Bok........NOT Bach!

Good morning world of all Disney! We are up-and-out of here......headed to Ft. Lauderdale......and it ain't around the corner!

We always try to find interesting and lesser known "gems" along the way. As luck would have it, we hit the jackpot! A bit South of Winter Haven is a little place called Lake Wales. Just to its north, on a forgotten road, is a pretty-well signed place called "Historic Bok Sanctuary". What a jewel! You drive through lush citrus groves for a couple of miles to get to the Visitor Center. There you receive nice maps of the extensive grounds and watch a relatively short (but excellent) film about how this all happened.

Early in the 20th century, Edward Bok envisioned this beautiful tribute to a location he had visited for years. After emigrating from Holland, he made his fortunes publishing "The Ladies Home Journal". He wintered in Florida and truly loved this location which is the highest elevation in Florida. (It might be a "hill" in North Carolina! He engaged the finest horticultural architect of his time, Frederick Law Olmstead (Biltmore, Central Park, etc.) and the most elite of artisans created a huge carillon tower. Its music echoes throughout the many acres of Florida's "mountain".....a modest elevation by most standards. The grounds are natural, extensive, beautiful.....and inconspicuously well groomed. Even the local swan seems to be at "home". There was a wedding today in one of the clearings. The museum documents all of the details in excellent exhibits. There is also a little cafe and one of the nicest gift shoppes that I have seen in a long time. Needless to say, I dropped a coin or two there!

We hadn't any more than returned to Highway 24.......when it started to rain. (Great timing!) It did that off-and-on for a couple of hours. We blew through some small towns.....to hit the reality that we were traveling through the flat nothingness of the "Big Cyprus Swamp" (to be followed by the northern part of the Everglades)......NOT THE PLACE TO BE LOOKING FOR A LUNCH SPOT! and, fig newtons don't fill the gap). We were "overjoyed" to find a McDonalds (the "last before Miami".....some 100 miles away!

The journey was uneventful....several lakes, very flat, acres of sugar cane, very few human beings, raindrops.......and road, road, road.

But alas! We got to Fort Lauderdale! Our condo is very nice and near the water and all kinds of services. A quick trip to the local Publix (supermarket) and we dine.....with wine too! Not bad at all!