Freeland and Midland Michigan- June 10

The environs of Midland and Freeland were where my parents grew up. Interestingly, I only thought of these two areas in terms of rural roads. Consequently it was very enlightening for me to see the towns associated with the names I had heard all of my life. Freeland, where my mother attended high school, is a fairly small town. I liked Midland, which is bigger than Freeland. It is very tourist friendly. That is, parking was easy and free.It was easy to find our way around the center of the city. It was also not difficult to find a place to eat for lunch; "Sams"which had delicious subs and pizza. Midland is an area where the Chippewa and Tittabawasee rivers converge. I have here a picture of the Tridge, a three-legged pedestrian bridge which was built at this confluence. Every day,since we have been in Michigan,we have seen some body of water. According to Mary Jo,Michigan does have the longest length of coastline in comparison to the other fifty states(this does include its upper peninsula).While in Midland we also visited the Dow Gardens. Large brine deposits precipitated the establishment of the Dow Company in Midland. It was Herbert H.Dow who started the gardens, and his estate is still on the grounds. His son Alden Dow was an architect and apprenticed with Frank L.Wright to also build a home and studio in the gardens. He also designed the Tridge. Besides the Tridge I have posted a picture of the Oriental Poppy and the Fringe Tree,both found in the Dow Gardens. I found the Dow Gardens to be quite different than any other botanical garden I have seen. A lot of the plants were exotic and the garden was grown slowly through the years with the philosophy that the entire beauty of the Garden should never be revealed in a single glance. I have many pictures of the Garden to show,but will add them to future blog sites.