An Impromptu Picnic at Wickham Park

An Impromptu Picnic at Wickham Park

Danielle seated on the picnic blanket with the soft cooler

Pahl with the picnic basket

The first Sunday in June 2026, my partner and I were supposed to go to the annual Milford Pirate Day Festival. We had everything planned with our outfits as well as how we were going to get there and when we were going to leave. That is, until the wee hours of the early morning the Friday before when my neighborhood was engulfed with multiple explosions. A chemical fire on a blighted property poisoned the surrounding air temporarily, and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection had to come into the neighborhood for cleanup. Naturally, I threw a bunch of random clothes in a suitcase while wearing a N-95 mask and headed for the hills for the rest of the weekend. 

One great hill to spend time on is Wickham Park in Manchester, CT. Clean air, delicately designed and maintained themed gardens, and a hill so grand you can distinctly see the buildings of downtown Hartford in the background. I had been to Wickham Park twice before. Once about fourteen years ago when a friend was getting married at the Cabin Garden and Amphitheater at the top of the hill, and again a few years ago at the Emerald Garden for a Steampunk meetup. In the time between my last visit and this one, they had actually added two new themed gardens (a Sensory Garden and A Garden of Art). I didn't even know there was also an Aviary and a Nature Center on the property at any point in my previous visits. This time, we were going to make sure we saw the whole park!

Frog in the pond at the Lotus Garden

Peter Rabbit keychain debut

We situated ourselves near the outskirts and a park bench inside of the Lotus Garden.  From where we were seated on a picnic blanket on the grass, we had optimal viewing of the frog pond and fountain. You could hear all manor of bullfrogs and various insects well enough, but to see them with your eyes required a sort of intense gazing. We must have spent an additional twenty minutes after enjoying a picnic of crackers, cheese, fruits, hummus, raw carrots, and sparkling water staring into the frog pond. I used Pahl's cell phone to capture a bull frog mid-note. They are quite well camouflaged in the pond otherwise. Also pictured is my Peter Rabbit keychain I picked up in an after Easter sale at a CVS near my partner's home. It was a whole $7.99, but I felt it was very cute and would be the perfect accent in a lot of coordinates. 

Danielle in the Bamboo

After we packed up our picnic items and put them back in the car, we started walking around the park. Somewhere near the Lotus Garden there's a little walking path that has bamboo that completely engulfs you on both sides. I find it extremely peaceful and comforting to be inside the bamboo walkway. When you get to one end of it, it also make for an extremely impressive photo opportunity. 

My picnic outfit consists of a single short sleeve OP or one piece cotton dress from the Chinese indie brand Miss Point. It is light blue with a floral lattice all over print, added lace overlays near the bottom of the skirt, two very functional hidden pockets, a ladder lace drawstring waist band, and a couple of detachable pink bows I have added to the top of the yoke area. I am also wearing a straw hat that has a bowed hat band that completely matches the print of the dress. I'm pretty sure I was wearing either white or off white under the knee socks paired with my beige oxfords. The dress is so long, I can't tell what socks I selected for certain...either the ones with ribbons or plain ones. Sometimes longer skirts hide leg wear details, so it is something to consider when putting together an outfit whether having a decorative tight or sock is helpful or not. Since there was no specific theme other than "head for the hills", I chose a simple brown rattan cross body as my purse of choice. Peter Rabbit would stand out nicely hanging from something more plain anyway. I braided my hair in pigtails to add to the country look and keep it off my neck. 

Pahl in the bamboo

Pahl decided to match my sort of casual turn of the century country style in his look for the day. He has a beautifully embroidered medium weight white cotton blouse tucked into black jeans with brown oxford boots at his feet. Over the blouse he has black overalls and over that he has a satin style navy and burgundy paisley waist coat, which he has kept unbuttoned. The look is completed with a straw boater hat with a matching navy and burgundy striped hat band. 

Danielle in the Amphitheater overlook

After walking around in the bamboo, we made our way up a rather steep paved hill. We discovered that there were several picnic areas with actual picnic tables and grills, a golf disc course, walking trails, and a large outdoor restroom with men and women's stalls on different sides. Eventually you'll see a modest wood cabin and a beautiful garden with various small gazebos. And all the way at the very top, there's a small stone chapel overlooking a grand expanse of the city below. I remember sitting on one of those stone benches for my friend's wedding all those years ago!  I thought to myself, with this outfit and the view, I have officially transformed into a Ghibli movie character!

A view of the garden next to the amphitheatre

Gazebo Selfie

But wait, there's even more park after that! As you make your way down the other side of the hill, you will have more choices to explore a playground, an Aviary, a Nature Center, Concessions (only open on the weekend) and two additional gardens!

Pahl entering the Maron Family Garden of Art

The newest addition to Wickham Park, the Maron Family Garden of Art became open to the public in October 2025. In it seems to be a variety of modern style sculptures from different local artists surrounded by beautiful plants and architectural structures. The entire garden has a pathway that starts under a pergola and wraps its way down part of a hill that opens up to a large grassy area. In the large grassy area can be seen a very modern tower with a spiral staircase up two floors. Also further out there is a labyrinth with a section to sit down in center of it.  

The observation tower

Serious selfie in the center of the Labyrinth. Pahl looks angry, but really he's just tired

You can get just as much walking back to the entrance of the garden as walking out from it.  I noticed two sculptures right away on my way out that I didn't notice on my way in. 

I liked this sculpture very much because of its playful shape and colors and mirror ball. It reminds me of the feeling you get when you play a stringed instrument with a looper pedal and the layers are going together particularly well even though they are all very different. I also liked the mirror ball and it's fish-eye selfie.

This is not photoshopped or AI art. The stones are really welded together like this to appear out of thin air in the garden.

Overall it was a great time to visit the park and experience all of what it had to offer. It was also a great way to get my steps in with only a little bit of car traffic to worry about. Wickham Park is open daily from April through October, but requires an entry fee of $7.00 weekdays, $10.00 weekends/holidays per vehicle payable by CASH or CHECK only. There are also many small events throughout the season like Dinner Series, Arts and Crafts Programs, Concerts, etc. We actually went back to Wickham Park for the Taste of the Park Dinner Series in the Italian Garden in August 2026.  It was a lovely three course dinner with a cocktail hour prepared by a local Italian restaurant, except for the fact that it torrentially rained the whole time and we were not able to take any photos in the actual garden. So looking back, I am glad that we made an afternoon of the whole park back in June!