I had been scheduled to travel to Amsterdam April of 2020 to see the tulip festival. The festival is globally renowned, especially Keukenhof Gardens. Covid cancelled those plans.
Last fall I learned about a tulip festival in the Skagit Valley, north of Seattle. That would be easier and safer, so I wrangled my friend Judy into going with me.
The festival is scheduled for the full month of April. Based on seeing the state of flowers in New York, I was a bit concerned we’d be going too late. Fortunately, I was wrong.
We flew in yesterday and spent the afternoon at Roozengaarde, one of three large tulip gardens in the area. The colors were so vivid they almost didn’t look real. As we arrived fields of tulips looked like a painted backdrop. But no, just thousands upon thousands of tulips planted in bands of color.
The fields were just the beginning, several acres are a show garden and were dazzling. There was a seemingly endless range of shapes, heights, colors, petal size and more. I’d never seen so many varieties. We were fortunate to have a sunny day and when the sun’s rays blazed through the tulips, they seemed to light up from within.
Despite hordes of people, it was easy to navigate the gardens. The crowds of smiling, happy family groups, friends and couples were considerate. Watching people pose amongst the tulips was great fun.
When we left the garden and drove through the Skagit Valley, we kept seeing bands of flaming red, orange, yellow and purple. It was glorious.