Marsha Ingrao – Always Write

#DE, #PA #OutdoorLongwoodGardens1 #CeesWhichWay

Are You An Expert Traveler?

Do You Blog AND Love to Travel?

When you visit family, what do you do? Sit in the living room and talk, watch TV? STOP THAT!

Be an expert traveler instead.

Six Tips to Become an Expert Traveler AND Make YOUR Trips More Fun! 🙂

Tip #1. Visit at least one tourist attraction per visit.

I love to walk. My mother’s cousin, Hal, age 91, is an expert traveler.  He is also an expert host. When I visited him in September we walked for two hours through Winterthur, a beautiful garden in DE.  While walking we met a retired couple who walked there often.

“We walk here and at Longwood Gardens,” they told us.

[ctt template=”8″ link=”fB191″ via=”yes”#travel #gardens #tourist marshaingrao[/ctt] ]

Hal thought I had been to Longwood Gardens before. But since I hadn’t, the next day we drove 15 miles to Kennett Square, PA to see the iconic Longwood Gardens.

Tip #2 After touring every kind of tourist attraction and museum in the United States and Europe, the best advice I can give you about touring like an expert is never to think you are an expert. To be the expert traveler, listen and learn as you go. Let your family, friend or guide be the expert on the places you visit.

I love to go in green and come out with more knowledge than when I went in. That way you can be flexible. Go where your host or hostess takes you! You won’t always know where you are going. When you blog about it after the trip, here are four bonus tips.

Bonus Expert Traveler Blogging Tips

1. You can make comparisons between that attraction and another you have seen.
2. Share your guesses about what you saw, then check your facts either online or in books you buy.
3. If you load up on facts beforehand, you will probably forget them. Worse you might get into a “who’s right” argument with your host. Take it from me who’s “Always Write,” that’s not cool!
4. If you know taking company somewhere, you SHOULD check your facts first. but you’ll probably forget them because you don’t need to know them yet.

Tip # 3 The exception to that is if your friend says, “Read this book before you come.” DO IT. You may appreciate what you see more. If you are traveling with friends, you all become expert travelers.

That being said, you are going to become an expert about Longwood Gardens. Or you can remember a time you went to Longwood Gardens.

The Outdoor Gardens at Longwood Gardens.

We arrived at about 11:30 am, and unlike Winterthur, there were no shady areas to walk. The September sun warmed broiled boiled us and water features added humidity to the air.

Pierre du Pont, an expert traveler around the world, enjoyed water features. He especially loved Italy. We came across a lake across from the Italian Water Gardens.

No swimming!

Unless you happen to be a frog, you would not want to jump in and swim in this lake. 

Does anyone want an algae kiss? Ribbit, Ribbit.

I stood inside the lakeside gazebo to photograph Hal looking at the lake.

What impressed me most about this gazebo was the ceiling’s intricate pattern. Pierre du Pont designed his own gardens. He incorporated much of what he learned on his travels to Italy.

With thousands of plants on thousands of acres, Longwood Gardens is a photographer’s paradise. I couldn’t click fast enough. We did not let much grass grow under our feet. But some grasses grew high over our heads.

The display of flowers on the grounds outside reminded me of Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC. Stonework abounds here in Delaware and Pennsylvania. Unlike its Victorian counterpart, Longwood Garden is not built into the rock quarry.

Almost 100 Years Ago

Imagine back to the roaring 1920s. Hal was just born. Imagine what technology was like. Car travel was still new. Freeways were still thirty years away. Yet, in 1925-27 Du Pont created the Italian Water Gardens with the most elaborate water show in the world. The Gardens reminded me of the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Overlooking the Italian Water Gardens is a Canopy Cathedral. What attracted me were the windows. It was not as grand inside as the windows led me to believe, but it was worth the short climb to go inside to look out over the meadow.

Much of the wood for this structure came from reclaimed wood. I love that the millionaire, DuPont, was more than an expert traveler. He concerned himself with ecology and conservation of the community where he lived.  

The floors of this Canopy Cathedral came from a toothpaste factory in Toronto, Canada. That left a sweet taste in my mouth! The windowpane treehouse overlooked the meadow and Italian Water Gardens.

Exploring improves the expert traveler’s experience. Not many people were at the gardens outside in this area. I walked the stairs alone. I felt like a kid going into an abandoned treehouse. It was ripe for imagining a different time.

Be an Expert Traveler When You Come Home, Too.

My parents and their friends used to entertain each other with their travel (or kid) slide shows. From my perspective as a six or seven-year-old, none of them were exciting storytellers. We sat on the living room floor in a darkened room as they droned on about their trips.

BORING!

Tip #4 Break your tour photos into groups. Entertain readers a bit at a time. Remember home movie days, and be kind! 🙂

Tip #5 Describe how you felt about what you saw, not just what you saw.

Today we all have the opportunity to be travel experts and create our own magazine articles. We are publishers on our own blogging channel.

Just like three MILLION other bloggers! If you want more viewers and readers, here’s one last tip.

Tip #6 Photo Challenges offer bloggers a community to share photos and become friends. Include them when you can. I love Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge for showing off gardens and trail tours.

Summary

Being an expert traveler starts before you leave home. It ends when you share your memories as you go through life. Today we have lots of ways to share. Expert travelers enjoy the journey and make it appealing to others around them.

Did this tour today of the Longwood Gardens bring back memories or inspire you to visit?

Sharing is caring.

I see those little words everywhere. But it does feel good when readers interact. Do you have a garden suggestion for me? Leave me a link in the comment section. Press a button to share these expert travel tips with others. (Especially long-winded, know-it-all friends!) Like me, an expert traveler! 🙂

Reader’s Suggested Garden Walks

• Where Is Your Favorite Vacation?
• Nighttime Infinity
• Weekly Photo Challenge – Celebration
• Thanks to Your Grandfather