Bok Bliss

Today was the first day this Fall where there was a little nip in the air, and the cold front that went through yesterday sucked up all the humidity leaving gorgeous cerulean blue skies. I was fortunate enough to spend my afternoon at one of the loveliest locations in Florida, Bok Tower Gardens. After a popular run all summer at Bok Tower, my Finding the Fountain of Youth exhibit came down Thursday and I had to transport it back to Orlando. When I installed the exhibit the weather was so rainy and overcast I never left the visitors center. Today was the exact opposite, so much so that every moment inside felt like crime against nature.

Here's a plaque from the gardens:

"The kiss of the sun for pardon
The song of the birds for mirth
One is nearer to God's heart in the garden
Than anywhere else on earth"
– Dorothy Gurney

Changing Attractions

I received a great gift in the mail last week of Florida postcards purchased by a friend in Cambria, California. I had always thought that it might be easier to buy Florida ephemera outside the state, but never would have expected it on the west coast. Included in the batch were three from subjects of past blogs, The Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine, Bok Tower in Lake Wales and Sunken Gardens in St. Pete. While these vintage attractions are still in operation, none of them match the images on the postcards.

My guess is that this is the original spring located on the Fountain of Youth property which has since been plugged up. When the owner of the property unearthed a cross made of rocks in the ground with a nearby silver vessel holding a note from Ponce de Leon inside, the location of the fountain was moved there and they dug a well from which to produce water.

I'm not sure where this Sunken Garden postcard was based on; there was nothing resembling it on my recent trip to St. Pete's Sunken Garden. I love the text on the back, it reads:

"Florida is a delightfully sunny place, fashioned by nature in her happiest mood, endowed with super fine gifts of climate, beauty and salt-ladened health-giving winds and smiling skies."

My favorite thing on the Bok Tower postcard are the two prominent flamingoes, Florida tourism's unofficial state bird. While the reflecting pond below the tower still is home to a pair of beautiful swans, the flamingoes have gone the way of the Dodo.

State of Attractions

In my efforts to better understand the state I'm in, I'm reading Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams; A Social History of Modern Florida by Gary R. Mormino. I just finished the chapter on tourism and it ended with a tough commentary about the costs we've paid for our tourist based economy in Florida. The author also talks about how smaller attractions mostly disappeared as Disney grew and travel habits changed. "Ironically, while the Florida Turnpike and interstate highways introduced millions of new motorists to Florida, the new roadways bypassed the old tourist attractions" Mormino claims.

Yet a handful of old attractions remain, and I'm doing my best to visit them all while they're still around. To me they are pockets of Florida's past and they offer glimpses into a more innocent, less thrill-based time. Unlike today's theme parks, they often engage your brain and your sense of beauty, not your adrenal glands. One has to look for subtlety at these places, it is not sensory overload like Disney or Universal.

I've broken it down geographically into four regions. Many are now run by the state. Some go back to the early 20th century, some are more recent, but are clearly in the spirit of the old Florida roadside attractions. I also wrestle with the exact definition of attraction- is a museum an attraction? Are botanical gardens attractions? Here is what I've come up with (I'm always looking for more):

Panhandle
Wakulla Springs
Goofy Golf (Pensacola, Panama City and Ft. Walton Beach)
Florida Caverns
Gulf World, Panama City
Gulfarium, Ft. Walton Beach

North Florida
Oldest House, St. Augustine
Oldest School, St. Augustine
Fountain of Youth, St. Augustine
Old Jail, St. Augustine
Zorayda Castle, St. Augustine
Lightner Museum, St. Augustine
Potters Wax Museum, St. Augustine
Ripleys Believe it or Not, St. Augustine
Alligator Farm, St. Augustine
Stephen Foster Memorial, White Springs
Marineland
Silver Springs, Ocala

Central Florida
Citrus Tower, Clermont
Presidents Hall of Fame, Clermont
Big Tree Park, Longwood
Gatorland, Kissimmee
Homosassa Springs
Cypress Gardens, Winter Haven
Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks
Weeki Wachee
Sunken Gardens, St. Pete
Sarasota Jungle Gardens, Sarasota
Bok Tower, Lake Wales
Sarasota Classic Car Museum, Sarasota
Jungle Adventures, Christmas
HMS Bounty, St. Pete
De Leon Springs State Park
Rainbow Springs State Park
Ringling Museum, Sarasota

South Florida
Thomas Edison Winter Home, Ft. Myers
Key West Aquarium
Miami Seaquarium
McKee Botanical Gardens, Vero Beach
Monkey Jungle, Miami
Jungle Island, formerly Parrot Jungle, Miami
Lion Country Safari, West Palm Beach
Everglades Wonder Garden, Bonita Springs
Shell Factory, North Ft. Myers
Coral Castle, Homestead, FL
Venetian Pool, Coral Gables
Theater of the Sea, Islamorada
Native Village, Hollywood
The Ancient Spanish Monastery, North Miami Beach

National Parks
Castillo de San Marcos
Everglades National Park

Tarpon Springs is home to the famed Spongerama attraction

The Ventian Pool is scheduled to re-open next month after renovations

Now President's Hall of Fame

Former movie prop is available for rentals at the end of the St. Pete Pier

Recently celebrated it's 80th birthday

Like Silver Springs, Weeki Wachee was at one time owned by the ABC television network but is now run by the state. Ironically, Disney now owns ABC.

Moved location and changed name to Jungle Island

A shell of its former self, Marineland is now an "Eco Park" where you can swim with dolphins instead of watching them leap out of the water.

Fresh Florida Fun

Here are some of my purchases from the Floridiana Festival last weekend that were related to previous blogs. 

The oversized Citrus Tower postcard dates from 1972 and shows nothing but groves and lakes as far as the eye could see. Just to the right of the big red arrow is the amphibious vehicle that used to offer rides in a nearby lake.

The Orange Blossom Trail linen postcard folder features sights from along 441 from one end of the peninsula to the other. 

What is now Bok Tower Gardens started out as Mountain Lake Sanctuary, created by Edward Bok as a haven for our fine feathered friends, like the flamingos pictured here. At a recent visit to Bok, I was told that it became too expensive to feed the beautiful pink birds so they got rid of them. Homosassa Springs and Sunken Gardens, two parks I've visited recently, still have flamingoes.

And the Florida State Parks map shows the wonderful sculpture at Tomoka State Park that I'm pining to visit.

New images of old stuff

I've been bolstering my collection of vintage Florida postcards of late, and have found it more cost effective on Ebay than in antique stores. I tend to get obsessed with Ebay items about once a year, hopefully I'm done with '09. First it was Roseville Pottery, then Peter Pauper Press books, then the artist Joy Postle and now it's Florida postcards.

Here are 3 from my first shipment from Florida sites I've blogged about.

The Fountain of Youth postcard shows the stone cross supposedly laid out by Ponce de Leon out with 15 vertical stones and 13 horizontal stones to indicate the year, 1513. Nearby they found a small silver vessel with a parchment inside stating that Ponce de Leon claimed this land in the name of Spain.

The caption on the back of the Marineland postcard says: 

"DOCTOR" BRUSHES TEETH OF TRAINED WHALE

MARINELAND FLORIDA

Bok Tower seems to have been one of the most prolific producers of postcards and ephemera in the state. I wonder if that is an indication of its popularity in the past? This is the first vintage Bok postcard I've collected of the non-linen variety.

And finally I was contacted earlier this week by an individual looking for vintage images of Edgewater Drive in College Park, the Orlando neighborhood originally developed in the 1920s. I tried to point them in the right direction, but it seems there aren't many images around. If you know of any, please contact me. I came across this image of the old College Park Publix. While I loved the signage and facade, the narrow aisles were a hassle and I almost always accidently ran into some poor little old lady with my shopping cart while trying to navigate through the store. The old store was torn down and a new one replaced it. However, several old Publix buildings that have been re-used for other businesses still remain around Orlando; a subject for a future blog perhaps...

To the top!

I've been on a roll lately. At Thanksgiving I got to see the ruins of Bongoland, an early Florida theme park, find what's left of Marineland (not much), and explore some of the great old attractions of St. Augustine. This weekend I visited the Maitland Art Center twice for art functions. But yesterday I hit the jackpot. I got to go to the top of Bok Tower. And our guide was Bill De Turk, Bok's carilloner and resident historian.

All of my favorite things combined–art, architecture, history and nature! If you aren't familiar with Bok Tower it was created by publisher Edward Bok in the late twenties as the focal point of his Olmsted-designed gardens and bird sanctuary.  The architectural style of the tower is called Gothic-Deco and the design motif of much of the building is the flora and fauna of the sunshine state. I was assisting my friend Joy who was researching a story about the dedication of the tower by President Calvin Coolidge and thus given the opportunity for this special tour.

Even on an overcast day your first view of the tower is breath-taking. It sticks up out of the surrounding Orange groves like a rocket at the Cape. As you wind your way through the gardens, you see more and more detail of the intricate stone work and colorful mosaics at the top of the building.

Inside the iron gate, you're struck by a brilliant golden door telling the creation story. Beyond that the first floor room has amazing colorful tiles, an overwhelming fireplace and arts and crafts style fixtures that are out of this world. We got to take the elevator up, (the oldest operating elevator in the state, the very one that Mrs. Coolidge rode in), stopping at each floor.

First there was the archives where they house all of Edward Bok's archives. Then there is storage with some of the old tools like a giant pulley used to hoist the 16 ton bells to the top of the tower.  Next is the music library and then Mr. De Turk's studio which easily has a view rivaling any New York penthouse. The last two floors are the "keyboard" where the carilloner plays the bells and above that the bells themselves. We were allowed access to several of the balconies at each level overlooking the gardens at to view the mosaics and sculpture up close that is normally only viewed from the ground.

What an incredible way to spend a Monday!