Chihuly Exhibit, Hot, Humid, Marvelous

Noon, July 21, and I thought I was going to keep on staying cool indoors. But, got an irresistible invitation in a phone call and ended up having lunch in the Pineapple Room at Cheekwood with a nephew, his wife, and two of their grandchildren, along with said children's mother.

We walked all the paths of the grounds in the hot, sultry air, then cooled off with a tour of the art museum that is housed in the Cheekwood mansion, viewing two rooms full of more Chihuly hand-blown glass and lingering over every painting in "The American Impressionists in the Garden" exhibit, which includes more 19th and early 20th century paintings by women than one would expect, and very beautiful they were, too. Looked at everything else on the four levels of the art museum, also, in air-conditioned comfort.

Then a late lunch of delicious food, home to rest, and back to walk all the paths again after sundown, when all the outdoor installations lighted the dark paths with brilliant colors.

Below are a daytime and a night view of the Chihuly "Saffron Tower," and a night look at the rowboat freighted with spiky light.