The $40 we didn't spend...

So here in Huntsville we have a lovely botanical garden. 

It has tree houses and worms and water features and a top notch butterfly house. 

You must go if you haven't been.

It's really just a beautiful place. 

However...

Its $12 for adults and $8 for kids to get in. 

So for our family it would be $40 stinkin' bucks for an afternoon there. 

And that's before we hit the gift shop that you have to walk through to get to the gardens. 

That's crazy talk. 

But my minions need nature!

It's a quandary. 

So....

Let's talk about Huntsville's best kept secret.

Bennett's Nursery.

Okay, so obviously Bennett's Nursery is not a secret. 

But...

I still run into people who haven't been to Bennett's or to the store right beside them called Across the Pond. 

Here are a few reasons why Bennett's and Across the Pond rock.

Reason, the first:

Free Cokes in bottles!

It's true. 

And not those new bottles that the tops just pop off when you twist. 

They have the old school kind that you have to use a bottle top opener for.

Ya know how much the botanical gardens charges for cokes?

Well, I don't know either but it's a more than nothin'!

Next:

There is an outdoor train!

There is one at the Botanical Garden's too but this one is...free!

The minions.

Watching the train and enjoying their cokes.

This one was not happy about having to stay in her stroller. 

She really wanted that train. 

I, however, did not want to reenact the scene from Godzilla where she played Godzilla and the train played a Tokyo cable car. 

So, in she stayed. 

Number three:

The plants are awesome. 

It smells good in the greenhouses.

Plus they pipe music through the outdoor areas!

I realize that's a big number three but it's all true. 

What great birthday presents these mixed pots would make...

Anyway...

Number four:

They have funny signs throughout the nursery. 

I'm not sure what kind of mutant "Mrs Frisbee and the Rats of Nimh" groundhogs and rabbits are reading these signs but they are humorous none the less.

Number five:

Shady paths!

The nursery is set up with winding paths with beautiful things planted in every little nook and cranny.

Huge trees shade the main area so even on hot summer days you have a little shade. 

The trees have had plenty of time to grow because Bennett's has been around forever. 

It used to be called Byar's but Mr. Bennett took it over forever ago. 

And...

Can I just say to the ladies that Mr. Bennett is...

handsome. 

I used to work with him once a year on a big plant sale. 

He told me once to call him "George" and I think I actually giggled.

That's just embarrassing. 

"Giggled, huh?"

That's just embarrassing.

Anyway...that is WAY off point.

So, lets talk about Across the Pond.

Such a great place to take kids!

They have huge tanks set up with gargantuan goldfish. 

Oh, the trauma of not being tall enough to see into the tanks!

They also have big ole' iguanas.

I love iguanas. 

They are so stately.

"Hi. I'm Stately."

They also have a great bird viewing area:

'

The ponds are terrific.

Here is my oldest making a corny "Hey, look Mom! I'm across the pond! Get it?"

Yeah. I get it. 

Next:

There are fish ponds.

"Woman! Please let me out of this stroller!"

Nope. 

Not happening.

And there are ponds with turtles in them.

Turtles. 

How fantastic are turtles?

Come on! 

At one point he asked me "What would happen if I jumped in?"

I hope it was a rhetorical question. 

You know what's not a rhetorical question?

Why haven't you been to Bennett's and Across the Pond?

So, we walked away with $10 worth of plants. 

I call it a bargain.