The Grounds for Sculpture

The Grounds for Sculpture used to be the New Jersey State Fairgrounds that was transformed by its patron J. Seward Johnson (of the Johnson & Johnson family) into a 35-acre park filled with sculptures from contemporary artists.

It has been a while since I heard of this park in Hamilton, New Jersey. The park also hosts an upscale gourmet restaurant that has an odd name: Rat's. I find that odd too but I heard it has a story behind it.

The weather had mellow down a bit so we decided to stop by a couple of hours. We weren't able to see the entire park, you need to devote at least a full day for the grounds to walk around. It didn't help either that Madison suddenly decided to throw a tantrum. She is more interested in the ducks on the pond.

This reminds me of some Egyptian temple.

A little bit Star Trek for my taste.

I am not sure how to look at this. I could only guess it is a woman with very long limbs, large hands and an unusual feet. Also, at an angle there supposed to be sitting on her lap (a dog, maybe?)

Apparently, the restaurant was named after J. Seward's favorite character from a classic children's story called The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Based on the menu, it serves French inspired meals. One day, I might try out their brunch.

It takes about half hour from my house to get to this park. I enjoyed my walk around the vicinity and would want to further explore the area. It has a $12 entrance fee but they also have an annual membership that can get you an unlimited access and other discounts.