Stop and Smell The Flowers...

No matter what the climate or location of where we’re touring across the country, there’s always a slice of beauty. 

"Reflecting". Hehehe.

On tour in Alabama this week, we had the pleasure of visiting the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, whose mission is to promote public knowledge and appreciation of plants, gardens and the environment. Being one of the nation’s preeminent botanical gardens, we spent hours walking through the stunning fields of flowers, Japanese gardens, herb terraces, rose bushes, greenhouses and bamboo forests. 

Singing to the fish....

The gardens are over 67 acres, and it was an incredible sensation to just soak up the energy of the sun, the flowers and the beauty of the blue skies. It’s no wonder that gardening is the number ONE hobby in the United States… generating over 33 billion dollars in annual revenue nationwide. 

The beautiful botanical gardens.

My favorite part of the park was the Japanese garden which was officially opened by the Japanese Ambassador to the United States in 1967. The garden is on an impressive 7.5-acre site, and there are bamboo groves, tea houses, bonsai houses and a peaceful lake called “Life Long Lake”. The healing energy of the garden was pure and beautiful.  

Walking into the amazing Japanese Gardens

Our excitement from the gardens definitely carried forward into the show that night, which was a large group at a stunning senior community. Those kinds of shows will always hold a very dear place in my heart as many of the audience members are residents who don’t have the opportunity to go out much anymore, and bringing the show to them is just pure magic. At this particular show, there were a large number of widows who opened up about missing their loved ones and how the music brought back so many good memories of the times they shared together. 

With our friends Joe, Monica and little Alice after the show.

We were also delighted to be surprised by our great friends from Camp Liberty, Joe, Monica and 9-year-old Alice who came to the show and shared dinner with us afterwards. We shared laughter, good times and created some new memories. 
 
People often ask where we get our energy from for the show, and though it’s not a simple answer, I can say that it all starts with stopping to smell the flowers.    –Erinn xoxoxox

Nelson with a bounce in his step after soaking in the energy of the gardens.