" The Secret Garden "

As promised I am posting a few more photos of our day trip while Jake was home for a week. As advised by our oldest daughter "Ginny", we were told not to be afraid to wonder off of the beaten path. And so we did. 

As Ginny suggested we wandered into a tiny, tiny town in Southern Illinois called Makanda. Our son and daughter-in-law also suggested that we stop by. Really there wasn't anything very exciting about it.

It has a very small boardwalk that dates back to before I was born, so I suppose they thought that might make it interesting for me!

That's how it looked a little bit before I was born.

And that is how it looks today. It is very small. There are a few shops in there that have some interesting handcrafted items and lots of photos of the old days and a bit of the history.

This really was a beautiful area. Very hilly with lots of curving stone lined roads. 


One of the shops was owed by a gentleman that worked with metal. He handcrafted jewelry and metal art. Very beautiful pieces. But that isn't why we stopped there.


Our daughter told us that there used to be ( back in her collage days ) a secret garden behind his store. She suggested that we ask him if it was still there as she knows how much I love gardens.


Now before I go on let me tell you a few things about this garden. There aren't many flowers in it and it has pretty much been taken over by weeds. This gentleman that owns it is a tad bit older than me and can no longer keep up with it. But let me tell you this, when I saw it, my imagination ran wild! 

And please, click on some of the photos to see the detail. I could not capture it properly with my camera. Too bad I didn't take Kate's!!

You really have to use your imagination here. This "Backyard" has multiple natural levels.

There were several metal art pieces that the owner sculpted. MMmm, I don't know if "sculpted" is the right word.
There were many stairs, bridges and whimsy. However, grown over it was.

I made my husband very nervous several times. He doesn't care for heights to say the least!

I could barely get him to cross this bridge. I think he only did it because he was worried about my walking. I went slowly and carefully.

I could see that quite a bit of this "backyard" was in disrepair. That just made it more exciting for me !

Above is one of the creeks.

Below, a mermaid sitting beside a pond!

It was impossible for me to capture this entire "Backyard" in one photo. So I took many. I didn't even touch the surface. There was a fire pit on one of the levels.


So many staircases. Some led to another level, others to a dead end!

Can you tell that my husband hates having his picture taken? Sorry Dear, fair is fair!

Notice the copper fish. It was atop a pond of goldfish.

There were also stone obelisks that surrounded the entire "Backyard".

And a gigantic mosquito!

I thought that I took too many photos but now I wish I had taken more.
Such beauty and so much potential. 


I understand that at one time this place was a gathering for local musical artists as well as a "Backyard". 

When I complimented the owner on his beautiful garden, he said " It doesn't hurt that it sits in the middle of the rocks!".

I do believe that had we brought a bottle of wine, he would have let us sit back there and enjoy it. Maybe another time.


What a special place.


Goodbye Makanda!