Springtime found us traveling back to St. Augustine to visit Thing 2. Instead of driving through Jacksonville, we made a stop at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens located along the St. Johns River.
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We’ve traveled to Florida a lot in the past few months – including St. Petersburg, Miami, and St. Augustine. On a recent trip, we stopped in Tallahassee to see the Alfred Maclay Gardens State Park. The 1,100-acre park features over six miles of walking, biking, and horseback riding trails along two lakes, as well as a 28-acre historic garden teeming with over 60 varieties of azaleas and 150 cultivars of camellias.
The majority of the park and the trails are open year-round. However, park staff only open the Historic Gardens to the public from January through April.
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On our recent trip to Miami, we walked around the Miami Design District. While I’m not a big shopper (especially regarding high-end brands such as Chanel, Gucci, and Fendi), I loved visiting the 18-block Miami Design District with jaw-dropping architectural features.
In the previous post, I wrote about touring Vizcaya’s main house. This post will focus more on Vizcaya’s elaborate gardens completed in 1922. You could easily spend a few hours taking in this 10-acre area.
Serving as the winter home of John Deering, founder of International Harvester Corporation, the original estate consisted of 180 acres and cost close to $26 million ($780 million in today’s dollars) to build. The 54-room house features a Central Courtyard filled with lush tropical plants, shrubbery, and a soothing fountain. Once open to the elements, glass now protects the area from heat and direct sunlight.
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