We finished our Lake Buena Vista apartment lease on March 15th and drove forthwith to Tallahassee, to visit college friends Susan and Ken for a weekend+. Highlights, as always, included conversations, light and heavy, great conviviality, food, and drink, and a tour of nearby Maclay Gardens state park, where Susan is a master gardener volunteer. She had other horticultural responsibilities that day, so assistant-to-the-master-gardener Ken led our tour.
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A Lego model of an old VW camper, several of which Ken and Susan have owned--like us |
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On the trail at Maclay Gardens...the camellias were a bit past their
prime--which must have been glorious--but the azaleas were in full
bloom and reminded us of the many great houses and gardens we
have seen in the UK |
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| Last of the camellias |
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| Moss everywhere |
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| Lake Hall |
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Interpretive display inside the house...originally a cotton plantation,
then a vineyard (!!!), then a quail hunting "plantation," then someone's
winter residence and garden...the Maclays were descended from the
Fleischmanns...of yeast and gin (!!!) fame...then, mid-20th century,
donated it to the state |
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| The house |
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| Looking down to the lake |
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| Thus |
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A Della Robbia, al the way from the Hospital of the
Innocents, in Florence |
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| More azaleas |
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| The Black pond |
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| Turtles sunning themselves |
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| A 3 foot long gator nearby... |
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| Pretty place |
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| Us, there, then, near a garden Susan is rehabilitating |
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St. Patrick's Day repas...the dessert was this Guinness Cake...not pictured were the corned beef, the cabbage and onions, the soda bread... a real treat for Vicki and me (although I am only spiritually Irish) |
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| Ken and Susan, 2022 |
