Hey kids, let’s go on another misadventure! Sadly I didn’t go back to Hawaii, but this place is spiffy in its own right. Today I paid a visit to Bok Tower Gardens, a small botanical garden famous for its massive pink carillon (musical bell tower)
Click the thumbnails to see the full sized images.
It really is pink.
Only fifty more random battles and a boss fight until we reach our destination!
Back in the 1920′s a man named Edward W. Bok dreamed of creating “the American Taj Mahal”. The end result was a lush botanical garden with a 205 foot carillon at its heart. Known as “The Singing Tower”, it became a very popular Floridian tourist spot (and still is to this day! Can’t say the same for many other pre-Disney tourist spots)
We’re almost there, guys!
While the tower is supposed to play music every half hour, most of these ‘performances’ are just recordings. Also, the tower is currently undergoing restoration so these recordings aren’t played, leaving the tower dead silent for most of the day. However if you’re at the park at 1:00pm or 3:00pm, you get to hear a live performance by carillonneur William De Turk.
What is beyond that golden door?
The sounds of the tower’s bells are truly beautiful and definitely worth checking out if you’re in Florida. Also, if you’re wondering about going INTO the tower you’re out of luck. You have to pay for a pretty heavy deluxe membership fee to be allowed inside, and even then it’s a guided tour. No free roaming!
Everyone that goes here takes this picture.
This is Florida, and people here like their things brightly colored. The tower is no exception, being made out of disturbingly pinkish stone. Further up are brightly painted grilles depicting various tropical creatures. And instead of traditional gargoyles, the tower has tropical birds!
Pink water fountain.
SURPRISE! Even the water fountains here are made of that magical pink stone.
Yeah, more pink.
I don’t remember what this thing is called, but it too is pink. It seems that the small pit in the center is supposed to be filled with water, but it looks like it dried out. Funny as it rained a day ago…
It’s like I’m really in Japan!
Tear yourself away from the magical belltower for a few minutes and you’ll probably come across one of the other monuments of interest around the park. Here we have a large Japanese stone lantern given as a funeral gift after Bok passed away.
Seems like the perfect place to find a kitsune in Florida.
The lantern is quietly tucked away in some bushes near the tower. If you watch the promotional video for the park it encourages you to explore and try to find ‘hidden gardens’. I don’t recall finding hidden gardens but a lantern is a fine substitute.
I remember you guys from Muramasa: The Demon Blade
If the lantern wasn’t Japanese enough for you, the gardens also feature several Japanese plants including “Otome” camellias and these awesome bamboo plants. It was a windy day so the bamboo made an amazing creaking sound as they swayed around.
The most beautiful spot in the park
Once you’ve satisfied your inner weeaboo you can wander around and enjoy the rest of the park. The gardens were designed by famed landscape architect FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED, JR., son of also famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsetd…Sr (who designed New York’s Central Park and the 1893 World Fair).
Let’s set up camp here to restore our HP.
Everything is perfectly placed and looks lovely, especially on a clear day like today. You’ve got the vibrant flowers and the greens of the grass and trees and then the blue sky…
Back to the grinding. I guess we’ll be seeing a lot of plant monsters here.
The park is loaded with all sorts of delightful trails for you to walk through. There are paved trails, mulch-covered trails and sandy trails. Be warned that many of these are uphill, so if you’ve got bad knees you might be in for a somewhat rough time.
Plant monsters…and bee monsters! AGH, BEES.
Most of the trails will have you walking by many many MANY MANY flowers. If you’re like me and terrified of bees, don’t get close to any of the bushes. Almost every flower bush I saw had at least one bee in it. There were several that had what sounded like a whole swarm. A SWARM.
AAAAH, BEES!
When you get tired of the pretty flowers you can take a hike on the Pine Ridge Trail. Instead of lush trees and flowers you get classic Florida wilderness.
Are the bees gone yet?
The trail is 3/4 of a mile long. It’s not a major hike but it’s a nice stroll anyway. The visuals aren’t too exciting compared to the botanical garden, though. Florida scrub is…pretty unexciting for the most part. In fact, these trees here were the most exciting things on the hike.
Two Floridian rarities: High elevation view and orange groves!
Bok Tower was placed on one of the highest points in the state of Florida: a little hill called “Iron Mountain”. Florida is, for the most part, flat as a pancake. While this hill may not seem like much to most people, to Floridians this is like…the top of the world. Take note that you can see orange groves in the distance, which is becoming an increasingly rare site in Florida as more of the state gets paved over for tourists.
Hey, maybe pressing this thing will open the tower?
Every now and then you’ll come across a random post in the park that has one of these animal tiles on it. Not much to say about ‘em…they’re neat looking.
Ah no, it just took us to the exit.
Also littered throughout the park are random statues and abstract sculptures. These plant statues are the first things you see once you get past the visitor center.
That’s pretty classy.
Once you’re done wandering about you can sit back and relax at the incredibly stylish cafe, or visit the gift shop. I found a small music box that played Greensleeves, making me believe that no matter where I go or what I do…I’ll never get away from Killer 7…
And that’s it for the tour. Hope you enjoyed. If you’re ever in Florida be sure to seek this place out. It’s at the highest point in Lake Wales. Ya can’t miss it.
