Enjoying Thanksgiving Point Tulips from the Tulip Festival at Home, 2020

 A few years ago I visited the Tulip Festival in Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point.  The flowers were absolutely beautiful.  This year, due to the virus, the festival went virtual with Facebook Live showings and an opportunity to buy Tulips to enjoy at home.  My sister-in-law Krista bought a bunch of tulips and then had fun delivering them to family and friends over the last couple days.

On the website I can't find where to buy the tulips, but it looks like you can donate tulips to a healthcare worker, which is a really cool idea.

Also, it looks like the gardens will be opening up May 1st with limited availability, social distancing roles in place.

Thank you Krista!! :D

 This cute little wooden pin commemorating the festival was attached to the info sheet.  I love collecting pins, and this will be a nice reminder for this year.  A reminder to not take things for granted, and to enjoy the beauty that's around us everyday.

Checking Out the Butterfly Biosphere

On Thursday I checked out the Butterfly Biosphere at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi Utah.  It opened last January, I believe, and I've been looking forward to a visit.  When I was a kid my family would visit the Fresno Zoo where the bird house was my favorite.  The idea of seeing butterflies fluttering about sounded cool.

Now, before I proceed, just after 6 pm is the time I visited.  There were butterflies flying around, but not too many.  While observing I overheard a guy talking to one of the workers, mentioning that the last time he visited it was around 1pm, raining, and there were butterflies everywhere.  So time and type of day is important.  The experience was nice, but I was expecting more.

Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point, Lehi UT

 Every year I've wanted to visit Thanksgiving Point Ashton Gardens for the Tulip Festival, which runs mid-April to early May every year, and each year I somehow don't make it.  A couple weeks ago my Brother and Sister-in-law invited my Mom and I to go with their little family to see the gardens, and we jumped at the chance.

I've been to Thanksgiving Point Gardens once before, a few years ago mid-Summer, and it was delightful.  So peaceful and calm.  A variety of different flower species with places to sit down, relax, and take it all in.

The Tulip Festival, especially on weekends, is quite a festive event.  There's booths and vendors, and a family play area with a bouncing ball house, free crafts, and large checker and chess boards.  The gardens are especially crowded this time of year, but there are still quaint little places to get lost.

We went on a Saturday, and as tomorrow is the last day of the Tulip festival, I recommend you go early morning vs. late afternoon.  We went around 10 am and left around 2pm, and bumper to bumper traffic went all the way to I-15 coming into the gardens.  That's crazy.  The parking is sizable, but not that sizable.

Thanksgiving Point Gardens are worth the visit anytime of year, but there's something special seeing tulips spread all around.

 

Photos by Sarah and Robin Stufflebeam.

Renaissance Fair at Thanksgiving Point

 Last Saturday I went to the Renaissance Fair at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi Utah.  It's the first in the Valley, I believe, could be super wrong about that, so all my friends were talking about it.  The event took place last Friday and Saturday with a cost of $10 an adult, which, in retrospect, is overpriced.

I was going to go on Friday, but I'm glad I didn't, instead going to the Gem Fair in Sandy  (had free Friday tickets, and that's where my Mom buys a lot of her jewelry material).  Around noon time, which is when I passed Thansgiving Point, there was an absolute downpour, and when going around the point of the mountain the rain turned into snow.  In short, terrible weather, and a terrible day to do anything outside.  Hopefully it cleared up for anyone who showed up later that afternoon.  That would have been miserable.

The Renaissance Fair was fun, but it's nothing like the Ren. fairs I went to in Tulare Country, CA.  They're a big deal there, and the atmosphere is different.  I didn't join any of the guilds, but there were a few, and when you join you take on a role and class, and there is a strict adherence to being historically correct, even down to the right fabric.  It's super cool, and even all the booths are as historically close as they can be.  At Thanksgiving Point it was all over the place with attendees confusing Fantasy and Steam Punk with the period between 1400-1600 AD.  I know it's all in good fun, but I did find myself missing the Renaissance Fairs of my youth.  

Members of the court.

Only in Utah do you find modest belly dancers.

Knights of Mayhem!!  The World jousting champion Charlie Andrews, who's from Utah, was there to joust.  First time seeing it in person! 

And my big splurge, which I promised I wouldn't do, was to buy two Scottish Country Dance books from the 1950's.  The piece shown above is from 1796.  Not from the Renaissance period, but it's cool to have.  Can't wait to learn the music; wish I can figure out the dance pattern.

The above picture was taken my senior year of high school.  We had a class project to put together and host a Renaissance Fair.  I made the above dress!  The first, and only time, I've sewn an outfit.  My Grandma helped me, guiding me through the steps, but I did all the hands on work.  I would go over to her house everyday for a few weeks, spending several hours at a time.  Good memories.