We knock Grounds for Sculpture off "the list"

We often have places that we want to visit that tend to linger on “the list.”  When the weather starts to get nice in April we declare,

“We really should get to such-and-such this year,” then inevitably the chilly winds of November blow in and we say, “We never got around to going to such-and-such.”

The Grounds for Sculpture has been one of those places that has lingered on “the list” for far too long.

Located in Hamilton New Jersey, the Grounds for Sculpture is part gardens, and part outdoor (and some indoor) art museum.  

After parking, we headed to the main building where we paid our $15 per person entrance fee, received our neon colored wrist bands that had to be worn to prove that we paid our entrance fee, and collected our maps.

A note here, the map provided was a bit confusing to decipher. 

Where are we?

We wanted to make sure that we didn't missed anything, but it isn't always clear where you are and what is where. I thought that they should have had some pictures of some of the more recognizable sculptures on the map to make it easier. Kind of more like an amusement park map where there is a picture of a big roller coaster or the carousel.

The sculptures at Grounds for Sculpture are amazing!  Before we went I was worried there would be an overflowing amount of modern sculptures like one we saw that looked like a bunch of rocks smooshed together.  My husband named that one, guitar pick and pork chop, per the shape of the rocks. Happily, the types of sculptures vary greatly. There is a little something for everyone.

Back to the naming, we did have fun guessing the names of the sculptures before we looked at the name plates.  We called this one, Abraham Lincoln travels through time to bludgeon you with his hat.

 It was surprisingly close to the actual title.

At a distance some sculptures looked like people. There were some people that until they moved, blended in a little too well with the sculptures. 

The grounds were as impressive as the sculptures, and at times evoked the feeling of being in a Monet painting. 

Having a sculpture there of Monet painting helped.

There were secret doors, 

shady tunnels,

and tree lined paths that when explored, 

led to new discoveries.

If you like taking pictures, it’s a great place for some fun and/or silly photo ops.

One of the best parts of Grounds for Sculpture is the size.  It’s not so large that you walk and walk and walk until you feel like your legs are falling off, nor is it so small that you see everything too quickly and think, wait is that it? It is the perfect size to wander around during the day, and still have enough time to catch an early dinner, which is exactly what we did.

If you love gardens, love art, love taking pictures, or just want to do something fun, interesting, and different, I highly recommend checking out the Grounds for Sculpture.

A Puffy Cloud Day

It is always surprising how easily you can hop out of bed when you don’t have to go to work.

The morning after the Elbow concert, we woke up bright and early, checked out of our hotel, and walked to the café around the corner for a leisurely outdoor breakfast.

We then set off to Rehoboth Beach.

Though there were several tasty options, we decided to have lunch at The Dogfish Head Brewery.

  

Since it was an off-season Monday afternoon, we had no problem getting a table.

We started out with the fried pickle spears. They were huge, and unexpectedly filling.

For my main meal, I got the short rib sloppy Joe. You know how sometimes you bite into something and right away little happy mmmmmm fireworks go off in your brain? That’s exactly what happened.  The sloppy Joe was fabulous. The French fries were also fantastic. Fresh cut with just the right amount of earthy flavor; crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and sprinkled with the perfect amount of sea salt.

 My husband got the cheeseburger.  He said it was delicious. His favorite part was the bacon stuffed onion ring that topped the burger.

After our delightful lunch, we took a walk along the main street that is lined with restaurants and cute shops.

We then took a stroll on the boardwalk.

The weather was amazing. The picture perfect blue skies were filled with angelic puffy clouds.  

We were surprised by how jumping the beach was on an off-season Monday, though it never felt crowded.  I imagine that Rehoboth Beach is probably a chaotic mad house during the height of the summer season.

One of the reasons I wanted to visit Rehoboth Beach, was because they have three different homemade ice cream places.

It was hard to choose, but I settled on The Ice Cream Store since it had the best variety of flavors. 

The selection was actually a bit overwhelming. 

There were some interesting flavors.

Since I usually always have to try at least one flavor containing peanut butter, I chose a scoop of peanut butter ripple and a scoop of the Samoa.

My ice cream didn't need sprinkles, but I appreciated The Ice Cream Store’s sprinkle bar.  

The ice cream was good, though not as good as some of our favorite places. I liked the extra creamy peanut butter in the peanut butter ripple.

Because we felt the need to squeeze every bit of enjoyment out of our day off, we decided to take the Cape May-Lewes Ferry from Rehoboth Beach to Cape May before driving the rest of the way home.

While waiting for the ferry to arrive, we enjoyed watching some crew members working up in the rigging of the docked historic ship.

Though breezy, the ferry ride was a relaxing mode of transportation.

  It was a nice way to further revel in the flawless blue skies, and it provided a brilliant ending to our little getaway.