Today would have been my mother's 98th birthday. She could hardly believe she was 93 back when she was living here in Denver with me, so I don't think she could have handled the idea of being 98 at all. In any case, I was thinking back recently to when I visited her down in Stuart, Florida during the Christmas season one year and she treated me to a bus tour up to Cypress Gardens, a well-known old-time Florida tourist attraction that opened in 1936 (see photograph above). It was famous for its botanical gardens, southern belles strolling the grounds, and it's water skiing shows, which we duly watched while we were there. If you ever saw one of Esther Williams "water ballet" movies, it was most likely filmed at Cypress Gardens. Once Disney World opened up, the place struggled financially, and after going through a series of owners, closed in 2009. On the bright side, a group of citizens got together to try and save the place, with the result that the botanical gardens were preserved and are now a part of Legoland Florida. Legoland Florida? Really? And just what the hell is a "lego?"
No comments:
Post a Comment