Garvan Gardens

Before heading home from Hot Springs, we made one last stop at Garvan Gardens. The gardens encompass about 210 acres of land along a peninsula on Lake Hamilton, and include a wide variety of flowering plants (from trees to flowers to shrubs). There are even 160 different types of azaleas on display there.



The gardens are one of the biggest tourist attractions in Hot Springs, with about 125,000 annual visitors. The gardens were pretty crowded during our visit, and with good reason. The thousands and thousands of tulips were all blooming, and the grounds were covered in a sea of flowers. The light was a bit harsh during our visit - it was sunny - but I tried to get a few pictures (along with everyone else).



There were a lot of people out there trying to do family pictures, with their kids all in matching outfits posing next to the flower beds. We were there without Jonah so I was relieved we weren’t joining the throngs of parents trying to get pictures of their kids next to the flowers. We could have easily been one of those parents trying to coax a toddler to be still for a picture while also keeping him from falling into and trampling all the flowers.



The tulips weren't the only things blooming - the dogwoods were also putting on a good show.



Of course the flowers aren't the only things to see there. The gardens recently opened a new treehouse, which cost about $1 million to construct.



Another highlight of the gardens is the Anthony Chapel, which opened in 2006 and cost $5.6 million to construct. The six-story wood and glass chapel is beautiful, and would be a great place for a wedding.



And one last shot, of the Anthony Family Carillon. The 57 foot-tall electric bell tower stands right by the chapel.