Saratoga

My husband is a big horse racing fan. Since we can't be away from home for more than a few days due to family obligations right now, we have been going upstate to Saratoga Springs, NY for one or two nights during the racing season as our vacation the past few years. There is a yarn shop and a quilt shop there so I usually have a treat also. 

This past Wednesday we drove up, hoping to visit the Gardens at Yaddo in the afternoon.....my treat for this vacation. This photo is dark because it is a dreary rainy day here today.

As the plaque says, Yaddo is a National Historic Landmark. It was conceived at the turn of the 19th century as "a working artists' community where creative artists pursue individual and collaborative projects in a supportive environment".

This gorgeous fountain is at the bottom of the hill that leads up to the mansion. The mansion is off-limits to visitors as it is still used for artistic pursuits and was covered in scaffolding as it is under restoration.

 Here is the entrance to the gardens.

 This is what you see when you walk through the gate.

 The gardens are primarily made up of roses with a smattering of sculptures.

 Here are some of the roses that were still in bloom. 

 Isn't the two-tone of this rose unique?

 Here is a pretty pink...

 and a peach colored rose...

as well as a pretty yellow.

In the center of the garden is a fountain with fish in it.

There was an interesting flower in this fountain also.

Off to one side is a sculpture of Christalan. "Christalan represents youth, chivalry, and victory over motality" according to the flyer. 

From the rose garden you could walk up to the pergola. It was starting to rain so we walked up quickly to see what was above.

This fountain was a treat to find. It is quite unusual. 

 There was a small stream down to yet another fountain, but it is dry as it is under renovation.

 When finished, it will be surrounded by spring and summer flowering perennials. There are a few there now.

 The sky was turning really dark so as we were leaving I snapped one last picture of an array of roses. 

The gardens were much smaller than I expected. We were there for maybe half an hour. Even on a sunny day I don't think we would have lingered for much more than an hour.

 We left the gardens just in time as the skies opened up as we drove to our hotel. We had a dinner reservation at an iconic Saratoga restaurant, Siro's. This restaurant is only open during the six weeks or so of the Saratoga thouroughbred racing meet. It is one of those places to see and be seen. We enjoyed a tasty meal. After dinner we went to the Harness Racing track for a couple of races. Hubby loves this atmosphere. I made one bet and had a small winner. Yay!

 We spent the next two days at the main thouroughbred racetrack. I would love to tell you that we won a bundle of money, but I spent those two days without another winning bet. I tend to bet Exacta boxes, which means that I am betting on a few horses to get 1st and 2nd place in any order. I came in 1st and 3rd or 2nd and 3rd more times than I want to count. There were a couple of races that my horses started out at the back of the pack and stayed there. Sigh.....Neither Hubby or I bet a whole lot of money on a race. The whole day costs us a lot less than most other vacation pursuits, but it can be quite discouraging to lose all the time. Hubby had a winning Day 1, but he and I were betting many of the same horses on Day 2 so it was a losing day for both of us. 

We had two nice breakfasts out and two great dinners. We spent two days out in the fresh air. All and all it was nice to get away.

I did bring my knitting and crocheting with me to work on in the car. I am knitting another Operation Gratitude scarf.

This is a similar pattern from the same old magazine as the last one.

I added a couple of rows to my Breeze Infinity Scarf.

Before we left, I spent a little time working on Santa's arm. 

Although I placed it in the correct position above, it is not attached yet as it still needs its glove.

I am hoping to finish it today, but our son came to visit this weekend so it may have to wait until tomorrow.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. 

Thanks for stopping by!