
DATE: Tuesday, October 14, 1997             TAG: 9710150796

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Krys Stefansky 

                                            LENGTH:   74 lines

RED WING OFFERS FLIGHTS OF FANCY

GOOD THINGS ARE worth waiting for. We stopped by Red Wing Park late this summer and were disappointed to find our favorite part - the Japanese garden - under renovation. No red bridge, no pond, no miniature winding pathways.

Everything else was there - the playgrounds, nature walk, the wide-open, grassy field. But our peaceful slice of the Orient had been all dug up.

Now, the little garden is back in full glory, looking even prettier than before.

Red Wing Park in Virginia Beach is a favorite stop of ours.

Spring and fall the rose garden shows me what I should be able to grow in my yard if only I could beat the black spot that plagues us every year. Its pathways are fun for the children, too.

Across the driveway is a Red Wing's conservation garden, full of azaleas and annuals in their autumn glory. Tall, stately pines make for a shady stroll.

On its far side is a fragrance garden. Plants here are slightly overgrown but still labeled, often also in braille. This walled garden opens into a little-used nature trail, but we soon lost its intended direction and made our way back.

The newly dedicated Miyazaki Japanese Garden marks the fifth anniversary of the sister-city relationship between Miyazaki, Japan, and Virginia Beach.

We entered through the shiny, red gate past a sand garden with restful rake swirls. Ahead of us a small waterfall muffled the sound of traffic outside the park. Water bubbled over its stones and into a narrow stream lined with smooth river rock and then into a second pond.

Emma trotted over a tiny stone bridge and then tromped over a second red, wooden bridge.

I knew what would come next.

``Let's play troll,'' she said.

We did.

Little wooden benches are scattered throughout, and big boulders here and there are just right for sitting on. Skinny flagstone and rock pathways wind right and left, always leading back to the source of the water.

This garden's renovation promises to be a gardener's idyll as well as a fantasy play place for children. It is chock full of camellias, lacy Japanese maples, bamboo, wisteria, fern and azaleas in addition to a charming stone pagoda and Oriental statuary.

This park is big and varied enough to park your car at the front and take a long walk from one of its features to the next. We set out on foot with Emma's imagination at full throttle and found one of its playgrounds. There's another big one with a curly slide at the extreme end of the park, along with plenty of picnic tables and a big, open field in the center for Frisbee throwing, ball kicking or just rolling around in the grass.

When we'd swung on all the swings, slid down the slides and gotten sand in our shoes, we headed toward the car and the melancholy wail of bagpipes.

Under the pines, we found George Doran, twice retired and a student of the pipes. He often makes music at Red Wing.

``Sometimes these are too loud for my neighbors, so I come here,'' he said. ``I love practicing out here. It's so beautiful.''

That day, especially, I had to agree. You rarely get a Japanese garden at the same time a fellow in a tam-o-shanter pipes you home to the strains of ``Amazing Grace.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by Motoya Nakamura

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IF YOU GO

What: Red Wing Park

Where: the convergence of General Booth Boulevard and Oceana

Boulevard, Virginia Beach

Hours: daily from 7:30 a.m. to sunset

Call: 437-4847

Local's tip: If you stop on impulse and forgot your toys, don't

fret. A picture ID will get you basketballs, volleyballs and nets,

horseshoes, softballs and bats, gloves, Frisbees and soccer balls.

Ask at the park office.