Kindergarten Architecture?

I spent the day today in a workshop in an effort round off the 100 hours of continuing education credits that I have to have every five years. It was all about the history and architecture of my city. What does that have to do with teaching kindergarten, you ask? So did I. But, in an effort to finish the required amount of hours, I will often take workshops that aren't strictly within my subject material. They are always very informative, and very enjoyable. And I do get little nuggets that I can use for kindergarten. I don't think I'll have them drawing up city plans any time soon, but it was a nice day for a walking tour of some of our more picturesque spots.

Living where I do, we have no dearth of colonial mansions and "grande old Southern Ladies" (as some of the homes are more euphemistically called) to gawk at and of which to take touristy pictures. So often, though, when I drive around the city, I tend to forget about the historical significance of those buildings and parks, squares and monuments; and grit my teeth over the tourists who linger too long in the middle of the street while they gaze in rapt attention at one of our finer historical treasures. And even more too often, I find myself unaware of whatever Monument X is commemorating or why Park Z is of historical significance. This class helped bring a lot more of that into focus. We got to see a lot of neat buildings and structures along the way.

I took a few pictures. Here are two of my favorites:

The first is a gazebo. It's not of all that significant a historical marker on the tour as it is a personal memory. I got married in this gazebo in 1992. It is a very beautiful little spot of green space in the downtown area. At that time, there was no fee to use the gazebo or little park, which had become a favored spot for weddings, but you did have to seek permission from the city so there wouldn't be two weddings occurring on the same day at the same time.

The second is of a wrought-iron gate that is located across the drive to the side entrance of one of the restored mansions in the historic area. I also took a closeup shot, which is (unfortunately) slightly blurry. I thought it was gorgeous, though it must have cost a pretty penny. Of course, if you have the cabbage to live in a mansion, a wrought-iron gate for your drive isn't exactly going to break the bank.

At any rate, I may have spent more enjoyable days in the name of education, but I sure would be hard-pressed to name them.