Botanical Gardens 2

I highly recommend the Norfolk Botanical Garden. The garden is hidden next to the Norfolk Airport off Azalea Garden Rd. Celebrating it's 75th year, the Norfolk Botanical Garden is a non-profit museum for plants. Spanning 155 acres and 12 miles of paved trails, it's a great place to spend a beautiful day. World of Wonders (WOW): A kids area with a water garden. On hot days let your kids run around the water garden, playhouse, go down the slide, and cool off at the Botanical Garden. Pirates Cove: A huge mound of sand with a cannon and slide. The Butterfly exhibit: A green room with hundreds of butterflies flying around. If you are lucky, one might land on your arm. Train: Ride the train around the gardens. Whether you are tired of walking or just trying to entertain your small kids, the train is a great way to see everything.
Airplane watching: The botanical gardens are next to Norfolk Airport and there's a hill where you can listen to the air traffic tower and watch planes land and take off.
Food: Bring a lunch and have a picnic or grab a bite to eat at their cafe. We chose to eat by the Pirate Cove so the kids could play when they were finished and we could enjoy our meal too!

We loved the botanical gardens and bought the yearly membership. It was great for kids. They had a water garden to cool the kids off in the summer. It also has a sand pit with a pirate ship for the kids to play on. It was a great outing for a nice day. They also have concerts at the botanical gardens and the BEST christmas lights!