Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (July 10, 2016)

 Interesting part of a Sunday morning motorcycle ride, while enjoying a cold beverage in Short Pump at The Carolina Ale House, I checked Facebook and saw that The Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden had free admission. In fact Sunday was the last day.
It had always been my plan to go there, and was on the list but I have never seen it in all the years I have been here.
Told it is really something to see over the Christmas holiday when they go all out with Christmas lights and decorations, but this was my first visit ever...and I was impressed.

Lots of cool and amazing flowers and some neat displays as well. They had a lot of Lego creations which included the butterfly at left.
The place was a really good size and it was a good walk to see the flowers and plants on the grounds.
They had a really nice Japanese garden which I thought was really good. There is also a restaurant (which I did not go into this visit) on the site and an impressive gift shop.
Normal admission I think is $13 though they do have different rates and if you are a member then admission is free.  

There was something neat to see all over the place and I was amazed at some of the plants. Building in the top photo had some really huge and interesting plants to see.
Looked to be a really popular place though not sure if it was the free admission or the typical crowd on a Sunday.
It was free due to the shootings in Minnesota, Louisiana and Dallas over the weekend. For healing they said. Good place to do so I think.  

For more information on the Garden you can go to http://www,lewisginter.org. Not too long ago while visiting Hollywood Cemetery I saw the grave of Lewis Ginter, who apparently left a lot of good things for the people of Richmond. These grounds are certainly one of them.
If you are in the Richmond area for a visit, add this Garden to your list of things to see. I for sure will be returning later this year to see some of the Christmas display they offer. I also have another photo from the visit on my "Racing with the Wind " blog.