Today, we went to Cheekwood, a 55-acre botanical garden, museum, art exhibition space, and historic estate in Nashville. The estate was built in the 1930s, and was funded by the Maxwell House Coffee fortune.
The Color Garden
I have been watching the Cheekwood website, to plan our visit for when the tulips would be in peak bloom. And this weekend was it! (I have a thing for tulips, we went to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival every year that we were in Seattle, even that time I was nearly 8 months pregnant with twins…)
We started off our visit in the color garden, where all the flowers are grouped by color and color families. It was a rather chilly morning, so the tulips were still rather closed up. But they opened up as the day progressed and they were magnificent.
Clara and the tulips: all bundled up 
In addition to being chilly, it was rather bright. Jonas only consented to this picture once I gave him my sunglasses. 
The twins petting the lamb’s ear 
The children have decided to make blankets by sewing together a bunch of lambs ear leaves. Can’t say I blame them. It’s pretty heavenly. 
YELLOW! 
Squiiiiiiint 
Logan was so pleased to be in the picture. 
Like I said, so pleased. 
And all of the Hyacinths made the entire area smell AMAZING.
Daffodil Hill
The Color Garden led into the Daffodil Display Garden. This area was actually one of my favorites. It felt a little less ‘planned’ and more like it just happened this way. There were a couple of interesting sculptures tucked in different areas of the garden.
The Sculpture Trail
Daffodil hill led right into the mile-long sculpture trail, which, as its name suggests, is a nature trail with various sculptures along the way. We just felt so darn cultured after walking through.
Holi
After we wandered the sculpture trail, we went back up to the main part of the garden. In addition to this weekend being peak bloom time for the tulips, it also happened to be the day that the Holi celebrations were happening at Cheekwood. Holi is an ancient Hindu celebration that is also known as the Festival of Spring or the Festival of Colors.
They had dancing demonstrations, craft tables, and stalls to buy things, and color throwing (though we didn’t participate in that), And INDIAN FOOD! We watched the dancing for a while. And then went and made some little crafts. It was pretty cool.
Trains!
One of the favorite parts of the day for the kids was the Trains! Exhibit that was located in one of the gardens. They have a bunch of model trains running all throughout the area as well as a play area and some dioramas.
To reach the trains area, you walk down a Storybook Trail, which features the book The Little Engine That Could. The pages of the entire book are placed all along the trail. So you can read it as you make your way down. It is a really cute concept.
And of course, this being a botanical garden, they had lovely landscaping all along the way.
Children’s Area
After hanging out and playing in the trains area, everyone was ready for some sustenance. And so, we went over to the children’s area which had tot-sized picnic tables and we grabbed snacks. The only bummer about Cheekwood is that there are no drinking fountains in the garden areas. This was a problem because I had left most of our (full) water bottles at home. So, while Jonathan and the kids got snacks, I went in search of water.
We ended up having to pay $2.50 per 16-oz. water bottle. 🤢🤢🤢
After I got back, Jonathan went to go buy Indian food for those of us who wished to have it (Jonathan, Clara and I). And may I just say, that was some of the best chicken tikka masala I’ve ever had in my life! It was divine. (Clara concurs that it was amazing)
While we waited for Jonathan to return, (there were obviously going to be lines!) the kids rolled down a tiny hill next to us. And then we learned that just across the way was a place called the Rolling Lawn and so the rollers changed venue. And they tuckered themselves out.
After we ate our amazing Indian food, we checked out the rest of the Children’s Garden, which had a lot of fun features for the critters.
Next, we decided to go head over to the mansion.
The Meadow
But, on the way over to the mansion, we came across a very pleasant meadow, which included water features. The kids were immediately drawn there. And they would have been very difficult to pry away, so we just let them be.
The Mansion
While the kids hung out in the meadow, Jonathan and I took turns walking around the house and its immediate gardens. (We had gardens-only tickets, cause we knew that attempting to tour the house would be madness with our whole crew).
By this point, we were getting to the end of our ropes. And so we started making our way toward the exit.
The Japanese Garden
Clara really wanted to go see the Japanese Garden, and so we gave her Jonathan’s phone and sent her over there, so she could check it out real quick. And she even took some really nice pictures. She was thinking of you, dear reader.
Refreshment and then Home
Everyone was dying of thirst, and so we decided to stop and buy a couple more water bottles. Jonathan, the softie, also bought a cookie for each of us. So while we waited for Clara to return, we ate our cookies and drank our waters.
While everyone partook of refreshment, I took the opportunity to take a few more pictures of the color garden, now that the tulips had more fully opened up.
And then we headed home. To no one’s surprise, both twins fell asleep on the car ride home.
