In more innocent times, roadside attractions abounded in our country. Trees of Mystery, Snake Farms, Alligator Farms, Mystery Spots, and more. Florida had quite it's share.
Here in St. Pete, a plumber named George Turner purchases a six acre sinkhole in 1903, drained it, and proceeded to indulge his hobby of gardening in this tropical plant paradise.
Watch the Video!
His neighbors loved the tropical gardens that sprang up in their neighborhood and Mr. Turner hit upon an idea...charge admission. Starting at a nickel, the tourists lined up to pay and see his sinkhole garden. He added animals such as turtles, parrots, and flamingos.
A Florida roadside attraction was born. After a few generations, the attraction didn't pull in the tourists or money that it used to and in 1999, the city of St. Petersburg purchased the Sunken Gardens. Now, it's run as an authentic, historic salute to Florida's roadside attractions and as an educational botanical garden.
Today, the debate is how we should get there. I do have a rental car but I'm loathe to use it when unnecessary due to the strain of lifting Tim in and out, plus putting his wheelchair in the back. We'll do it when we need to but if I do it too much, I'll develop some pretty strong back pain (the first few days of this trip in Atlanta were brought to you by Ibuprofen...a lot was ingested until my back felt better).
I tell Letty and Tim that I'd rather not drive. There's a bus that goes by the hotel we could take there but Tim doesn't want to take a bus. The other option is to walk.
Courtesy of Google Maps
It's about a mile and a half walk from our hotel. Yesterday, we walked about a mile to the stadium for the ballgame. This doesn't seem to undoable, the only wild card is that humid, Florida heat.
It is hot. We are sweaty but we're holding up well. Finally, we're here, next to this kitschy roadside sign and across from a couple of classic, roadside motels.
While Mr. Turner started off with a nickel admission, today the city of St. Petersburg charges $10, but will knock off a buck with a AAA card or two if you're a senior. There are also frequent Groupon deals, too.
The ticketing lobby and gift shop is merifully air conditioned and the water in the drinking fountain is ice cold. We spend a few minutes recovering from the heat before continuing on into the gardens. Once outside, we see that there's a loop that takes you around the sections of the property. A group of schoolkids on a field trip take the loop to the right, going counter clockwise. We go clockwise.
Into the lush jungle we go, first stop is the enclosure where this tortoise lives.
Beyond that is a butterfly garden that has done its job well.
Pools cascade into one another throughout the gardens.
They are filled with koi. For a buck, I bought a bag of food that Tim and I use to feed them.
A spot in the middle is dedicated to orchids.
Another, for the kids, has Minions flower pots.
Near the end of the loop, flamingos pose by their pool.
Parrots, some of them very talkative, greet us before we leave.
We walk back through a shady residential area with some very nice homes. Quite a few are for sale, seems to be in the $600,000 range.
After it seems like we'll never make it back, we emerge back on the waterfront.
This would be a perfect time to have a cold ice cream and think back upon the excursion we just did.
At the end of it all, we check our phones...more than 26,000 steps. Quite a hike.
We'll call it a day here, tomorrow we drive to Miami for the next destination in this adventure.
Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved
Photos by Letty Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment