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| Bok Tower Gardens...…..it's sure to put a smile on your face! |
Yesterday we started a week long Florida adventure. It'll be an interesting week and one that is somewhat different from our typical adventures. We're spending the week around 115 miles northeast of AMI in the world wide mecca for vacations, Walt Disney World.
From now until the beginning of "spring break", it's actually low season at the mouse kingdom. While we still won't have the parks to ourselves, the crowds should be smaller and the temperatures pleasant. Also, the deals on hotels and even park admission, for Florida residents are fantastic. Through Hotwire we booked a resort less than five miles from the Disney property for right at $100 per night. Our accommodations are amazing. We ended up with a three bedroom, three bath unit which has a full kitchen and washer and dryer. With the Florida resident discount our park passes are less than half the typical admission prices. We're excited to visit the parks, since it's been close to a decade since we've been to any of them. One thing we've already learned is that visiting Disney has become somewhat of a technological science. We've studied the crowd predictor calendars, read about how to use the Fastpass, and downloaded the Disney Experience app to our phones. As an added bonus we visited with a bona fide Disney expert, Chad Burton (actually it's more his wife Kelly who is the expert) who offered some great tips. We're armed and dangerous...…..we'll see how it goes when we actually start hitting the parks tomorrow.
On our way here we enjoyed spending several hours at Bok Tower Gardens, which is located in Lake Wales, Fl. Bok Tower Gardens is a 250 acre garden that is located on one of the highest bluffs in the state of Florida (a whopping 290 above sea level). When it comes to classic, old school (pre-Disney, Sea World, Busch Gardens, etc.) Florida attractions, Bok Tower Gardens is one of the oldest and best.
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| I guess I was a few feet below the highest point in the gardens. |
Bok Tower Gardens
The gardens opened in 1921 and were the inspiration of Edward Bok, who was editor of Ladies Home Journal. He and his wife, Mary Louise would spend their winters in the area. He loved hiking to the edge of the bluff to enjoy the spectacular sunsets. He decided to create a bird sanctuary and gardens that would be open to the public.
The centerpiece of the gardens is the "singing tower", which is a 205 foot tall tower which houses 60 bells. The tower was constructed from 1927-1929 and was completed in time for a dedication ceremony which was attended by President Calvin Coolidge. That dedication just happened to take place on this very day (February 1), 91 years ago.
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| Mission Accomplished! |
I vaguely remember visiting Bok Tower Gardens as a kid. For Beth, this was her first visit. It didn't take but a couple of minutes for us to start asking each other, "what took us so long"? At the entrance to the gardens there is a modern visitors center that offers a short (10 minute) movie that we both found to be informative. The visitors center also has an interactive museum that focuses not only on the gardens but the construction of the tower and installation of the bells. Other recent additions to the gardens include an outdoor demonstration kitchen and Hammock Hollow, a three acre play and learning area for children 2-12 years of age. There is also a very nice café (Blue Palmetto Café), with outdoor seating, where we enjoyed lunch before exploring some of the numerous paths that meander through the gardens.
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| This is a small section of Hammock Hollow, the children's play and learning space |
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| Hammock Hollow actually had a hammock! |
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| The Blue Palmetto Café...…….they have a nice selection of tasty soups and sandwiches. |
Currently there are two concerts per day. These concerts are at 1:00 and 3:00, both lasting around 30 minutes. We enjoyed listening to the end of the first one while eating lunch at the café. For the second concert we were at the base of the tower, occasionally moving from one bench to another. As an added bonus, there is an area near the tower where you can watch the carillonneur at the keyboard of the sixty bell carillon.
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| This area is called "Window on the Pond" |
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| The paths throughout the gardens are paved and smooth. |
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| There are plenty of benches and shade throughout the gardens |
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| Tower and the reflection pond |
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| The brass door of the tower tells the creation story |
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| Live closed circuit broadcast of the carillonneur during the concert. |
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| A mostly bald guy sitting on a bench listening to the carillon concert...…...a far cry from the "rock and roll" days! |
We really enjoyed our time at Bok Tower Gardens and look forward to visiting again...……..assuming we survive four days at Disney!
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| Leave a few minutes to swing by Spook Hill. It's an optical illusion that makes it seem as if your car is rolling up hill. |
