Filoli

Filoli is a lovely Bay Area landscape - only 30 minutes drive from my home. It was built as a private residence in 1917 and opened to the public in 1975 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

I always have trouble with the pronunciation of Filoli: is it Fi-lo-li? Fai-lo-li? I learned (from the ticket desk) that there is no one correct answer; everyone says it in the way they want - I even heard by "fi-Lo-li (with the accent at Lo)."

The weather was partly cloudy - we were still on the end of the atmospheric river. Spotty blues were not so bad, but the temperature was below average. So, it was a great pity that the flowers did not bloom fully - it made us have another expedition for California's SuperBloom, but it's another story.

It was our second visit to Filoli, and the best thing was that we found a beautiful trail course. The property is 654 acres, but the house and garden are only 16 acres - the trail runs around the rest of the vast territory.  We walked and had lunch on the road. I got to think about having a membership for this weekend's tranquility.