Well a downtown meeting went belly-up yesterday so I found myself driving back down Memorial drive when I got the idea to see if any geocaches were close by. I turned on my handy GPS and saw one just a mile from my location. Not only did I find the cache, but I discovered another hidden gem in a city that I am convinced is a regular mine of precious jewels.
Bayou Bend is a museum just off Memorial on Westcott. It is actually two museums – the house of Miss Ima Hogg is a collection of what they call “decorative arts.” It is pretty much just furniture and crap to me – but the gardens are what attracted me.
There are large expanses of lush lawn, opulent statuary and woodland trails. The gardens are set up as themes that honor the likes of the Goddess Diana, the muses Clio and Euterpe, a flower garden shaped like a huge butterfly and the impressive White Garden filled with all white blooms. The Woodland trails are extremely relaxing and a surprise awaits around every corner. The entire area is set apart from civilization by a wonderful wooden suspension bridge spanning the bayou.

Admission to the garden is $3 – but I think I got the price of admission out of the 100+ photos I took.