wandered through the northern section that is French in design. It is circular in shape with a fountain of three maidens in the center.

There was a border of mums in this part of the garden. They were so pretty. It was fun to see all the colorful blooms, especially since winter will be here so soon.

We passed by this fun little walkway as we were heading toward the center portion of the garden. I love the lines of the tree trunks.

The center section of the conservatory gardens consists of a giant lawn surrounded by manicured hedges.

We didn't get a chance to see the south end of the gardens because we had run out of time. We needed to be back in Queens because Brian needed to be back to help with the Priesthood session of Stake Conference. We exited the gardens and the park through the Vanderbilt Gate onto Fifth Avenue. These iron gates were made in Paris.

I hated to leave because everything was so beautiful and fresh. If the weather holds out, we are planning a second trip back soon to see the rest of the gardens and to further explore the North Woods.