Sharp's Travels

Today we were up and ready to go pick up Mom and go down to the hall for their monthly breakfast. They had a big crowd. We had eggs, sausage, French toast, pancakes, applesauce, strawberries, juice, milk and coffee---all for only $3.50!

The sun was shining and it got up to 65 degrees, a great day for an adventure. By 10am Greg, Jeanene, Gay and I were ready to head for Lake Wales to the National Historic Landmark, the Bok tower Gardens.

The gardens contained more than 1,000 plant types. Paths meander through open spaces and plantings to create tranquil resting spots with picturesque vista of the carillon tower and the Florida countryside.

Mr. Bok decided to add a carillon tower as a centerpiece of the garden. The 205 ft. carillon tower is among the finest in the world. The tower consists of 60 bronze bells, ranging in weight from 16 lbs. to nearly 12 tons. They began building in 1927 and completed it in 1929. Four days a week they have a live concert and the other 3 are digital recordings played on the half hour on those days. It is interesting to see how they play the bells.
We checked out the grounds and the tower before heading to tour the Pinewood Estate at Bok Tower Gardens. They began building the home in 1929 and completed it in 1932. It is 12,900 square feet. We toured 11 different rooms. All were decorated with bright colored tiles. The hand carved doors and woodwork was beautiful. The home and grounds were beautiful.

We ate at the Blue Palmetto Cafe on the grounds. We sat on the patio outside to enjoy more of this great weather while we ate our lunch.

We enjoyed it all and would certainly go again to check out the next season of blooms and maybe be lucky enough to catch a live concert of the Carillon.

We arrived back in the park about 5:30pm to a pot roast dinner waiting for us in the crock pot.

We had a great day!

For pictures of the day see album: Bok Tower