[xzmattzx]

winterthur is an old dupont country estate located north of the city of wilmington in chateau country. winterthur is one of the more famous mansions in the united states; now a museum, it boasts the largest and most extensive collection of americana items of any private museum. the gardens surrounding the mansion, which is the focus of this thread, are regarded as possibly the bext place in the entire united states to enjoy the sounds, smells, and colors of the spring season (it's consistently voted in the top 3 places in the country, right up there with place like augusta national golf course and longwood gardens, which also has dupont ties and is only 10 miles away from winterthur).

i visited winterthur this past wednesday, on a sunny late april afternoon. the best time to come to winterthur is in early to mid-may (depending on how early spring arrives in the mid-atlantic region), when the azalea bushes are in bloom and the wildflowers in the forests come out.

this is one time that i wish i had a better camera. these picture don't do the place any justice. the woods and fields surrounding the mansion are ablaze is thousands of colors right now. i'm hoping i can find some time off of work in the next couple of weeks to get some pictures of the azalea bushes in full bloom.

be warned, there are about 70 pictures from the gardens.

 

[xzmattzx]

last sunday i was at the point-to-point, a series of amateur horse races. the races are held in the fields surrounding winterthur, and were started 28 years ago to replicate the races through the country that estate owners would have back during the times of fox hunts and carriages.

point-to-point brings out the who's who of delaware; all of wilmington's millionaires are out, mingling with each other, tailgating, showing off their possessions, and even talking with us "common folk". i talked to a few millionaires and estate owners myself. there were several fancy cars on display for the crowd, including the centerpiece: a 1959 rolls royce "gray ghost", on loan from the dupont family's private car collection. (unfortunately, i didn't get a picture of the gray ghost.)

the festivities start off with the upscale tailgating, where the rich and famous of delaware put together elaborate themes for their tailgate and get judged.

before the races began, there was a parade of outfits, then a parade of foxhounds, and then a parade of carriages.

there were 5 races: the amateur riders club of america, the middletown cup, the isabella dupont sharp memorial, the winterthur bowl, and the vicmead plate. the vicmead plate is the most important race of the five. the first two races are flat races, and the last three races are timber races (jumping over timber walls).

i got to point-to-point at around 12, so i missed the tailgating. i got there in time for the parade of vintage carriages. my batteries died at around 3, so i only took pictures of the first three races.

here are pictures from point-to-point.


the parade of vintage carriages

an old yuengling beer delivery carriage. :cheers:

looking towards "carriage alley" where the carriages line up after the parade.

carriage alley. some notable people who tailgated in carriage alley this year were mathra stewart and the n.c. wyeth family.

the main part of the crowd. attendance was around 20,000 for the day.

carriage alley

the winner's circle

warming up the horses for the amateur rider's club of america.

warm-up trots

the race has begun, and the horses are coming around the bend at the left.

moving right to left as they come down the hill.

racing through the cross-over, past horses blocking the wrong ways.

lap 2

the winner of the first race

receiving the trophy

warming up for race 2, the middletown cup

getting into position to start

at the starting line

and they're off!

coming down the hill, beyond part of the crowd

lap 2

the winner of the middletown cup.

setting up the barriers for the timber races

warming up for race 3, the isabella dupont sharp memorial.

setting up barriers

some millionaire tailgating parties

getting ready for race 3

a crowd lines the other side of the fence.

and they're off!

past the cross-over

jumping over a timber wall in the distance

here they come, down the hill

through the cross-over again

getting ready to jump the timber again

coming down the hill again

the winner of race 3, the isabella dupont sharp memorial

the carriages make their way through the winterthur gardens.

 

[Küsel]

You know that Winterthur is an industrial city in Metro Zurich with 130'000 people in the area, a nice old town, a technical highschool and the home of Winterthur Assurances - and it's called "Garden City"

Anyway, very beautiful pics!!!

 

[xzmattzx]

i've heard of winterthur in switzerland before. interesting that it's called "garden city".

 

[Küsel]

It's because of the many city parks and high % of green area... It's really interesting that a garden is named after the city (or does it belong to the company Winterthur?)

 

[xzmattzx]

i'm guessing it's named after the town. i don't think it's named after the company; one of the duponts built winterthur in the early 1900's, and if he was going to name it after a company i would think he would name it after his family's company.

 

[xzmattzx]

i went back to winterthur last week to see the azaleas, which are now in bloom. i didn't have much time so i couldn't take 70 or 80 pictures like i did the first time, but i took plenty of nice pictures nonetheless.