The Ramble - New York City, NY

After passing through Strawberry Fields, we moved on to the Ramble. As opposed to the manicured lawns and artfully gardened plots in other parts of Central Park, the Ramble is a natural landscape. It is 38-acre woodland respite that is home to some of Central Park's most famous attractions including: Belvedere Castle, Lower Bethesda Terrace, the Boathouse, and Bow Bridge (which I have previously mentioned as one of my top five most romantic places).

The Ramble was an integral part of Central Park's original design. It was created to be a "natural garden" that incorporates Manhattan bedrock, open glades an artificial stream, and intricate plantings of both native and non-native trees (Fun Fact: The Ramble is now mostly dominated by black cherry and black locust trees because they aggressively self-seed.) In the Ramble, it is easy to forget you are in New York City. As we walked along the dirt paths that are uneven with stones and fallen branches, I felt like was a kid again in the woods of Oklahoma. Lost among the trees and brush and rocky outcrops, it's hard for me to imagine that someone actually planted and designed it all. Nothing about it seems intentional. It is more like it all just rose up from the earth and simply is as all nature simply is.

The Ramble also has a slightly more illicit history. Throughout the twentieth century, the Ramble was a clandestine place for male lovers to meet. Men would go to the Ramble to meet other men and…enjoy the love that dare not speak its name. (Please note I’m trying to find really, really tactful ways to say these things. So bear with me and I promise to keep Wilde references to a minimum). As times have changed and society become more tolerant, the Ramble has become more popular for nature hikes than secret rendezvouses. But it retains its status as a New York gay icon, or at least the New York gay icon pre-dating Christopher Street.

Our visit to the Ramble was without the drama of illicit love affairs. No, we were simply a group of about 30 people dressed in wedding attire traipsing through the brush along the stony dirt paths. Although we did have some drama.

As we were walking through the Ramble, a very surprising thing happened. Someone tripped and fell. Well, that’s not really the surprising part. The surprising part is that it wasn't me. I have an impressive ability to hurt myself in random accidents. This includes tripping, slipping, falling, and on one occasion I split my finger open on a spoon (although in my defense it was a particularly sharp spoon). When we first realized someone had fallen, Joel turned around expecting to find me face down in the dirt. I also expected to find myself face down in the dirt. But to our infinite shock and amazement, I was upright and at no point fell or injured myself on our ramble through the Ramble.

Strawberry Fields Memorial - New York City, NY

After the wedding in Wagner Cove, we paraded through Central Park accompanied by the accordion player. Our first stop was the Strawberry Fields, a memorial to John Lennon. The Strawberry Fields Memorial was designed by Bruce Kelly, the chief landscape architect for the Central Park Conservancy. It was dedicated on what would have been Lennon's 45th birthday - October 9, 1985 - by New York Mayor Ed Koch and Yoko Ono, John Lennon's widow. It was named for Lennon's song "Strawberry Fields Forever."

The original Strawberry Fields are located in Woolton, a suburb of Liverpool, England. Lennon grew up near Strawberry Fields and as a child he would enjoy a garden party held there every summer. The Strawberry Fields Memorial was built in Central Park West at West 72nd Street, across from the Dakota Apartments, where Lennon had lived in his later years and where he was murdered. The focal point of the Strawberry Fields Memorial is the Imagine mosaic. The mosaic is surrounded by open lawns and rock outcroppings, bounded in by shrubs, treesm and woodland slopes.

The area is designated as a quiet zone, but it is rarely quiet. When we were there, some people were quietly lying on the lawns either reflecting or reading or just enjoying the sunshine. But around the Imagine mosaic, there was a large group of people and they were not quiet. There were tables set up where artisans and craftsmen sold their work, many of them celebrating the life and work of John Lennon. Many people are also there to pay homage to Lennon. I saw roses, candles, works of art, and even a hand-made Lennon doll placed on the Imagine memorial as people circled around and played music. These impromptu memorials are common and often attended by famous musicians and admirers of Jonn Lennon, including Jerry Garcia and George Harrison.

Wagner Cove - New York City, NY

The wedding was held in Wagner Cove of Central Park. Wagner Cove is hidden in a shady corner of the Lake. It is easy to walk by again and again without ever noticing it is there. But one turn past the shrubbery and you'll see the path leading down to the edge of the Lake. There is the rustic shelter that dates back to the first years of Central Park when rowboats on the Lake would stop at one of six shelters along the edge of the Lake to pick up passengers and drop them off at another. The cove is named for Robert F. Wagner, New York City's mayor from 1956 to 1965.

Because of its rustic charm and its hidden nature, Wagner Cove is a very popular wedding site. As we were preparing for the ceremony, another bride and groom came by to have some wedding photos taken but were disappointed to see we had already claimed the spot. The popularity is well deserved. As an accordion player serenaded us, we slowly moved down the mossy stone steps into the little cove. Hidden away from the city, we stood on the edge of the calm Lake, surrounded by the lush greenery of the Park. It was almost mystical in its natural beauty, as though we had found a little place removed from time and space to disappear from the sprawling urban landscape around us.

The ceremony was beautiful and private, so I'm not going to share the details of it here. But suffice it to say, I can see why Wagner Cove is a popular spot to disappear from the city and celebrate a couple's love.

Japanese Friendship Garden - Lawrence, KS

On a lovely day, there's nothing better to do in Lawrence than take a walk downtown on Massachusetts Street. Along the way, I happened to see a group of women dressed in kimonos at the Japanese Friendship Garden raising money for the survivors of the tragedies in Japan. There was a drummer performing and women were taking pictures of passers-by posing in kimonos. I passed (mostly because I'm not fond of having my picture taken) but did enjoy the opportunity to see a beautiful natural oasis in downtown Lawrence.

The Japanese Friendship Garden represents the cultural ties with Hiratsuka and Lawrence. It was built to honor the 10 year anniversary of Lawrence's relationship with its sister city, Hiratsuka, Japan. Hiratsuka sent representatives to Lawrence to help design, plan and work on the project. Hiratsuka shipped two major pieces from Japan, a lantern and a 15' stone tower to be displayed in the garden. Approximately 50 delegates from Hiratsuka, including Mayor Itsuo Yoshino and nine other city officials, traveled to Lawrence to attend the dedication ceremony, which was held on October 26, 2000.

The natural flora and fauna of the garden are inspired by our sister city: Japanese maples, yoshino cherry trees, yews, bamboo, juniper, and mugho pines as well as azaleas, spirea, viburnum, Siberian iris, and peonies. With the interesting artwork, beautiful landscaping, and quiet, shady gazebo this is a lovely downtown Lawrence oasis to wander for a moment or to relax and enjoy for an entire sunny afternoon.

Total Time Traveled: 15 minutes

Total Distance Traveled: 4.5 miles

Soundtrack: 102.1 FM

Mill Creek Park - Kansas City, MO

Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri is a popular but busy location. Full of trendy stores and restaurants, there is always a crowd shopping, eating, or just taking a stroll down the street and taking in some beautiful sites. But just a stone's throw away from the Plaza is a beautiful, natural respite from the bustling city - Mill Creek Park.

The sprawling, grassy landscape is a beautiful open green space. As someone who has lived in a large city for several years, I can tell you that the smell of grass, the beauty of trees, and the site of wide, open greenery offers a comfort to the soul that can be hard to come by in the urban cityscape.

The open space of the park appeals to groups for games, outdoor gatherings, fundraising events, and weddings. The main body of the park is circled by an trail, a little over a mile long, that has become popular with joggers. It has especially become popular with joggers training for the 5k, apparently a double lap will really help you prepare for the long run. For those with children, there is some playground equipment. But honestly, you don't need a jungle gym for Mill Creek Park. You really just need a picnic basket, a frisbee, a few friends, and maybe a dog (although the dog will have to stay on a leash according to park rules). One a nice day in the Plaza, Mill Creek Park is great place to take in a breath of nature and escape from the bustle of the city.

Mill Creek Park is also home to the JC Nichols Memorial Fountain, the most photographed and most famous fountain in Kansas City, the City of Fountains. But, I've already told you about that!

Total Time Traveled: 2 hours

Total Distance Traveled: 86 miles

Soundtrack: "Jukebox" Cat Power

Cancer Survivors Park - Kansas City, MO

When Richard A. Bloch, co-founder of tax preparation giant H&R Block, was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer on March 29, 1978, he was given just three months to live. But he did live and he fought his disease. To inspire others, Bloch donated money to build Cancer Survivors Parks around the country. Currently, there are parks in Omaha, Sacramento, Orlando, Chicago and a dozen other cities. But the first was built in Block's hometown, Kansas City, in 1989.

Every Cancer Survivors Park has three elements. The first is a sculpture of eight life-size figures passing through a maze of cancer treatments and successes, entitled "Cancer...There's Hope." The sculpture was designed by famous Mexican sculptor Victor Salmones and those visiting the park may interact with it, walk through the maze and among the figures to share in the experience.

The second element in the park is a “Positive Mental Attitude Walk" where a visitor can stroll down a path and meditate on the 14 plaques. There are 4 inspirational plaques and 10 plaques of suggestions for fighting cancer. The third element is the "Road to Recovery". A red path leads the visitor past 7 bronze plaques with common sense advice to use during treatment. This path serves as a red carpet for "those who have the realization and the courage to change their existence into living."

Each park also has a unique element to represent the individual city. In Kansas City, it is the Arch of Triumph, the highest point in the park The Arch "represents a passage where one is symbolically in charge of their own life again."

The Kansas City has also added a colorful sculpture to part of the park entitled "Transformed Flower." This bright red, orange and yellow work combines art and architecture as it rises from a circle at the base to an eight-pointed star at the top. The sculpture was designed by Phillip K Smith III of California.

The architecture and art of the Cancer Survivors Park are visually stunning while its message of hope and survival are positively inspiring.

Total Travel Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes

Total Travel Distance: 90 miles

Soundtrack: "Muswell Hillbillies" The Kinks

Guest Post: Kauffman Memorial Gardens - Kansas City, MO

Today I have a guest post by the illustrious blogger May Evans of May's Machete! On her blog, the beautiful and brilliant geeky goddess May shares her thoughts on the world and her personal life. (Fair warning: May's blog is for adult audiences. You have been warned.) A special thanks to May for her amazing work! And I encourage everyone to check out her wonderful blog!

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One of the places tourists often go in Kansas City (MO) is the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. A slightly-less well, known, but beautiful jewel located just across the street from the museum is the Kauffman Memorial Gardens. Gifted to Kansas City by Ewing and Muriel Kauffman, this two-acre garden now has has 65,000 visitors annually, and it's no wonder why! The place is positively bursting with plant life and busy insects taking advantage of the feast!

One of the things my boyfriend and I were most impressed with was the massive array of bugs you could see, busily pollinating all the different types of flowers. If you're scared of insects, this is the perfect place to go because they're so distracted with the flowers that you can eyeball them up close without them ever evening noticing. I was amazed at the number of bees present, but we also saw crickets, grasshoppers, several types of moths, two types of butterflies (including a lovely Monarch), and even one bug that looked like a hybrid dragonfly-shrimp-hummingbird... We're still not convinced that bug isn't wasn't an alien because it looked too otherworldly to even be real!

The garden features 7,000 plants, with more than 300 varieties that include vintage and modern perennials, annuals, shrubs, bulbs and trees. The flowers ranged from wildflower varieties to more formal flowers like roses. The colors and types were mixed and matched in an innumerable amount of beds that wandered around pathways so that at any point in the garden, you could only see about one-fourth of it.

Another delightful feature of the garden were several fountains. The largest seemed to be popular for wedding photos, because we saw four different wedding parties lined up there for snapshots.

My favorite fountain was the one with three dancing girl statues.

Each turn of the path brought something new and surprising into view, but I have to say I was the most surprised by finding the graves of Ewing and Murial Kauffman within the garden walls! The area was flanked by benches, so I guess if you wanted to you could sit and meditate on how quickly life passes and all that... I personally chose to move on and spend my attention on the amazing life all around us.

The Kauffman Memorial Garden is located at 4800 Rockhill Road and is free to the public. It's open from 8 AM to dusk. I suggest you go there now while all the flowers are in bloom, before autumn and winter start to take a bite out of the amazing color.

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A special thanks again to the lovely May! Now go check out her blog May's Machete!

Heart of America Shakespeare Festival - Kansas City, MO

One of the first things I did when I moved to Kansas City was go to the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival with my family. I was still adjusting to life in the quiet Midwest, away from the bustle of the big city, and my family wanted to show me the unique and beautiful cultural offerings of Kansas City.

Last year, they were producing my favorite Shakespearean tragedy, "Othello." This year, I went back with my family to enjoy "The Merry Wives of Windsor." It was a magical evening and I loved of every second of it - it is a tradition I'm sure I will continue as long as I live in Kansas. It is absolutely free, they only ask for donations at the entrance to keep the production free and open to the public.

For the last seventeen years, the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival has put on 21 Shakespeare productions in Southmoreland Park, a small park west of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Marilyn Strauss, the festival's founder, tells the story of her inspiration for bringing Shakespeare to Kansas City, "The dream for the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival began in 1990 with a promise to my friend, famed N.Y. Shakespeare Festival founder Joseph Papp. 'You’re a Kansas City native. There’s not a festival there. You made it in New York and on Broadway – now, give something back, something you personally create. You can't beat the feeling, kiddo. Do it now, make it the best, and keep it FREE!'"

On a rainy night in 1993, Strauss' dream became a reality and her vision has reached over 450,000 audience members. Now, in its 22nd production, it continues to fill the park every night with eager Kansas Citians. If you decide to go, the show starts at 8pm but be sure to be at the park no later than 7pm to get a good spot on the lawn. Also, parking can be tricky to find so give yourself plenty of time. And ignore the people who leave at intermission, who knows why they are missing the great second half. The last show of 2009 is tonight, but I'm sure we'll see another thrilling production of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival in 2010!

Total Trip Time: 5 hours
Total Travel Distance: 32 miles

Cloud Gate in Millennium Park - Chicago, IL

Like the Swedish American Museum, Millennium Park is another one of those places I have seen or passed a million times while living in Chicago but rarely (if ever) visited.

The first I was ever near Millennium Park while I lived in Chicago was my freshman year of college when I reviewed The Millennium Perk coffee shop (Get the "Friends" reference? It's okay. I didn't get it the first time either. Go look it up. I'll wait...Done? All right then, back to my story). I went one evening to have a cup of coffee, got lost on the L, managed to eventually find the place, take my notes and go back to my dorm to type everything up. That was my first encounter. After that, my only encounter with Millennium Park was working across the street from it for three months in an office building on Michigan Avenue. I passed it and forgot it was there. But that just shows you how in the hustle and bustle of life, we don't see the amazing attractions that are really there until we come back as a tourist.

After Anna had kindly indulged me visiting some shops I missed and watched while I spent way too much money on stuff I probably don't need, we went to meet Nick in Millennium Park. That's when I saw the Cloud Gate on the AT&T Plaza.

The Cloud Gate is an 110-ton elliptical stainless steel sculpture to reflect the Chicago skyline and the passing of the clouds overhead. Designed byBritish artist Anish Kapoor, it is made from highly shined, seamlessly forged steel plates to create a 66-feet long, 33-feet high sculpture inspired by liquid mercury. As you approach it, you see your reflection in the surface. But more than that - you see yourself as part of the park crowd. You see you, the other people, the city, the sky. It is a surreal experience to see not just your own shape but your position in the world around you reflected back. Visitors are invited to touch the sculpture and are even able to pass through it under a 12-foot archway.

As you approach it, you see your reflection in the mirror-like surface. But more than that - you see yourself as part of the park crowd. You see you, the other people, the city, the sky. It is a surreal experience to see not just your own shape but your position in the world around you reflected back.

I don't know how I missed this for so many years. But I thought about that a lot in Chicago, amazed by what I discovered through the eyes of a tourist that I had missed for so many years as a resident. I wonder what I would have seen in the Cloud Gate years ago? Would I have seen my reflection as a natural part of the city - the people and the buildings just as much part of my image as my face? Or was the strange feeling I had looking into that distorted mirror only possible because I was only a visitor now. Passing through the Cloud Gate, passing through the city, and disappearing like a cloud from the skyline to let the permanent and the forever gaze upon their unmarred reflections in the mirror.

Loose Park Again - Kansas City, MO

As much as Loose Park was a place for my dog to reek havok somewhere other than my home, it is also an important historical and cultural site for Kansas City.

The park is named for Jacob Loose, a baking giant in Kansas who made a fortune off cookies and crackers. He and his wife Ella were popular community philanthropists. After Jacob's death, Ella donated 80 acres to the city in 1923. From that lovely space, would come Loose Park. Even after their deaths, the city continually honors their memory. A statue of Jacob Loose stands in the park. The philanthropy of the Loose family continues as well. Their charitable trusts left behind later formed part of the largest charitable organization in Kansas City - the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation and Affiliated Trusts.

The park offers many ammenities: a lake, tennis courts, a wading pool and even a Japanese Tea Room. It also features a wonderful rose garden and shelter, but I was not able to see it because of renovations. Fortunately, it will re-open this summer so I don't have to wait too long.

The park also denotes itself as a historical site with markers. One sign put up by The Chouteau, both in French and English, explains the complex relationship with the French and the Osage Native Americans in Kansas City. From trade disputes to the Osage War of 1793 to the building of forts, it is a complex story spanning centuries. And even if it is in two languages, I'm not sure if I get the point of why it is there.

There was much more to see, but Brock Lee wasn't patient to wait while I examined the more historical aspects of the park. After all, he was scared of the statue of Jacob Loose and there were bushes to smell! Hopefully, I'll make it back in the summer to see the rose garden and some of the Civil War markers.

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Loose Park - Kansas City, MO

Without a doubt, my favorite traveling companion is our dog Brock Lee. He is our only pet who actually enjoys traveling with me. Our little dog is horrible to ride in the car with. She barks at every car, person, and tree thinking it is invading her space. She has a particular vendetta against the windshield wipers. And our cat is...well, she's a cat. She wants nothing to do with anything that takes her away from napping in the sun.

But Brock Lee loves car rides! And he loves Loose Park in Kansas City, Missouri. It is a beautiful park with a lake, open lawns, Civil War markers, tennis courts, picnic areas and a rose garden. I was enjoying the great sunny weather and Brock Lee was under the impression every child and other animal was there to play with him. Luckily, he was easily distracted by the many strange scents in the park. He was trying to smell everything possible. He spent most of the time dragging me along the trail chasing every smell through the bushes.

All was going really well. Brock Lee was behaving himself as well as he ever does, which is to say he hadn't done any permanent damage to anything or anyone. Then we went to the herb and textile garden where I discovered the newest addition to Brock Lee's fears. Currently it includes golf carts, guinea pigs, scarecrows, and porch stairs. Now we can add statues. We approached a statue of a naked woman holding a bowl and Brock Lee lost his mind! He was jumping around and barking at it before running away. We saw geese and ducks earlier - nothing. But an inanimate anthropomorphic stone carving terrified him. When I told my father about it, he hung his head in shame and said, "Some hunting dog you are."

A hunting dog he will never be, but he's already a great traveling companion.

Total Travel Time: 2 hours
Total Travel Distance: 20 miles
Soundtrack: "@#%&*! Smilers" - Aimee Mann

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