Springtime at Maymont

If you live in the Richmond area, it is a gorgeous spring day, and you want to take a nice walk - but you don't have time to make it to the mountains - then Maymont is the answer!  And that is where I spent part of my afternoon, enjoying every moment of it.

Maymont is a combination park, historical site, botanical garden, nature center, and zoo, all within city limits along the James River.  It was the property of the Dooley's many years ago, and upon their deaths, they bequeathed it to the city for use as a public space.  I don't know how large it is, but I easily got in about four miles of walking today while I was there.

My walk started and ended here, with a vista of part of Maymont.  It is free to the public, but they suggest a donation of five dollars, which seemed like a bargain.

Oh, give me a home, where the large bison roam....

God always decorates using the purple and green of Team in Training in the spring.

During my hike a week ago at Caledon Natural Area, I saw at least five bald eagles, but none as close as this adult.  There is a very nice raptor exhibit here, using birds of prey that were injured and cannot return to the wild.

Tours of the Dooley mansion can be had for a fee.

Three lovely ladies grace the lawn in front of the mansion.

Normally, magnolias would be well past bloom by this time of year here.  Not in 2014!  Everything that should have been blooming in the past five to six weeks is in bloom simultaneously this year.

The Japanese garden is so peaceful and beautiful.

Weeping cherry blossoms by the Japanese garden.

The Japanese garden artfully combines water, plants, and human made objects to gorgeous effect.

From Japan, I arrived in Tuscany a few moments later.  Give me a bottle of red wine, a salad, and a loaf of crusty bread here, and I could have died a happy man!  ;^)

There are two beautiful and large cherries in bloom next to the carriage house.

My afternoon at Maymont was a perfect way to spend an hour or two.  My next hike will likely be grander in scope, but not any more beautiful, I suspect.