In all of my travels over the years, I had never been to Davenport, Iowa. I had passed through it on a highway, but that was it. On this leg of the trip, I was on my way to Ames to visit friends. Davenport was a good port in the storm (well, a few light sprinkles anyway) to spend the night.
The drive from Carmel was about 5 hours, but since I spent time exploring Carmel, I didn't leave until early afternoon ... so pulled into my hotel about 7:00pm. I decided to head out to a restaurant for a quick bite to eat and then back to the hotel to unwind.
I have settled back into the same sort of travel dynamic I did back in January & February. If I am only spending one night in a place I visit, I usually arrive around 6:00 or 7:00pm. The next morning I get up, have breakfast, repack, and then head out exploring the area for a few hours. You may have noticed that exploring the area for me usually means finding somewhere to get out into nature. Occasionally it might be a museum or art gallery or historical site. But those things are not really what this trip is about. This trip is for being a part of the larger ecosystem around me, finding my happy place where anxiety and care and what I call my 'chaos brain' can just diffuse and quiet itself. Trees, water, mountains - they are what I need.
There are some days in which I have Zoom meetings or work projects or even the need to create something that makes it necessary to have a place to work - that isn't while driving down the highway or on a winding mountain road. In those cases, I stay two nights (or more if necessary) in one place. I admit I try to make that in a place where there is more to explore, which I do when I can break away from this real-world stuff.
Back to Davenport. I had two things planned for Davenport. One, the Vander Veer Botanical Park, the other the Figge Museum. First stop, Vander Veer Botanical Park.
The park is almost 140 years old, and about 33 acres. Not huge, and easy to see in a couple of hours. It has a beautiful conservatory (pictures below) as well as green space and other garden areas. I believe the greenhouses are usually open to the public, but were closed on this day.
Like many parks I have visited, there is a central fountain with multiple paths approaching it. There is an perimeter path around much of the garden that appeared to be about a mile long. There is a hosta glade, a rose garden, what they call the 'Old World Gardens & Fountain' (the latter the 2nd fountain in the garden), a children's sculpture garden, and the Lagoon. One thing that was really nice to see was the 'Enabling Garden'. It is an accessible garden that has plantings to stimulate all five of the senses (the website says "... designed to improve and maintain the physical, mental, and social health of everyone.... Key features of the garden are: accessible paths throughout, garden beds and containers at differing elevations, water feature, pergola, and a riot of color and textures.".
After the garden, I headed toward the town center to visit the Figge Museum. Unfortunately, I left my phone in the car and so don't have pictures from here. I also didn't have a lot of time there, but it was pretty interesting.
This is a very impressive museum, and larger than I had anticipated. Staff are stationed throughout various places in the museum, and the museum is extremely clean and well-maintained. I think I could have spent several hours here, but didn't really have that amount of time. Since I didn't have a lot of time, I focused more on some of the permanent exhibits. They have an extensive collection of Haitian, Colonial Mexican and Midwestern art, particularly pieces by Thomas Hart Benton, Marvin Cone and Grant Wood. They also have a collection of pieces by Frank Lloyd Wright.
If I ever get back to Davenport, I think a return visit will be likely. Until then, off I go again - next stop, Ames!
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