VACATIONS
Cypress Gardens (Day Trip)
Famous for the beauty of its flowers, Southern belles in hoop
skirts and high-speed waterskiing show, Cypress Gardens is
known to generations of Floridians and visitors. It has changed
owners, returned to its roots as a vibrant, brilliantly colored
botanical garden, and added a park-inside-a-park called Splash
Island where water park thrills include a 60-foot drop slide.
The 30-acre garden includes Topiary Trail where you can see
a variety of animals and birds shaped from growing plants and
a sparkling waterfall, and the Plantation Garden behind Snively
Mansion, where you can follow paths to the herb garden, rose
garden, and the butterfly garden which is next to Wings of Wonder,
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a butterfly conservatory.
The waterskiing show, first held in 1941, still offers the amazing
flips and turns, pyramids and jumps but it has also taken on
a new twist with the addition of a kite which enables new highflying
feats.
Cypress Gardens: $12.95 adults, $9.95 children 3-11 and seniors
60 and up. With water park: $29.95 adults, $22.95 children
3-11 and seniors 60 and up. 6000 Cypress Gardens Blvd., Winter
Haven. 863.324.2111, www.cypressgardens.com.
Local Parks and Gardens (Day or Overnight Trip)
Camp overnight by tent or RV at the St. Lucie County Savannas
Recreation Area, and then branch out to McKee Botanical
Garden in Vero Beach, or Heathcote Botanical Garden in Fort
Pierce. Or, visit the Savannas Recreation Area for part of a day to
picnic, kayak and fish, and then head off for a garden tour.
PHOTO BY SUSAN BURGESS
Heathcote Botanical Gardens in Fort Pierce has lovely benches where
you can sit and relax for a bit before moving on to the next section of
the gardens.
PHOTO BY PORFIRIO SOLORZANO
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The archway at McKee Botanical Garden in Vero Beach where you can stroll 18 acres of subtropical jungle and see the Hall of Giants, the Spanish
Kitchen, and the Bamboo Pavilion.
/www.cypressgardens.com