Autumn in White Cross

Sometimes you have only to ask to get special permission. I've been to public arboretums in Atlanta and Raleigh but they don't compare to the place I went in October. A private arboretum hidden in the back roads of Orange County. Due to a turn of fate, I knew about this place 2 years ago through a friend of mine, but I never found the time to ask the owner if I could visit. Life has a way of getting in the way of your plans, you know. So, when I found myself with a few October weekends with no plans on my hands...I scoured my email for the contact information to this arboretum. After many emails and discarded dates, we finally settled on a Sunday late in October. As I got geared up to take this road trip, I casually mentioned to my 2 besties, Rachelle & Sarah, that I was going and would they like to join me for the ride. I thought there was no way either of them would be interested...I was way wrong. Both of them jumped at the chance to get away on a girls' road trip to a secret location! It turned out to be an overcast day with the leaves starting to turn and the colors really beginning to POP! We spent 1 hour driving there, 2 hours walking around with me taking tons of pictures of the scenery and of the besties, and an hour coming home. It felt like we were in the book, "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett (one of my all-time favorite books). Hidden from the world, in a garden that only a couple people know about, walking with 2 of my besties and surrounded by beautiful plants and statuary. We had a wonderful Sunday afternoon together and I took some pictures of my besties that made their mommas proud! It was a day full of memories, smiles and sincere, true friendship. It was a blessing and a bendiction from God.