SECOND DAY OF SIGHTSEEING!

Well we had Detective Dave for dinner on Monday night, had steak, sweet potatoes, salad.  Nice visit.
I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the two of them.
We went off to The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens yesterday.

Visitors are surprised to discover a century-old connection between Japan and South Florida. It is here that a group of young Japanese farmers created a community intended to revolutionize agriculture in Florida.

In 1904, Jo Sakai, a recent graduate of New York University, returned to his homeland of Miyazu, Japan, to organize a group of pioneering farmers and lead them to what is now northern Boca Raton. With the help of the Model Land Company, a subsidiary of Henry Flagler’s East Coast Railroad, they formed a farming colony they named Yamato, an ancient name for Japan.

Ultimately, the results of their crop experimentation were disappointing and the Yamato Colony fell far short of its goals. By the 1920s, the community, which had never grown beyond 30 to 35 individuals, finally surrendered its dream. One by one, the families left for other parts of the United States or returned to Japan.

One settler remained. His name was George Sukeji Morikami. A modest farmer, George continued to cultivate local crops and act as a fruit and vegetable wholesaler. In the mid-1970s, when George was in his 80s, he donated his land to Palm Beach County with the wish to preserve it as a park and to honor the memory of the Yamato Colony.

That tells you some of the history and what a beautiful place.

 

 

 

WE ARE IN PALM BEACH

At least close, we are in a campground near.  Jim has got together with his friend Dave Mulberry who is a private eye.   For real.  He was even a body guard to Burt Reynolds who has a home here, so does Tiger Woods and he said this is one of the richest cities in the U.S.  Today we will be driving to the Ocean, not for time on the beach, they broke a record today for cold.  Here it was 90 on Sunday and on Wednesday the temp was 44 this morning and the record was 45.  It should be in the 80ies.  It will warm up soon, we leave for Naples tomorrow and have to finish our sightseeing today.  Back to Dave.  They went out to lunch on Sunday after we went to church, and they spent the afternoon together and we had him here on Monday for dinner after  I did laundry.  Those sheets need doing you know.
We went to Mounts Botanical Garden in the afternoon, the temperature did get to 80.  I have to tell you about our drive there , we had a hard time finding it because the front of it was so insignificant.  It really was a diamond in the rough.  It used to be of all things an old Highway Patrol Office and they donated it for the Garden when they moved.

 

Love these flowers.

 

We just loved these trees with the upside down flowers, they came in all kinds of shades of pink.

 

The art in the park was fun.  Wish I would have kept my jacket on but it was 80 degrees.

 

This tree is so beautiful.

 

So is this one.

Jim wanted you to see how huge the fans on this tree are.

 

I just loved the airyness of the plant around the bench.  Did I just make up a word?

 

 

 

Pretty flowers.

See the ant on the flower.  Jim loved getting a picture of that.  Go figure.

More pretty flowers.

 

He thought he could build this arbor for me at home.

 

No comment.

 

 

Listen to the Mockingbird.  It was beautiful.

 

Can you believe this is a pineapple, I have never seen one growing.  It's beautiful.

Of course there were water Lily's.

 

This was called The Twelve Apostle's flower.   

"Neomarica gracilis, (Brazilian Walking Iris). Native of regions from Southern Mexico to Brazil. Also known as the twelve apostles, has intricately designed orchard-like white flowers of white with mottled crimson and a blue-violet banding. Glossy green, arching leaves, like an iris which are sometimes more than 24 inches long.....Grows in grassy clumps up to 5 feet wide and equally high, does well in pots and particularly suitable to hanging baskets."

 

 

This is going to be a fruit on a fruit tree.  Possibly Mango?

 

Of course all the pictures I took were on my phone.

 

THIS IS MY FAVORITE. 

 

 

This is just a beautiful picture.  Jim does such a great job framing.

 

Flowers.

 

I think this is the start of banana's, maybe.

 

More flowers.

 

And more flowers.

 

PART FOUR OF OUR ADVENTURE IN ST AUGUSTINE

WE VISITED FLAGLER COLLEGE: Now Flagler is a private college with an enrollment of about 6,000 and will be growing to 8,000 next year.  I wish you could see the campus.  It is about 4 block by 4 block square, maybe larger, there is even a street down the middle.  Henry Flagler owned 3 Hotels in St Augustine, The 540-room Ponce de León Hotel , which became Flagler College, the history of American oil refining begins with Henry Morrison Flagler, and his business associate and friend, John D. Rockefeller, as they built the biggest, most prosperous and monopolizing oil empire of their time: Standard Oil. He also built the Alcazar hotel as an overflow hotel for the Ponce de León Hotel. The Alcazar stands today as the Lightner Museum next to the Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine that Flager bought from Franklin W. Smith. His personal dedication to the state of Florida was demonstrated when he began construction on his private residence, Kirkside, in St. Augustine.

Lawrence Lewis, Jr. was the driving force behind the development of Flagler College. It was his vision to create a small, private liberal arts college on the grounds of the old hotel. Lewis served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Flagler College for more than 20 years, guiding the College through a re-organization in 1971. He directed millions of dollars through foundations, family and personal funds into new construction, restoration projects, endowment and various other programs to ensure the continued success of Flagler College. Lewis was related to Henry Flagler through his mother, Louise Wise Lewis Francis, who was the niece of Mary Lily Kenan Flagler, who married Henry Flagler in 1901.

The history of St Augustine just goes on and on.  He built the first bridge to St Augustine Beach and of course The Memorial Presbyterian Church.  We had such a wonderful time here.

 

Courtyard.

 

Entrance.

The dome and ceiling was amazing.

 

 

We were able to follow two guys in this grand salon that is under lock and key.  Probably because of the art.

 

 

There was such a massive amount of art, a series of women and I wish I could have all of them here.  When the two men left they asked us to also leave because the hall wasn't open to the public.  We were just lucky to be at the right place at the right time.

j