The Chinese Scholar's Garden [Staten Island, New York]

It's funny how you could live in one place for so long and experience next to nothing about it. Such is my relationship with Staten Island, New York. 

My parents were both raised in other outer boroughs of New York City (Brooklyn and Queens) and moved to Staten Island for the family environment and the ability to be in the city without the hustle and bustle. Of course, they liked Staten Island, but they raised my brother and I to believe that if you wanted to do something then you needed to get off the island. We spent nearly every weekend and all summer going to Manhattan, to visit family in Brooklyn, or driving out to New Jersey or even Pennsylvania. It took a long time for me to realize that there actually were things to do on Staten Island besides bowling and going to the Mall!

It is for this reason that I am a 34 year old native Staten Islander that had not set foot in the Chinese Scholar's Garden until this past Sunday. I wanted to take a moment to share my experience with you so you could see one of the wonderful things you might want to check out (for the low price of $5) if you happen to be in New York City.

You enter through a bamboo forest...

You are greeted by a koi filled pond.

You will, inevitably, need to stop, sit down and OBSERVE.

You will stare, with wonder, at the window designed perfectly to be a living frame of the beauty beyond.

You will peer through a moon door and it will drawn you in...

You'll find, and cross, stone bridges.

You'll be captivated by and pulled down a hallway filled with sunshine, breezes, trees, flowers and more picturesque views.

You'll squeeze through some more funny shaped doorways.

You'll be entranced by the varying floor patterns,

and you'll think about the people who gathered and arranged all of the river stones into these shapes.

You'll find fish at every turn - big and small.

And you'll thank me for telling you about this.

Have you been to this (or any other) Chinese Scholar's Garden?

Do you have a place near you that you would like to share with us?

Do you have a favorite Staten Island sight?