Chihuly’s Collection in St. Petersburg, features the “Glass Garden” a 40-foot-long, 15-foot-wide, and 15-foot-tall installation of vibrant glass art.
I can relate to this quote. I have a fondness for colored glass. I have been collecting colored glass for years. And although my collection of colored mini-vases is small, it makes me happy every time I see it. In addition, I have multiple colored glass dishes that I like to use. I still enjoy scouting out antique and thrift shops for my next find.
My small colored-glass collection.
Dale Chihuly is an internationally renowned artist, known for his colored glass sculptures (and many other creations with colored glass). His art can be found in over 200 museums in the US, with major installations in Tacoma, WA and Oklahoma City, OK and St. Petersburg FL.
A colorful Chihuly chandelier.
I was first introduced to Chihuly’s art several years ago, by attending a special art exhibit of his works. I immediately was captivated with his work.
Ruby Red Icicle Chandelier.
While visiting friends in Florida, I was excited to go to St. Petersburg to tour the Chihuly Collection there. It’s spectacular to stroll in and out of the rooms and visually take in all the bold colors and whimsical designs of this Chihuly Collection.
Another perspective of the Glass Garden.
And another perspective of this large glass garden.
We did attend a glass blowing demonstration before touring the museum, included in the ticket price. It was fascinating to see what a delicate, and fine-art, glass blowing is. It was fun to watch, and interesting to apply what we learned to how some of the art work was created as we looked at the variety of glass works in the museum.
Chihuly also renowned for his glass bowls… asymmetrical forms, bold color combinations, and vibrant.
A room full of striking bowls.
Chihuly’s work is usually recognizable for its unique and whimsical designs, and bold colors. There is a Chihuly chandelier hanging in the Minneapolis Children’s Theatre lobby.
I recognized this piece as Chihuly’s when we toured the Kennedy Performing Arts building in Washington DC last November.
I also noticed a Chihuly chandelier in the Kennedy performing Arts Center last fall while in Washington DC.
Look up to see this “Glass Flower Ceiling”
It warmed my heart to be able to tour this Chihuly collection in St. Petersburg Florida, on one of the coldest days in Florida this season.
We left Northfield a week before Thanksgiving to go visit our son and his family in Arlington, Virginia. On our way to the airport I realized I still had my slippers on! Fortunately, we were close enough to home so we had time to turn around and get my shoes! (I won’t mention the full cup of coffee I spilled all over my backpack at the airport.)
I guess I was excited. We were going to spend time with our son and his family. They are moving to India. We were happy to have some quality time to create more memories before they leave… and it was fun to take the grandchildren on adventures while mom and dad stayed home to work and pack! 😉
The nice apartment building where our son’s family has lived since January 2025.
This blog post will be a diary: a photo essay, with one, or maybe two, pictures per day to capture our first week. It was challenging to select the photos out of the hundreds I took!
A walk in the woods with Ezra. Still a touch of fall in the air.
Our first full day we dropped Zoey off for Portuguese lessons and Gary and I went for a long walk with Ezra. This is the day we made chocolate chip cookies which I blogged about a couple weeks ago.
We also “packed” Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes online. This is an outreach project by Samaritan’s Purse that delivers gift-filled shoeboxes to children in need worldwide.
Two cooks in the kitchen.
For breakfast on Sunday morning our granddaughter, who especially likes to cook and bake, made waffles. Her brother made blueberry syrup.
Ezra had a play date scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Zoey and I made a mosaic candle holder from a craft kit.
On Monday, we walked the kids to school. We did so each morning, and we also picked them every afternoon. It’s a .8 mile round-trip walk.
…a beautiful building made with marble from Italy.
On our first Monday while Tim & Andrea worked/packed, Gary and I took the Metro to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Performing Arts. We walked down the Hall of Nations (flags from all countries) and the Hall of States (flags from all states). Minnesota’s new flag was on display. The Kennedy Center is a beautiful building, made of marble from Italy, with chandeliers from Sweden. We had a fantastic tour guide…all to ourselves.
A hall inside the Kennedy Arts Center, with beautiful crystal chandliers.
Tuesday morning Gary and I went to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. This is a somber, yet incredible, must-see museum.
Pictures of shoe piles and pictures of hair piles (from the victims) left a lasting impression. We also went through a special exhibit designed just for kids, which was very well done.
Tuesday afternoon, Zoey taught grandma how to make Flan!
The kids Thanksgiving break started on Wednesday. We took the grandkids to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center which is a Smithsonian Museum near Dulles airport (not to be confused with its companion museum, The National Air and Space Museum).
SR-71 Blackbird
The Udvar-Hazy Center displays hundreds of air and space craft, including the SpaceShuttle Discovery, a Concorde, and a Blackbird SR-71 (fastest manned jet).
The space shuttle Discovery!
The space shuttle Discovery was a sight to see. There were so many interesting aircraft in this museum. It was impressive, and a lot of fun.
We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner together. The kids and I made apple crisp to go along with the pumpkin pie.
Of course the kids were off school on Friday too, so Gary and I and the kids hopped on the Metro …
The Metro system is so easy to use and a great way to get around DC.
and took it to the National Gallery of Art.
The National Gallery of Art.
I really liked this place.
I was immediately drawn to the first painting I saw in the museum. I envisioned myself in the painting…looking out over Lake Superior.
One really needs multiple visits to do justice to this art museum (I could say that of all of the museums), but this first time for me in the National Art Gallery was a lot of fun. We each chose an animal, color, and object to look for in the art works.
In the courtyard of the apartment building.
On Saturday, we walked through the Farmer’s Market near the apartment, took a short drive along the Potomac River, the kids showed off their skills on their hover boards, and we all went out for dinner at a Japanese restaurant.
*****
Night falls over Washington DC…
6:49 pm on November 24, 2025. Views of the capitol, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and the Kennedy Performing Arts building (the large building with white lights on left side of photo) to name a few…
