Florida Day Six: Bok Tower Gardens and Pinewood Estate

Friday, 11 September, we checked out of the hotel, breakfasted at Denny's, and headed south to Bok Tower Gardens. The gardens were established in 1929 by Edward W. Bok. They were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead  (Central Park, Stanford master plan, etc.) and are now a National Historic Landmark. The focal point of the gardens is the 205-foot Singing Tower with its 60-bell carillon. Pinewood Estate was built for Charles Austin Buck, VP of Bethlehem Steel, as a winter residence in 1932. The house is a wonderful Beaux-Arts Mediterranean-style building. It is now part of the larger Bok Tower Gardens which it adjoins.

The trip home was slowed by construction detours and freeway accidents. All was well in the end, however, as I was able to check in for our Southwest flight from my phone.

The Comfort Inn Main Gate was great

 The Singing Tower

 Beautiful decorative peppers

 Exotic and beautiful species

 The crew in the gardens

 Lovely vistas...

 And pleasant pathways

 Huge lily pads reminiscent of Kew Gardens

 The Golden Door of the Singing Tower

 Iron Mountain where the gardens sit at 298 feet, is the 7th highest spot

in Florida, just 53 feet less than the highest spot: Florida is FLAT

 Art-Deco design with Gothic undertones - note the pelican

frieze at the top of the photo

 The Dickies loved being in Florida

 Lovely flowers

 These pine-cone-like flowers hold water in their petals

 Pinewood

 Wonderful Moorish tiles from Algeria

 The music room

 Excellent garden views from the bedrooms

 Shady garden court

 The back side of the house

 These blooms feel fresh and crisp in the humid heat

 Not the sort of sign you would see at Salem Ponds --

oh Florida

 Downtown Orlando on the way home

  Publix is a fantastic market that provided a delicious key lime

pie for our dessert after dinner at Sonny's Barbeque

Well, the fun has come to and end and we head back to Utah today. Thanks to Rod and Vic for a superb time. I'm so glad Anna encouraged us to just do it. This trip will be a wonderful memory for years to come. That's all for now.

OXO

D.