Grandma
The day was entirely too beautiful to be indoors, so I opted out of any museuming in favor of a walk outside. I called up my grandmother to see if she was game, and it was a wrestling match with the phone – my wireless connection and my mom’s broken receiver.
We managed to get it together though, and met up mid afternoon for a driving and walking tour of Spring Grove Cemetery & Arboretum, located right around the corner in Northside.
History tidbits:
- Founded in 1845, the original area of 166 hilly acres was purchased for $16,000. It was named Spring Grove because of the numerous springs and ancient groves of trees on the property.
- It now encompasses 733 acres of which 400 acres are landscaped and maintained.
- At first, I heard that this place was designed by the same fella behind Central Park. Not true. There’s another Spring Grove Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut that has this distinction.
- The arboretum, with over 1,200 species, has 1,000 labeled for study.
- There’s a section where Gypsies are buried, noted by red granite monuments.
- The landscape "lawn plan" concept was created here.
- Forty generals from the Civil War are "planted" in Spring Grove
It was a great day, leisurely wandering between things that caught our eye. At points we were on the ground, examining acorns and moss. Turns out, my grandmother (who prefers that moniker over Me-Maw) was married in a funeral home.
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