Candid Florida

One of my family’s favorite destinations in Florida when I was growing up was Rainbow Springs State Park just north of Dunnellon. Back in the day, it was filled with flights of fantasy – cruising underwater in submarine boats to see the fish face-to-face, drifting through the treetops inside a leaf on the Forest Flite monorail, and standing at the base of an immense waterfall to feel the cool splash amid tropical vegetation.

Now a Florida State Park, it’s still a favorite getaway. Here’s a peek at what Rainbow Springs used to be like back in the 1960s, courtesy of my mom, Linda Friend. And yes, that’s me in the photos.

I’ve been chasing pirates across the Ancient City the past couple days, and I’m finding their echoes everywhere. “On Stranger Tides” at the IMAX has folks looking for the Fountain of Youth. Memorials to Ponce De Leon. And best of all, in the vibrant new St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum across from the Castillo, where you can immerse in the age of the pirates, the sights, sounds, and smells. Be there with Blackbeard. Lift a bar of gold. And peer into the faces at the Rogues Tavern, the men who brought terror to these sunny shores. Among them, Sir Francis Drake.

The posters are up. Drakes Raid is coming! June 4! Would it have been that the good people of St. Augustine had such warning before Sir Francis Drake swooped in and burned the city. Here”s your heads-up for the biggest pirate event of the summer.

The Museum:
http://www.thepiratemuseum.com/
The Raid:
http://searlesbucs.com/drakes.html

Kappys

On my drive home from the Orlando International Airport Monday, I swung by a few old haunts and was delighted to see them still hanging in there. While Maitland – especially along US 17/92 – has undergone some radical changes since I used to live there, a few old standards keep hanging in there, among them, Kappy’s.

It’s an old-fashioned drive-in, the kind my parents would frequent, with burgers, dogs, and the thick, rich milkshakes that it’s so hard to find these days without dropping a bundle. Open for lunch and dinner, it’s still a fave of locals in the know – and worth trying out on your next trip.

Fairchild Gardens

This Friday is National Public Gardens Day, and no better time to take a stroll – or better yet, take your mother for a stroll – at your favorite public garden. With our temperate and tropical climates, Florida is blessed with some of the most colorful and beautiful gardens in the United States.

Better Homes & Gardens is a sponsor of the event and is providing two free tickets for the following Florida gardens if you go to their website and claim them. The gardens include:

Bok Tower Gardens, Lake Wales
Botanic Gardens at Kona Kai, Key Largo
Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, Jacksonville
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables
Heathcote Botanical Gardens, Fort Pierce
John C. Gifford Arboretum, Coral Gables
Lakes Park Botanical Garden, Fort Myers
Milton Gardens of NW Florida, Milton

See slide shows from gardens throughout Florida at Botanical Florida
Find your way to Florida’s Gardens with my iPhone app!

Inside Bambi's Butterfly House

On my first visit to a big butterfly conservatory – the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservancy- stepping into the swirl of winged beauties, flowers, and inspiring music, I felt like I’d stepped into the movie Bambi.

Right now at EPCOT, during the annual International Flower & Garden Festival, a Bambi-themed butterfly house is one of the don’t-miss stops as you roam the colorful gardens, now cloaked in summer blooms. Filled with music from the movie and a bright array of butterfly-attracting blossoms, the butterfly house evokes the wonder of stepping into animation.

It’s one of numerous inspiring spaces throughout EPCOT during the festival.  Storybook topiary and floral sculptures grace the gardens throughout Future World and World Showcase, with your favorite characters rendered in shades of green, yellow, and red.  Topical displays provide pointers on low-flow gardening, outdoor rooms, and growing veggies in small spaces. Inside the festival pavilion, sponsor HGTV is broadcasting numerous shows live while Florida growers show off our state’s bounty, from honey and orchids to mushrooms and peanuts.

The enchantment of the floral displays scattered throughout EPCOT  means more for the children to enjoy, too, including a spider’s web to prowl and Pixie Hollow – filled with blooms, delicate pixie houses, and topiary friends of Tinkerbell – to clamber and slide through.

The festival continues through May 15, so catch it while it lasts!  More details at disneyworld.com/flowers