We%26#39;ve been to Grand Rapids and visited the Frederik Meijer Gardens last summer and had a great time.
In considering the options for the Thanksgiving weekend, we saw about this Christmas Around the World event there starting Nov 20th... anybody has been there in past years? Is it worth a 3-hours drive?
Christmas lights/trees at Frederik Meijer???I used to work there, and the trees were one of my main duties. So I can give you many details.
It is a gorgeous exhibit. The 30+ trees are very large and each tree has a different country%26#39;s theme. You rarely see the same ornaments from tree to tree, which makes for lots of variety. If you can go when it%26#39;s not as light outside, the lights look more ';glowy';.
Don%26#39;t miss the Victorian tree with it%26#39;s 100% vintage ornaments. Very cool.
There are also exhibits on Hannukah and Kwanzaa.
The gardens also has the Polar Express train set-up with old Grand Rapids buildings among the set. Kids love that. How old are yours?
The rest of the Gardens is decorated with many poinsettias as well, so the whole place is very festive.
Warning: it is PACKED the weekend of Thanksgiving. If you can go before then, you will be happier. If it has to be that weekend, go early or later in the day.
It can definitely be a full 1-2 hours for the trees, more if you incorporate fun games like ';how many trees have stars/elves/birds, etc';, ';find the pickle ornament on the German tree';, or ';guess what country this is before you look at the sign';.
THis, of course, on top of all the regular Gardens things - outdoor Sculpture Park, sculpture gallery, outdoor children%26#39;s garden, outdoor da Vinci Horse, tropical conservatory, etc.
The cafe there is pretty good and the gift shop has very nice stuff in it. That will add time, too!
You can make a Gardens visit last a good chunk of the day (as you probably know from the previous visit), but if you want to plan something else to really pack your day in, you could do that too.
GR has many other things to do and great places to eat, so I would heartily recommend a swing over to GR!
I hope this helps. If you need more specifics, let us know.
Kris
Christmas lights/trees at Frederik Meijer???Thanks a lot for all the details and for letting me know how packed it will be... I will probably go in the Thanksgiving weekend anyway but will certainly plan to be there early in the day...
I really enjoyed my first visit to GR and know I%26#39;ll have to go to the children%26#39;s museum once again and also to have the tapas in that downtown restaurant...
many thanks for your help!
You%26#39;re very welcome!
BTW, the tapas place is San Chez, on Fulton at Commerce. Always worth a trip.
Enjoy your trip,
Kris
Krisgrmi,
we just came back from our trip and it was so worth it!!
We had a great time checking all the Christmas trees (and playing the I spy game), also the train, the ';forest'; and a lot of activities for kids in the children%26#39;s garden.
Then we went to the Childrens Museum and had a blast, as usual...
Thanks for your advice - it was really a very good trip!
Excellent! I%26#39;m so glad you enjoyed it. It%26#39;s a great exhibit, especially if it%26#39;s not too crowded. :)
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