| rev:text
| - Only a few blocks from my apartment, I expected this place to be out in the middle of nowhere or on the edge of town. Today was the one-year anniversary of Spring's Preserve, so I treated my roommate, my son and I to attend the event (the fact that it cost $6 each instead of $14.95 was a major reason why I was so nice). While the crowds were outrageous today, it did not detract from what the Preserve has to offer overall.
There are many different facets of this huge campus, from the OriGEN experience to the gardens on the outskirts of the property; each has something great to show and tell you. We started in the gardens, examining the flora and fauna that is prevalant in this area. We were shown various ways to create a garden using plants that are meant to be here as well as planting veggies and fruits in new and interesting ways, something I did not think could be done well around here.
We ventured further into the Preserve and found the ampitheater where a free ice-cream social was coinciding with live Celtic and eventually Blues musicians performing. What a great place this would be for a night of music and some food or drinks. We were told that the next week on Father's day there would be a BBQ, Blues and Beer festival where the first 100 dad's got in for free. Events like this are an excellent way to attract positive attention to such a wonderful place.
Past the ampitheater is the OriGEN building where there are a multitude of displays that are interactive and interesting. Educational video games occupy one room while a history of the area display with live actors playing a turn-of-the-century train ride scene are in another. Beyond this room lies one of the most exciting parts of the experience: the Flash Flood room. Only 30 people can go in at a time, so expect a line. Standing on a platform at the bottom of a mock wash, you experience what it is like to be in the middle of a flash flood. My son was in the front row and he came out a little wet.
Further along you will find a great insect, reptile and mammal display that has many interesting specimens. We found that a few of the animals were dead, however, but this is not to be unexpected. One was a kangaroo mouse that was hidden away in his burrow (he may have been sleeping but we doubt it. The lizards were very excited to have visitors as you may see in one of the pictures I posted of the Preserve.
Expect to spend at least 2-3 hours here. A lot of the activities are outside, so apply sunscreen. Water fountains are every where and most are very cold (moreso near the buildings).
We did not go into the main building where the gift shops and restaurants were, but refer to other reviews as other yelper's have visited them. I will update when I return here again.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)