If you live close to Dayton, Ohio and you need a place to relax, where you are surrounded with lush vegetation, but you do not want to venture far away from the comfort of your home, I have a perfect place for you. The place is called Gretchen gardens, and it is situated in one of the Dayton’s suburbs, called Oakwood.
Gretchen gardens is basically a cute mix between a garden and a park. It is too small to be a park, but too big to be a garden, but long story short, this place is just perfect. The thing I like the most about this place is the fact that there is rarely anyone there, so if you need some peace and quiet time, this is where you can go.
As you can see, I had the whole place to myself last time I was at Gretchen gardens.
How to get there?
Gretchen gardens is easy to miss if you do not know what you are looking for. Your best orientation point is Harman elementary school. From the school, walk down the Harman avenue until you reach a four way intersection. Turn right at the intersection, and cross the street at the first crosswalk you see.
This is where you will notice a fenced area, which is, in fact, Gretchen gardens. There is only one entrance, and there is a sign on the door, telling you to keep the gate closed so deer will not get inside. I was quite surprised when I saw this sign, because I have lived in Oakwood for almost two years now, and I have never seen a deer there during that time.
I guess there are deer in Oakwood... I just have not seen one yet.
You can park your car on the street across from Gretchen gardens. In fact, Gretchen gardens do not have their own parking lot, so street parking is your only option, unless you are walking there.
A virtual walk through Gretchen gardens
Gretchen gardens are a small, but awesome place with a lot of trees, a small pond (without fish, but still) and a few benches. Once you enter, you will notice cobblestones on the ground with names on them. These are the names of the people who donate money to Gretchen gardens, so they can keep the place as awesome as it is.
The cobblestones with names of people who donated the money. Some of the money was donated in a memory of a loved one.
As you can see, there is plenty of names on the cobblestones.
Once you reach the end of the cobblestones with names, you can either walk straight or turn to the left. If you walk straight, you will eventually reach a small house. Well, it is not really a house - it is a place where all the equipment that they use to maintain Gretchen gardens in good shape is kept, and this is a good place to sit down and relax.
The storage house. As you can see, the place does not look as nice now, because it is winter. It looks much nicer in spring, autumn and summer.
If you turn left, you will encounter a small stream that forms a pond, and a few trees with a stone bench under them. This is my favourite place to sit because it is situated at the far end of the park, and it feels like you are miles away from civilization. Sometimes, I bring a book and read there, or I just listen to music and relax.
A patch of green that will soon be full of blooming flowers. And that is the reason why I love spring.
A few words for the end…
Gretchen gardens is my to go place when I need to be alone and think. I visit the place quite often, and I rarely see another person in there. Well, I hope this post will not attract a flock of visitors to Gretchen gardens, but I just wanted to share this special place with you.
