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3 - MBG 1 3 - MBG 4Pitcher plant I bade farewell to my German nephew Noah and his girlfriend Ela today at Dulles Airport; afterwards, I chose to walk at the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, 9 miles from the airport.

The Meadowlark Botanical Gardens is part nature center, part event center, and mostly beautiful gardens.  Located on over 80 acres of rolling hills near Vienna, Virginia, it is part of the Northern Virginia parks system.  There is an admission fee, but I only had to pay $2.50 (again, my age has its benefits).

3 - MBG 7Spiderwort 3 - MBG 2Cypress knees It was hot as I walked the paved paths down the hill in front of the Visitor Center, but I meandered through various gardens, many of which were organized by color.  In the white garden, I startled a number of bluebirds, goldfinches, and kinglets that were feeding on the seeds of spent flowers.   Bees were working the flowers everywhere; they paid me no attention, thank goodness.

There are ponds, gazebos, bridges, and even a children's garden with sculptures and hands-on activities.  I walked and walked the paths, sometimes in shade, sometimes in sun, finding only a few people out doing the same.  Benches are located in numerous places, and all are very clean for sitting upon.

3 - MBG 3 3 - MBG 6I loved how these purple beauty berries look like backwards 3's and show their progression of color I came upon a natural, swampy area, filled with native plants like Joe-Pye weed and ironweed.  Butterflies were abundant, and there was a path through the area with tall ironweed on both sides.  I followed the path and stood very still.  Butterflies quickly learned to ignore me.  There must have been 30 fluttering around me.  It was heavenly!  The swampy area was filled with cypress trees, and their knobby "knees" poked up everywhere.

3 - MBG 5 3 - MBG 8Peace and Harmony bell My final visit was to the Korean Bell garden, which is unique to the area.  It is filled with plants native to Korea, monuments, statues, sitting areas, and pavilion that houses a traditional cast "bell of peace and harmony." 

This hour long walk was a nice way to spend time before joining the thousands of commuters heading home at 5:30.  I'm sure that Meadowlark is a beautiful place to visit in any season.