Brief intro ... In 1911, Julius Blodel, a Seattle lawyer, realized the potential in the Pacific Northwest for creating a forestry company. With a couple of partners, he formed a company that, within a few years, became one of the largest logging operations in the world. The company continued to grow and merge with other forestry companies until 1993, when the Weyerhaeuser corporation purchased it. At that time, Weyerhaeuser was the world's largest producer of softwood lumber. As you can imagine, while all this was going on, Blodel became successful financially. In 1951 he decided to purchase a 150-acre property on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and proceeded to turn it into a Reserve that has been named one of the 10 best botanical gardens in the United States.
The Blodel Reserve is open for visitation and I decided to take a ferry from Seattle over to Bainbridge Island to take a look for myself. The stress of the pandemic will melt away as you enjoy the peace and beauty of this place. Here are just a few photos from my visit.
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The home Virginia and Prentice Bloedel lived in. |
Check out the Bloedel Reserve website
HERE.
Needless to say, I'm already looking forward to another visit.