​Farmer’s Market, Gardens and Crab

I know, right? Weird combo.  But that’s what Saturday was. St. Petersburg is quite close to us and we wanted to see the sunken gardens there, so off we went. Being a Saturday, of course there was also a farmer’s market downtown, so we checked that out, had a bite of market food and picked up some local oranges.  Then off to the Sunken Gardens. 

The Sunken Gardens began in 1911 when a George Turner Sr., a plumber by trade, bought 6 acres of land, drained an ancient lake on the property and indulged in his favourite hobby – gardening.  The gardens, now over 100 years old, have continued to be maintained and run by his descendants. Turner’s labyrinth of tiles leads you through peaceful paths surrounded by lush tropical plants, waterfalls,  rescued macaws and kookaburras, ponds full of koi and tattling, bickering flamingoes.  A history centre along the way tells the story of the gardens and a lovely little gift shop on the way out promises to lighten your wallet. 😊Admission is very reasonable and definitely worth the time. See below for a few of the bazillion pictures of plants and flowers that I took and hopefully pared down to the more interesting ones.

Following the garden visit, we took a drive out to Fort De Soto Park. The beaches here are sprawling and beautiful as so much of the coastal area is. There is also an historic battery site with connections to the Spanish explorers and the American Civil War.  Many of the trees on the property are old and gigantic and I spent a good deal of time peacefully strolling through them and marvelling at them. 
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All our hard work touristing made us hungry, so we found our way back to Billy’s Stone Crab in the city center. Much more gratifying than the Rod and Reel was last week!  Amazing seafood platter at half the cost of the other place and everything prepared to perfection.  Highly recommended!