We’re now in West Chester, PA. Our primary objective is to go to Longwood Gardens; however, we especially wanted to be there for the evening fountain shows. So, this schedule provided us with the opportunity to sleep in, enjoy a late lunch and visit some of the sites in the area.
The American Helicopter Museum has over 35 aircraft of all types on display plus exhibits explaining the history of helicopters and pioneers of helicopter innovation.
We saw a Chinese Flying Top (circa 400 B.C.) which could fly vertically. We then learned how Leonardo da Vinci envisioned his “Helix” machine that could lift men vertically into the air. It was fascinating to learn that in 1886 the French novelist Jules Verne described the helicopter “Albatross” in his book, Robur the Conqueror. This was based on a real-life experiment that became an inspiration for future inventors of a successful helicopter!
This Gyrodyne QH-50C is a remotely controlled drone helicopter designed to operate from destroyers and small naval ships.
I thought this RotorWay Scorpion kit helicopter was cute! RotorWay was the first to mass market helicopter kits. Production of the Scorpion series ended in 1984.
We made it! Longwood Gardens fountains are beautiful by day:
The Conservatory is awesome!
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| Satsuki Azalea – training began around 1970! |
We missed seeing the Italian Water Garden on our last visit. Pierre S. du Pont was inspired by his travels to Italy in his creation of this garden. What is amazing is that he calculated that the northernmost pools needed to be built 14 feet longer than the southernmost pool to appear symmetrical from the viewing deck!
Also inspired by outdoor European theaters and his love of music, Mr. du Pont built the Open Air Theatre in 1913.
Here are some photos of the Main Fountain area during the day. It’s fun to walk around and see the various surrounding fountains, check out the historic pump room and stand on top of the Main Fountain “stage”!
The Main Fountain is a culmination of Mr. du Pont’s vision, where the garden and fountains come together in a spectacular evening performance of music and color!
We had dinner in the Beer Garden, listened to some live bluegrass music and strolled toward the Main Fountain Garden about 7:30 p.m. We were rewarded with fountains dancing to music at 8:15.
The crowd continued to grow, and the air was thick with anticipation by 9:15 when the Illuminated Fountain Performance began. The night we attended, the music theme was the Solid Gold ‘70s, featuring music by the Bee Gees, KC and the Sunshine Band, Earth Wind and Fire and others. The finale was “Last Dance” by Donna Summer. These pictures don’t even begin to do the performance justice.
This is a must-do bucket list thing to see! Check out this YouTube video.
It will be hard to beat the Longwood Gardens fountains, but it’s time to leave Pennsylvania and check out Baltimore, Maryland.
“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”
Edgar Allan Poe
