Road Trip, Day 8 - Chihuly Gardens - Nighttime

Chihuly Gardens is beautify in the daytime, but the nighttime is where the magic comes out, don't you think?

More pictures here!

Next up, Pike Place Market.

Road Trip, Day 8 - Chihuly Gardens - Daytime

My appreciation of Chihuly began in 1996 when he had an installation at the St. Louis Art Museum. One part of that installation stuck with me - the Persian Ceiling. I walked into a room with a glass drop ceiling. Between the glass and the lights were oodles and oodles of beautiful Chihuly glass. I vowed right then and there, that I wanted a room like that... if I ever won the lottery.

Then, he came back to the St. Louis area to do an installation at one of my favorite places in the world, at Missouri Botanical Garden, in 2006. Again, my love for Chihuly was renewed. I wish we had been able to keep more of the beautiful work.

This amazingness opened in 2012, and I bookmarked it for when I would ever been in Seattle. Winner winner for me! One of the great things about Chihuly Garden and Glass is that they have a day/night pass - so you can see the gloriousness in the daytime and then lit perfectly at night. And it's both an indoor installation and an outdoor installation.

Warning: VERY image heavy post ahead!!

We went at noon and enjoyed the Glass Forest:

The Northwest Room with Baskets and the drawings:

Sea Life:

My favorite Persian ceiling:

Mille Fiori (Italian for "thousand flowers"):

Ikebana and Float Boat:

His famous Chandeliers:

and famous Macchia:

We wandered around the garden and marveled at its beauty:

There are only like a million more photos found in the Seattle set. I tried really hard to pare down, but I LOVE Chihuly... can you tell???

Nighttime coming soon!

Chihuly's Blue Chandelier

While visiting the Missouri Botanical Garden in sub-freezing temperatures in attempt to catch MOBOT in snow, I inadvertently visited Chihuly's Blue Chandelier hours before it was to be dismantled. Missouri Chihuly fans fret not, as its dismantling is only temporary. The Ridgeway Center, where it hangs, is undergoing roof renovation and it is being removed in order to preserve its safety. They expect it to be back up by April.

Here's a few pictures to tide us over until then:











Looking straight up from underneath: