Colors of South Florida

Snow, snow...go away and give us sunshine any day. Beating the winter blues with family and friends doesn't get any better than spending time in Fort Lauderdale. Rick and I were fortunate to have family Martha and Gene from Hector, New York visit us in February, 2015 for a few days. Showing them around beautiful Fort Lauderdale was a pleasure.
With a gorgeous blue sky overhead, we decided to hop on the Water Taxi to get a fish-eye's view of Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood. In case you haven't tried the Water Taxi yet, it is a "must do" attraction that both visitors and even locals highly appreciate. There are 19 stops and 60 spots to see for dining, drinks, shopping and more. We left our car parked underneath the drawbridge on 17th Street Causeway and caught the Taxi there. The cost was $26.00 per adult for unlimited rides all day. Tickets are sold on board and the ticket can get you discounts at restaurants, bars, shops and attractions. Great way to experience South Florida's intracoastal waterway.

  
Sights along the ride...

  

  

Weather was so awesome that we decided to take the taxi south to Hollywood and walk along its beach.

  

  

Martha strolled into the waves to feel the cool water on her feet. Problem was she left her Crocs on and "uh-oh"...one Croc was knocked off her foot by a small wave and began to float away. Thanks to a friendly bather, it was retrieved. Now, to get the sand off feet and legs. All part of a great beach experience.

  

Hollywood Beach has a lovely broad walk lined with restaurants, bars and shops to browse. Not to forget the soft sand, picturesque beach and a little whimsy scattered about.

  

Family introducing more family...it's awesome. We drove to Miami to visit Gene's side of the family, Keith and Jan. They were amazing hosts and took us around the scenic areas of Miami. Now I am a Florida native and in all my years of living here, I have never gone to the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden. So this was a first. And, man what an incredible place it was! Tickets were $25.00 per adult and the gardens are open from 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Each year the gardens are transformed into a unique natural gallery where extraordinary works of art are intermixed with spectacular tropical foliage. We were very fortunate to visit during the exhibit of Chihuly's famous glass sculptures. Wow, what a sight it was! Check out this website for more information at: Fairchild Gardens

First we caught a tram (free with admission) and took a narrated tour of the gardens...very informative and a good way to scout out the facilities. The tram leaves at 10:00 a.m. each day.

  

Then we strolled through the massive gardens that ranged from tropical to desert landscaping. The grounds were immaculately landscaped and Chihuly's glass sculptures were breathtakingly placed in and amongst the trees, flowers and fountains. The glass works of art ranged from brilliantly colored spheres with tentacles to tubular bulbs, floating balls and colorful spikes bursting from the earth. Hard to believe that some of them were actually in the outdoors because the pieces of glass were so ornate and fragile.

   

   

  

  

  

  

Then there were the collection of flowers and trees...astounding. It was like walking through a fairytale oasis.

  

  

 

We saw unusual trees such as the Cluster Fig, a member of the Ficus family, which grows grape-like clusters of figs on it's tree trunk.

This was called a Rainbow Eucalyptus, or camouflage tree. As you can see, the trunk of the tree is a vibrant shade of several colors that resemble present day military camouflage.

There was a large butterfly garden as well. We stood still as winged spurts of color bounced and dipped around us. They landed on our shoulders and arms and graced us with their beauty as the multitude of moths and butterfly stood still for only seconds on nearby plants.

Exotic fruits were on display in the enclosed tropical pavilion with names like Golden Apple and Chupa Chupa.
  
Anyone ever actually see a vanilla bean on the vine? Well, here was the vine.

Marjorie Stoneman Douglas was one of America's greatest conservationists. She lobbied extensively for the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden. To honor this woman, Fairchild's commissioned a bronze life size statue of Marjorie which took a year to create by sculptor and Fairchild volunteer Freda Tschumy. 

This trellised canopy caught my interest because of the name of the flower that grew on these vines. Called "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow", the flower bloomed purple yesterday, white today and falls off tomorrow.  

  

That was a perfect ending to an amazing day and an awesome visit with family.

If you enjoyed this post about Florida and one of its many hidden (and not so hidden) wonders, join me in exploring more interesting Florida posts: Florida