The Pagoda and Oriental Garden

I feel like the Pagoda is one of the best-kept secrets in Norfolk, which is strange because it's a big honkin' pagoda right in the middle of downtown. Hard to miss. But nobody seems to have heard about it. It's so well-kept that even I forgot about it until we stumbled upon it last Friday night on our way to dinner, and I used to cut class and eat lunch there visit it after school almost on a weekly basis when I was at Maury.

Finding it again was like a breath of fresh air. The garden surrounding the Pagoda is such a restful place. There are koi ponds and fountains and stone gates, water gardens and bamboo, all ringed with willow trees and set at the edge of Freemason Harbor.  We explored every single inch of the one-acre garden and enjoyed every minute.

It was especially fun to sit and people watch -- this one lady sat by a pillar and did the most meticulously beautiful beadwork the whole time we were there (can you see her special magnifying glasses in this pic?) I could have watched her all day.

Baby Anne and I played peekaboo in the willow trees for a good long while. Add in a walk along the pier and a sushi dinner at Kotobuki and you've got pretty much the perfect Friday evening.

Have you visited the Pagoda? Did you know anything about its history before you went?