Detroit Institute of Art and Belle Isle Conservatory

Jed and I went to the Detroit Institute of Art (the Art Museum in downtown Detroit) for a date on August 8th. I have been wanting to go there again ever since I went with my parents in November of 2007. It was super fun to go again with Jed.  Baby Charlotte got to tag along too. :)
I liked this painting. The subject was cool, but it was the style (ie, brushstrokes) of the painting that I really loved.

Jed and I enjoyed the Modern art, which was a surprise. It was more interactive to walk through this exhibit because instead of just looking at the artwork, we discussed it and talked about what we liked or disliked. To me, this type of art elicits a reaction from the viewer more than admiration, really.  In this case, the reaction was, "Are you kidding me?"  :)

I actually thought this one was pretty cool looking. :)

 After the Detroit Institute of Art, we went to the Belle Isle Conservatory. I have been wanting to return here ever since we got denied in August 2007. (We arrived after hours on accident.)

I finally got to go inside this gorgeous conservatory. And it was amazing! My favorite was the tree below that I am standing in front of. I wish I could remember the name of it, but the trunk was covered in a huge polka-dot design, the remaining evidence of leaves growing and falling off the stem over time. So cool! I also loved a delicate ground cover that hung over the rock ledges, called Baby's Tears.

 

There is a large pond on the conservatory grounds, full of koi (at least I think that is what they were). A man who worked there told us we should bring food to feed the fish next time, and he listed off a whole bunch of things the fish liked to eat, including scrambled eggs and bananas! I happened to have some raisins in my diaper bag, so Jed and I commenced throwing raisins to the fish. And boy, did they go for them! It was  a feeding frenzy! You can see Jed and my shadows in this picture as we watched them compete for our treat.

All in all, it was a super fun date! You can probably guess who planned it! :) Jed had a fun time, and he is a great sport to ooh and aah over artwork and plants with me. :)