Pinecrest Gardens

This guide to Pinecrest Gardens goes back to 1936, when an immigrant named Franz Scherr bought this stretch of pine rockland and tried an idea nobody else was attempting: letting exotic birds fly free above visitors instead of caging them. You'll hear about Winston Churchill's odd 1946 visit with two live turkeys in tow, and about the trained birds Scherr's Parrot Jungle became known for, including a cockatoo taught to ride a tiny bicycle along a tightrope. Listen for how the mosaic paths and hardwood hammocks around you trace back to that original free-flight idea.