I filled myself with drugs and headed out with the family to Longwood Gardens for the fountains and fireworks presentation on Saturday. Mom had our dinner reservations set for 5:15 at the Terrace Restaurant, and in spite of leaving a little later than we might have liked, we arrived on time.
The Terrace Restaurant is on the Garden grounds across from the conservatory. They were serving food in the dining room and cafeteria, but we had reservations for the special fireworks buffet. We were sent on an outdoor search through some shrubs for the reservations desk, and eventually ended up seated inside.
The buffet was good, even though Nana didn't seem to care for the quality of the food. They served prime rib on the buffet. It's been a long time since I've had prime rib, and although this was pretty good, I didn't recognize it as prime rib - a little bit overcooked. Nonetheless, the potatoes were good, as were the vegetables. As Mom says, "Crunchy," which is how I like my green beans.
Desserts were good too. I think too much fuss is made over creme brulee, which is essentially "burnt creme" or toasted pudding. I simply can't see getting all excited about a little sugared-up pudding that's cooked all too dramatically with a blowtorch. The cake was pretty good - some kind of lemony thing, and probably quite a bit more complicated to construct.
It was during dinner that I was reminded of the kind of local crowd that hangs out at Longwood -- That stuffy cardigan-wearing crowd that's always better than you. After we wound our way through the outdoor path to the buffet reservations podium, this type of couple wandered over to where we were standing. In spite of us obviously being there before them, the woman just kept talking over Mom when she was trying to tell the hostess about our reservations. Rude people.
It's just the general air of the place. Longwood is a neat place, and I'm sure the workers feel really good about what they do there. But when they put together a special event - just like any of the historic places you'd find on route 1 - and these self-styled blue-bloods show up, it's like they're God's gift to philanthropy just because they paid their two bits to get in like everyone else. It's as if they've done the place a favor by showing up. Attendence for the fireworks was over 6000, so I really don't think that their money counted any more than anyone else's.
After dinner, we walked around the conservatory. We were really early for the fireworks. I'm not sure what I was thinking because I didn't pack any additional drugs to keep my illness in check, and here we were walking around in the mum-fueled sneeze factory. I was lucky that I was able to keep most of my snot in my head. Most.
The conservatory is being rebuilt through 2007 to add on a new chidren's garden, which looks to be a pretty neat project. It's going to be big. The main entry garden of the conservatory didn't seem to be open, but the rest of the building was.
In the center of the conservatory where there is usually a water display, there was some kind of exhibit with vegetables arranged in the shape of animals and things. I have to admit that my interest in Longwood has, ironically, never been in the plants. I've always been more interested in the enormous architecture of the greenhouses and the ways that they cultivate the plants. Sure, some plants are interesting to look at, such as the water lillies and the carnivorous plants, still it's mostly a bunch of flowers and leaves. But the buildings are old and well-kept, and have all sorts of "secret" passages in them, like where the steam comes up from the floor to heat the tropical plants. That type of mystery is why I bother to return to Longwood.
Another example of something that I find interesting as opposed to looking at the actual plants is that they put dye into the water lilly ponds. Apparently, they add some black dye to the ponds that hides the workings of the water system and adds a stark background for the big green pads and pretty purple flowers. The dye also prevents algae. They sell it in the gift shop. To me, the dye is just as interesting as the plants that grow in it.
After the conservatory, we headed out toward the fountains to find a spot to watch the fountains and fireworks. By this time (a full hour and half before the show was to start) there wasn't much room to sit. We found a spot on some blacktop near the conservatory. It might have been a better viewing area if we had chairs, but it wasn't too bad sitting on the ground. Unfortunately, this probably wasn't the best thing for my cold, and my drugs were already starting to wear off.
A while later it got dark and you could see stars. There were quite a few visible even above the Longwood lights. And an unusual amount of plane traffic.
A strange and boring presentation began on the podium in the middle of the main lawn near the fountains. I recognize the need for some preface about the gardens and the purpose of the fireworks presentation and such, but someone should really proofread the speech before its presentation. Even more strange is that after the talking was over, they had to tear down the platform before the fireworks could begin. Weird.
The show was not disappointing. The fireworks were of very high caliber, and the fountains were very pretty and unique. The show lasted about 40 minutes, with accompanying classical music. The fountains shot into the air at different heights and the water changed color depending on the lights that shined on them. The fireworks were continuous throughout the show, not like a typical 4th or july show where they shoot off one or two at a time, but really continuous. Check out the fireworks video to see what I mean. It was like that the whole time. The video is not of a "finale".
The exodus from the garden was complete. People clogged up everything, and the parking lot was impossible to escape. Capping off a relatively nice evening, Berta accidentally bumped the car parked next to us in the lot and did quite a bit of damage to both cars. So that wasn't good. Still, it was a pretty good evening. Thanks, Mom, for making the arrangments!