Sunday at Bok Tower

I have said many times I love living where there are four seasons! But, visiting a temperate climate like Florida has it's advantages!! Over launch weekend we had some spare time Sunday afternoon. And since the Temple is closed on Sundays we decided for a different kind of serenity and time to meditate on our Sunday afternoon. Bok Gardens seemed appealing in the pamphlet. But I didn't realize we would end up spending several hours there.

When we walked in we were greeted with hanging airponics plants, featured as a drape almost to the patio lunch area. Absolutely stunning! One of the feature plants, besides palm trees, was, of course, oranges.

We started our walk, completely oblivious to the beauty that lurked inwards. And then the bells began to play "How Great Thou Art". Oh, the beauty and awe of it all!!! I was taken in. I felt like I was in Eden part of the time.

There was a viewing house for the bird feeder pond there that was so peaceful.

Walking deeper into the garden we spotted the Bok Tower where the sound of the bells was ringing from.

I had never seen so much moss before. At least not the appealing, attractive kind. It was almost mesmerizing. As were the squirrels who actually let us come within petting distance. (Not that I attempted that. I have heard too many stories about these cute fuzzy creatures biting.)

The view from this highest point in the Florida Peninsula was beautiful!

We learned along the way that the gold door on the tower had scenes depicting the Creation on it. We were not allowed to get up close to it because of the construction barrier they had set up to finish the building after all these years. But of what we did see, it was amazing!

And we had a friendly, elegant creature greet us out in front of the tower. The swan caught on camera was practically posing. As I was about to go around the tower to the other side where it was entertaining other visitors, it swirled around and swam across to me, looked me directly in the eye, slowly swam past and went back to the other side.

Edward Bok had made several famous friends in his time preserving this mountain top and the bird and plant species on it. Among the many gifts/donations made was a beautiful Chinese Lantern statue.

The chubby carp were especially excited to see us. There are quarter crank machines around the area with feed in them, so we entertained ourselves by feeding them for a quarter. We found out later at another LABELED machine that the food was for the squirrels (or the swans, I can't remember.... point being it wasn't for the fat fish). It looked to me that they had fooled many passers-by. I call this picture "Kissing Fish".

On the other side of the mountain is Edward Bok's winter home, where it all began. You had to pay more to get a tour of the 12,000 sq.ft. mansion, so we decided to just take advantage to the free scenery around the house.

To finish it off we made our way back to the visitor's center to view the small gallery inside. The quote of Edward Bok's grandmother was especially touching to me.

I mentioned before the bells playing. It turns out they are played live by a very talented young man. He turns his wrists to play the keys sideways with his knuckles and below with his feet. While there we were treated to a free concert including different styles of music, all played on the bells, ranging from little 12lb. bells, to 1,000lbs. The sounds was spectacular!

A floor model showed us a cut-out of where the bells are located int he tower and the sizes. I could have spent another several hours there just sitting in the garden, listening to the frequent bell tones!

Our day came to a finish, but we will never forget our day at Bok Tower. It was such a joy to be among God's beautiful creations on a Sunday afternoon like that. Surrounded by music, animals and beautiful plants.