2011 Albany Tulip Festival

It was a fabulous Mother's Day and hubbs and I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating it. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we headed off to the Albany Tulip Festival and on our way home, stopped and had a fantastic dinner at one of our favorite places to fill our bellies; The Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Troy NY. (Of course, I've got pics of the amazing food we had, as well as the photos from Tulip Fest!)

The day started out quite sunny with the promise of some mild temperatures, but by the time we hit Washington Park, the clouds had come rolling in and the breeze was a tad on the cool side. (Hubby was happy that he took my suggestion and brought a sweatshirt) We had a great time in spite of the change in the weather and the sun did make an occasional appearance.

We stopped briefly at the Amphitheater to watch a couple of minutes of the "Mother of the Year" awards ceremony and headed on to get a glimpse at the tulips.  The winner this year was a lady by the name of Juliann Urbanski from Stillwater NY.  She was nominated by her loving hubby Joe for her dedication to their own family and others, including her work with Ronald McDonald House. (RMH is quite dear to our hearts. They're an incredible resource for families going through some of the most traumatic experiences that anyone can go through. They will always have our undying gratitude and support.)



Juliann Urbanski and her daughters via The Times Union

The photos that I took were not the best that I've ever taken, but I used my new camera and I'm still learning all of it's features and little subtleties, so I apologize for the less than stellar quality of the following....

The heady (and I'm told, nap inducing) perfume of these lilacs were the first thing that hit us as we got out of the car.

I have quite a few more photos of the flowers and the Festival, but these were the pics that turned out the best. I might post a few more at another time. I'll be posting all about the meal we had at the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que tomorrow or Wednesday. (with photos)  Stop by and check it out!  Just make sure you have a towel or napkin handy, because if you love "Q" like we do, you'll be drooling all over your keyboard!

A Time For Tulips

One of the advantages of living where I do in the Northeast, is that it's not a long drive to New York State's Capital city of Albany. One of the many events that is held each Spring for the last 62 years is the spectacular AlbanyTulip Festival. The Albany area was settled by a diverse range of immigrant families, including a very large Dutch population.  In the true spirit of those who immigrated to the United States, these early settlers brought with them their traditions, architecture, culinary influences and the botanical landscape of their homeland, which included a plethora of stunning varieties of Tulips, Daffodils and other flowering bulbs that the Dutch are so famous for. 



Carriage Rides



In 1948, the Mayor of Albany (Erastus Corning) sent a request to Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, asking that she designate a variety of tulip as Albany's "official flower".  She gladly accepted and chose a relatively rare variety called "Orange Wonder". (see image below) The first Tulip Festival was held the following year on May 14th in honor of the designation, and has continued to be held in May each year. The Fest is kicked off on Friday with an old Dutch tradition of "street scrubbing" and continues through the weekend, rain or shine. The crowning of the Tulip Queen is held on Saturday and the lucky girl who wins this prestigious title, becomes the Mayor's ambassador for Literacy for the duration of her reign. In later years, other festivities were incorporated into Tulip Fest, including the Mother of the Year Award and Pinksterfest. 

Street Scrubbing



Hanging out in Washington Park



 Since it's inception in 1949, The Tulip Festival has been held in Albany's historic Washington Park. The park is an (approx) 81 square mile public park containing a 5.2 acre lake, designed by well-known landscape architects John Bogart and John Cuyler in the 1860's and is often mistaken as a Frederick Law Olmstead design. (Olmstead designed New York City's Central Park) This mistake is understandable, considering Bogart worked for/with Olmstead on Manhattan's treasured landmark. The park has tennis, basketball and handball courts, bicycling, cross country skiing and ice skating on the lake in Winter. It is home to several monuments and memorials and hosts the annual Freihofer's Run For Women, which is one of the largest 5K races exclusively for women, in the world.  It's scenic grounds are one of Albany's most popular places for festivals and social gatherings. 



Washington Park Lake House



The festival is held each May, in recent years on Mother's Day weekend, and is filled with outdoor concerts, delicious food vendors, magic acts and carriage rides. There are over 200,000 tulip bulbs planted throughout the park, as well as flowering crab apple and cherry trees, so just walking around this lovely park on a beautiful Spring day is breathtaking! Click here for the 2011 schedule of events.



Tulip, "Orange Wonder"



If you're in the Albany area around Mother's Day and want to have a thoroughly enjoyable outdoor weekend, then Albany Tulip Fest is just the thing! I know that I can't wait til next weekend! Maybe I'll see you there!



I Really Need Some Spring!

This is what my back yard looked like yesterday morning:

It still looks pretty much the same, except the snow is now rain. (sigh)

Soooo, I thought I'd dig up some pictures that I took last summer and post them today. Hopefully they'll remind me that Spring and Summer are not really that far away.  It's going to take some serious convincing for me to believe it, (as I sit here listening to the plow scraping along my neighbor's driveway) but maybe if I just sit and stare at this post long enough, the water lapping at the shore, the graceful beauty of the flowers and the sunny blue skies and green grass will be imprinted in my subconscious and I'll think it's true.  If you're living in an area that looks anything like that first picture and feeling the late winter blues too, feel free to try it along with me!

Well, on with the experiment.....

For some added inspiration, I'm linking up with Java's 40 & Over Friday Blog Hop. I look forward to meeting some new friends!

Spring Farmers Markets Aren't Far Away!

I've always loved to shop at the local and neighboring town's Farmer's Markets and the smaller independent farm stands that dot the country roads around my neck of the woods from Spring to Fall.  Living in the Northeastern part of the country, it's usually May before we have the pleasure of the full on weekly Farmer's Market. We do have indoor Winter Markets where you can get Organic and Free Range Meats and Artisan breads and cheeses, winter vegetables and year-round goods like dried herbs and beautiful hand crafted soaps and candles, lovingly made with local organic ingredients.

But it's the beautiful spring flowers and plants and the earliest of the local vegetables and herbs under the Spring skies that help to bring me out of the Winter doldrums and into the local markets, like a bear coming out of a long, sleepy Winter's hibernation.  Just the fragrant Spring breezes that hit me as I approach those stalls on a sunny Saturday morning in May, provide me with the reminder that the healing warmth of the Summer sun and the full abundance that it brings forth from the Earth, are just around the corner.

Daffodils and Tulips bursting with bright color, make my heart just swell with feelings of contentment. All of the rich hues that only Mother Nature herself can create, give blessed relief from the gray skies and dirt-speckled snowy streets of Winter.  While I've loved living in this area of the country my entire life, I do find myself daydreaming a bit more each year, of the day when Hubbs retires and we can finally realize our goal of finding a cozy little place down South for the Winter.  I can't say that I'd ever want to head South before the Holidays, because I'm afraid that I'd miss the cold crisp air and first snows of the year during the Christmas season.  But January 2nd seems just fine to me, to pack up and join the growing multitude of "snowbirds' who head to the sun and clear sidewalks of the South each year.

I'll be counting down the months, weeks and the days until that Spring Market beckons me. The way things look right now, it'll be more like wishful thinking for a bit longer. Until then, I always have beautiful photos and daydreams to get me through.

Live Well! Eat Well!