Tulip Festival?

So the other day, Tyson and I decided to visit the Tulip Festival. We knew that it was located in Thanksgiving Point (somewhere), and set off eager to see the highly promoted entourage of tulips and shrubbery. To our surprise, the so-called "huge festival" turned out to be not-so-much festival, and not-so-much tulip. What we found instead was a small, quaint garden decorated with several rows of tulips and an attractive waterfall arrangement. (We chose to ignore the several rows of barren wasteland). For a while we were confused as to why such a small atmosphere would receive so much hype and attention from the media, but we were still satisfied with the opportunity to appreciate nature for free.

It wasn't until Sunday afternoon when Tyson realized that the garden we had visited was definitely not the Tulip Festival of Thanksgiving Point. I'm not sure what we visited, but the real Tulip Gardens apparently are a rather prominent event:

"Come see over a quarter million bulbs bloom in our 55-acre garden paradise. There are over four miles of winding paths that will rejuvenate and inspire you. In addition to the spectacular display of tulips, the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival includes music, demonstrations, vendors, tours, food, and even storytelling for children."

hmmm...maybe next year we'll go for the real deal. So, for those of you interested in saving a buck, skip the tulip festival and come on down to the small gardens located just north of the Dinosaur museum. There, you'll still be able to enjoy the beauty of tulips, but without the parade of "music, demonstrations, vendors, tours, food and storytelling." If you're lucky, you might even have the chance to catch a bride or two taking her bridal photos! What a deal!