International Peace Garden

This is my third or fourth visit to the International Peace Gardens and they're always lovely. I do regret coming at the end of August as most of the flowers have finished blooming....although it's prime time for seed snatchers.

The playground is a new addition since my last visit. It's a pretty neat place, the water pump was my favorite.

The Conservatory was closed which was a bummer but it leaves something to look forward to!

We visited the Game Wardens Museum, it had AC! Neat little building and archive of many things game wardeny. I loved reading thr stories of how the animals got repossessed. More please.

We had lunch at the place...did it have a name? Pretty plain fare but not expensive and hit the spot. Cherry coke!

This was a visit in mid July in 2023, about 10 years after the previous trip. It appeared like the Gardens had lost their magical touch. The most notable difference was the empty sky looking in towards the West. The peace tower has been torn down some time back.

The cacti exhibit was also closed for renovations, expected to be opened in December. Some water features need some maintenance.

Apart from these minor disappointments, it is still worth the trip. It has a unique place in the US/CA relations.

Admission is 25 dollars (us or Canadian doesn't matter)

there's a useful map we used to get around we got at the entrance

first, we drove through the Canadian side, then the American side of the park

The drive isn't exciting or special

Then parked the car and walked through the playground, which was unique and fun

then walked to the sunken gardens, where there were thousands of plants and flowers in bloom. Serene and relaxing. Checked the pollinator garden out, where they grow some vegetables for their Cafe.

then went inside the interpretive center and gift shop. the Cafe was closed, and the art on display wasn't supersonic (I'm not an artist, I have no idea what art is)

the gift shop was open and so were the bathrooms

the big room with a huge diversity of cactus and succulents was being renovated (it's supposed to open in December 2023) but the CEO asked us if we wanted to see the exhibit, so he kindly showed us the cacti and answered our questions. very nice of him 👌 👍 👏

also 10/10 cacti

then we headed back out into the formal gardens and walked up to the chapel, enjoying the flowers and quiet, and then coming back

Then wanted to see the game warden museum, but that was closed so went to the flower clock and left through the Canadian border (went through customs with passports)

I recommend visiting this cultural landmark and enjoying the flowers. I will be coming back

There are also some hiking trails and kayaking but I didn't do either, nor did I see where you could kayak. I saw the lakes but no boats. I saw the trails though.