Tuesday, June 9, 2015

June 9, 2015

Day #5

     We needed some glass replaced on the coach.  So we stopped at a glass place and they had a space for us to park behind their shop. Nice. Right by a snake and alligator pit.  I mean, a lovely pond. 
     When I was in either the 6th or 7th grade, my class went on a field trip to Lake Wales, Cypress Gardens, Spook Hill and Bok Tower.  I thought Cypress Gardens was one of the most beautiful places I'd ever seen.  The beautiful flowers, ponds, garden paths, and, of course, the gorgeous Southern ladies in their hooped skirts, bonnets and parasols mesmerized me.
Cypress Gardens at its best.
     Even at that young age, I found the whole place so romantic. That may have been when the seed was planted for my love of romance novels, but my BFF Jeannie, is the one who fueled the fire.  She introduced me to the most fascinating authors like Dorothy Eden, Victoria Holt and later Lavryle Spencer, Dorothy Garlock, Rosanne Bittner, Parris Afton Bonds.   I then moved on to Rebecca Paisley, Sharon Sala and Dinah McCall.  Now there are too many for me to name. 
     At the time, I could never imagine that I'd grow up to be a romance author, but I  made that goal.  And, I'm proud I did.
     Today, we took Art, Bart, and Fargo (3 grandsons) to Bok Tower.  This, too, is a place I remember fondly from that class field trip.
     The tower (also known as the singing tower) was built by Edward W. Bok, editor of Ladies Home Journal and his wife.  They commissioned the famous landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmstead who also did the grounds of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.


     It was originally a bird sanctuary and then the Singing Tower was added.  The Carillon Bell Tower is one of four in Florida.  I've been to the one in White Springs at the Stephen Foster State Park.  I've eaten many picnics in the park while listening to the noon concert of Foster's songs being played on the carillon bells.  I know some of you have joined me there.
     Bok Tower has 60 cast bronze bells and the whole tower is grand.  We caught the 1:00 concert.  It lasted 30 minutes.  It was so peaceful except for my screeching, "Brody, don't touch the squirrel.  He might have rabies, then you'll have to have shots in your stomach and stay in the hospital while we go on the rest of our vacation." "Brody, get your hand out of the koi pond.  Those fish are bigger than you are."  "Brody, don't pick up that snake."  He would have, but instead he just sorta nudged it along with his foot."  In case you haven't guessed, he is my adventurous one.  On one of the trails at Disney, he wanted to get off the golf cart and walk out into a wooded area to pet the 6 Bambi's and the 2 Thumbers out there.
     Now for the best part of the day--(no, not nap time).
SPOOK HILL, LAKE WALES, FLORIDA
     The story goes that ages ago an Indian town on Waile's Lake was plagued with raids by a huge gator.  The town's great warrior chief and the gator were killed in a final battle that created the huge swampy depression nearby.  The chief was buried on it's north side.  Later pioneer haulers coming from the old army trail atop the ridge above found their horses laboring there at the foot of the ridge and called it spook hill.  Was it the gator seeking revenge, or the chief protecting his land?  We were instructed to drive down the incline to a white line, place the car in neutral and let it roll back up the hill all by itself.  We did and it did and the boys have been freaked out ever since.  As a sixth grader, I remember being facinated by that hill.  Our whole school bus backed up the hill by itself.
     Richard took Brody and Drew to the movie to see Tomorrowland.  Ty grabbed his Xbox (he's been without it since he left home) and said, "Give me Wi-Fi and no one gets hurt."  He is playing XBox.  LOL  I am typing this blog between doing laundry, scrubing toilets, and washing supper dishes.  Aaahhh, vacation.  It's so wonderful.

Four of my favorite guys.




















Until next time,
Dolores
 
    

4 comments:

  1. Another good story. Love hearing about the kids.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a delightful memory - Sounds like Brody is going to keep you hopping!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds like you are having fun and making great memories with those boys. I felt the same way about Cypress Gardens. I remember walking around it with stories forming in my head. My husband just mentioned taking the grands there the other day, and I had to break it to him that it's gone. I've always wanted to go to Bok Tower. I'm not sure why I've never been...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Read about Bok Tower online. It has an interesting history and Mr. Bok and his wife did great things. He is buried right outside the golden door of the tower. Check out spook hill which is just a short distance from the tower and is a lot of fun.

      Delete