Unexpected beauty in Rockford
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 06/03/05
We had heard about this Japanese garden from an acquaintance and made the trip up on Labor Day weekend. We virtually had the place to ourselves, which was fantastic. The guides/staff are helpful and courteous. Most blooms were finished for the season, but the foliage and general design were wonderful. The near proximity of the busy highway sometimes intrudes into the peacefulness with sirens, horns and general noise, but the deeper into the space you go, this is eliminated.
The major downside was that there was nowhere to eat (work was in progress for an onsite Japanese cafe) so when we were finally too hungry to keep going, we left to find food. Several bad strip malls later, we were forced to eat at a KFC, which wasn't what we had hoped to finish the day with... I have high hopes for the cafe when we visit again. But really, for a few dollars apiece, we spent a fantastic, restful day. Highly recommend!