Tuesday, March 15, Day 11, Lake Wales to Port Charlotte, 112 miles

We heard about Spook Hill, well we drove to the white line and put the car in neutral, yes it rolled backward as expected. Actually it looked like there was a slight angle to the road.

Also, the men mentioned here are two different people with confusing names; Mr. Bok - Garden and tower; Mr. Buck - estate.

Here is part of an orange grove that lines the road going to the Bok Garden.

We ended up one of the first cars at the garden, http://boktowergardens.org/. We now find out the estate does not open till noon, and here we have three hours to kill. We started the day with a ¾ mile walk along The Pine Ridge Preserve for our daily exercise. It is a trail where you walk among the live oaks, cactus, beautiful light blue lupines and much more.

We get the tickets for the estate and look at the table that has a blossom of each flower in bloom today. Across from at the Blue Palmetto Café where we ate an early lunch, fruit salad with a raspberry walnut vinaigrette with a root beer; I a chili dog with fries and a Sam Adams noble Pils beer.

We walk to the estate early because we can look at the surrounding garden. Again it is opulence at its best, a retreat of a Mr. Buck a VP of Bethlehem steel. He would entertain customers there. a core of volunteers maintains the house and grounds.

Tiles from Cuba.

This is her elderberry colored bathroom.

Mr. Bok loved peace; to this end he built this garden. He was the publisher of Ladies Home Journal for 25 years or so. He originated from Amsterdam in 1863.

It is a 205 foot neo-Gothic and art deco, with a 60 bell carillon. The tower is made with Florida coquina stone, Georgia marble (pink to gray in colored streaks), brick and steel. Coquina is a natural sedimentary rock made of ancient seashells. The first floor is the Founder’s Room, created as a private study for Edward Bok.

The Great Brass Door and wrought iron gates on the north side of the Tower were the masterpiece of Samuel Yellin, America’s premier metalworker. The door depicts the Book of Genesis, starting with the creation of light and ending with Adam and Eve being ousted from the Garden of Eden.

The iron gates leading to the Tower were hand-wrought

The sundial on the south side of the Tower was set in place on October 26, 1928. The gnomon, which indicates time by casting a shadow on the dial face, is made with a bronze rod supported by a bronze snake – the ancient symbol of time. The hours are marked by the 12 signs of the zodiac. A correction table for different periods of the year is located at the base of the sundial. The sculptures and grille work is mostly birds and plants with a few other forms of wildlife depicted. It notes that President Calvin Cleveland dedicated the tower.

Back to the garden for a symphony of the bells in the Singing Tower.

Surrounding the tower is a moat with two feisty swans, get to close and they nip you, of course I had to try it with my foot and they bit it.

The gardens are highly maintained by volunteers and there is a table that shows you the flowers which are in bloom that day. The air type plants are hung on string and are flowering today.

The acres have ferns, palms, oaks and pines as a backdrop of the azaleas, camellias and magnolias.

We sat at an outside TV that would show the person giving the symphony at the top of the tower. What was neat today was the Irish tunes he played. He played a half hour and came down to meet us and answer questions.
He plays 4 days a week twice a day and has done so for 14 years. Had we not come late yesterday we would have missed this entertainment. I wish I could post a video of his tunes?

The weather is nice, 80 to 85 no humidity similar to Mankato at 46 and raining. The directions on-line did not get us to the hotel, so I stopped at a gas station (gas price 3.53/gallon) for directions. No help behind the counter but a young man stepped forward and said I’ll help with my iPhone or something like that. He found it and said they would go by the exit we needed and too follow, he did and we did. Found home for two days.

Yes, again time to eat. Thought we would find a restaurant that was recommended. Missed it but saw a building with many cars and looked like a fortress. It was Visani Comedy Zone and restaurant. Nice Italian food was available besides the comedy/act of the evening. Shirleen had a pork scaloppini with mushroom marsala gravy; I their 12 shrimp arreganata – their special herbs and seasonings from an old family recipe with a the toasted breadcrumb mixture, with thinly sliced garlic, oregano, basil and tomato sauce, over linguine pasta, great tasting. jerr