Re: OT: off-topic miscellany
From: "Title, CDR Lynn A." <titlel@spawar.navy.mil>
It's not a "garden" per se, but I can recommend a lovely place to visit.
Bok Tower Gardens is a conservatory/arboretum about an hour's drive south of
Orlando, established by the founder of Bok Books (I forget if it was Edward
or Edmund Bok). It's a lovely peaceful place, a great contrast to the noise
and commercial confusion of Disney. It's built around Iron Mountain, the
"highest land in Southern Florida" (doesn't take much!), and a sacred place
for the local Indians. There are carillon concerts most afternoons, you can
lie on the grass under the rhododendrons and watch a heron fish 20 feet
away, or walk the easy trails to check out different area natural habitats.
The local wildlife is very tame -- the squirrels will climb up your chest to
mug you for peanuts (the park sells bagsful) and bold jays will swoop down
to snatch an upheld nut from your fingers. Or toss a nut low in the air, and
both species will leap for it.
The drive down from Orlando is interesting too, a slice of a different
Florida; after a few miles of t-shirt shacks, chain restaurants,
miniature-golf courses and other tourist schlock, the scenery shifts to mile
after mile of orange groves (when I was there in 91, most had been
frost-blasted and then blighted, so there wasn't much fruit to see)
punctuated by villages that looked strangely similar to backwoods Indiana
towns, if it weren't for the palmtrees.
Something different - and off the beaten track.
Lynn
--------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ----------------------------
Having difficulty getting "in synch" with list members?
http://www.onelist.com
Try ONElist's Shared Calendar to organize events, meetings and more!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
