Since Yvonne wouldn’t be available until late Saturday afternoon, I was on my own for the day. From 30 East through Lancaster to 41 South to Route 1 North, it took 1-3/4 hours (77 miles) to get to Longwood Gardens — the country estate of DuPont and General Motors chairman Pierre Samuel du Pont, who bought it in 1906. Today Longwood is one of the world’s greatest horticultural displays, consisting of 1,050 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows. There are 20 outdoor gardens, 20 indoor gardens within four acres of greenhouses, 11,000 different types of plants, numerous fountains and bodies of water, the Peirce-du Pont House, and an extensive variety of special programs and events.

From April 10 through May 28, Longwood celebrates “Acres of Spring,” and as the weather on the day of my visit was sunny, cool, and breezy, it was perfect for roaming through the burgeoning panoply of colors and fragrances that are nature’s (and the professional gardeners’!) sensual spring gifts. Don’t forget your camera!

Amid lush green lawns, multi-level gardens surrounded by low stone walls, benches, and pathways for walking and wheelchairs, you can enjoy flowers, arbors, trees, fountains and ornamental sculptures, a topiary garden, and even an “Idea Garden” for homeowners. Then there are the conservatories, with their spring flowers, orchids, roses, hothouses, tropical flowers, and children’s garden.

Longwood Gardens is open every day of the year; outdoors from 9am to 6pm April – October, and the Conservatories from 10am to 6pm. During the summer’s Festival of Fountains, Longwood remains open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings. Admission is $12 for adults ($8 on Tuesdays). For more information, call 610-388-1000, or visit their web site at www.longwoodgardens.org.

Following my visit to Longwood, I still had a few hours to spare, and so I backtracked on Route 1 (a.k.a. the Baltimore Pike) to the Mushroom Museum, which is little more than a kitschy gift shop with a depressingly dark and modest exhibit ($1.25 per adult) on mushroom-growing.

I then back north on Route 1 for an iced coffee at The Coffee House at the Pennsbury Inn (actually across the road from the inn) in The White Barn, which also houses the Brandywine River Antiques Market.

More interesting shopping was to be found at the Olde Ridge Village Shoppes on Route 202, one mile south of Route 1 in Chadds Ford, where there are 26 specialty gift and craft shops. If your retail tastes run toward the more traditional upscale, you can cross Route 202 to Glen Eagle Square.

After my shopping excursion, I followed 202 North, turned left on Old Wilmington Pike, and backtracked to discover the very elegant Dilworthtown Inn restaurant, originally built in 1758 near where the American Revolutionary War “Battle of Brandywine” was fought on September 11, 1777. You can also visit the 50-acre Brandywine Battlefield Park on Route 1 (610-459-3342).

Once Yvonne and I connected, it was a challenge to find somewhere to eat that didn’t require reservations, was casual and affordable but comfortable, and where we didn’t have to wait. We lucked out with the charming Kennett Square Inn Restaurant on East State Street in the town of Kennett.

Sunday morning we decided to go more upscale, and have brunch at the Mendenhall Inn on Route 52. Instead of the expensive ($22.95) and bountiful Sunday Champagne Brunch, we selected the Eggs Benedict entree and dined in this lovely setting in a restored late 18th century mill that is perfect for a special meal.

It rained all day Sunday, which suited our plans just fine. From the Mendenhall Inn we continued a few miles down Route 52 to Winterthur (pronounced “Winter-ter,” as I was smartly corrected), bequeathed down the du Pont family line for four generations ultimately to Henry Francis (first cousin of Longwood Gardens owner Pierre Samuel) in 1926.

Over the years H.F. du Pont continued to manage the property as a farm, continuously adding to, building, changing, and restoring the property while indulging his love of both horticulture and collecting hand-made, pre-Victorian era American decorative arts. Today it is truly a national treasure — for both visiting and scholarship — consisting of an eight-story mansion with 90,000 American decorative arts objects (furnishings, textiles, porcelain, silver, ceramics, etc.), and 966 acres of woods and gardens that reflect H.F. du Pont’s studies and experiments.

There’s no way you can cover all of Winterthur in one day — nor would you necessarily want to. General admission ($8 adults) will get you into the Galleries to see some 200 pieces from the du Pont collection, a tram ride around the gardens, and into The Touch-It Room for children. We also saw an interesting Campbell’s Soup exhibit of soup tureens. No reservations are required for general admission, but reservations are required for the tours, which include the introductory, or “highlights” tour we took of the family living rooms; a one hour tour of “simple style” (e.g., Shaker and Pennsylvania) period rooms; and a two-hour tour of numerous styles of decorative arts. Specialty group tours (1 – 4 people) require reservations made a couple of months in advance. For more information, phone 800-448-3883, or visit the web site at www.udel.edu/winterthur.

Recently opened to the public is N.C. Wyeth’s studio on the grounds of the nearby family home, which eventually will also be open to the public. The studio has been deliberately kept intact with its gray-painted rough interior, paint-splattered floors, dog scratched doors, and the many objects N.C. amassed as models for his illustrations (in particular, the Scribner & Sons Illustrated Classics). It was easy to imagine that, any minute, the famed artist would re-renter and resume work on an unfinished canvas or mural.

The Brandywine River Museum is open every day from 9:30am to 4:30pm. Admission is $5 for adults. For more information, phone 610-388-2700 or visit the web site at www.brandywinemuseum.org.