Monet and the lilies

Monet is famous for painting water lilies.

The water lilies at McKee Botanical gardens are one of their most famous features.

Currently, there are displays like this one around the garden.  This is a mock-up of where Monet got his inspiration.  Kind of clever.

Bananas

 Bananas grow on trees. 

A person might forget that if they don't see it in person every now and then.

The world's largest mahogany table

The largest mahogany table in the world--you were looking for it, right?
I found it.  The over 35 foot long piece of mahogany is in the Hall of Giants at McKee Botanical Gardens.

It was put there in 1941 by Waldo Sexton, after he had a building made for it.  Waldo had first seen it at an exposition in 1903.  It seems he liked to collect things, and this is one piece of all that he acquired.

The table can seat one hundred diners and used to be the gathering place for big parties with lots of food.

At one time it must have been a very large tree.  Now it's a very large table--the largest of its kind.

Mckee Botanical Garden

McKee Botanical Garden is a pretty spot.  At one time it was eighty acres of lush, Florida vegetation.  Now it's only eighteen, but still plenty big enough for a comfortable walk or a few hours of sitting in some quiet, garden serenity.

If you walk around, here area some of the things you might see...

Spanish moss

Something I've always wanted to see is the cobwebby Spanish moss on the trees in the Southern U.S.

I'm sure it's something very "everyday" to those who live there.

But to me, it's very novel.

And rather pretty.

Indian River boat ride

The Indian River is almost the ocean.  It's big and salty and wet.  But really it's a lagoon area on the Atlantic coast of Florida.

Ocean, river, lagoon--whichever you'd like to call it--it's a pretty place to take a boat ride.

Frozen dinosaur

 Here's something you don't see often:  a dinosaur with snow on his back.

He even has icicle lips.

Dinosaurs would have a hard time in Michigan, perhaps.

Cold out there

Stop and look.
















From city...

...to farm--it's cold out there.

Street lights

It's candy cane lane!