Escape to Florida

 The Fort guarding St. Augustine is a National Park site, so for us "seniors" the $10 for life pass got us ALL in to visit... what a bargain..... There are wonderful displays and a Ranger talk is always great as well.... There are now scheduled firings of the cannons.... not every day....

 The Edison and Ford Winter Estates have a historical museum and a large botanical garden.  It sits beside the Caloosahatchee River.  Both Edison's home (Seminole Lodge) and Ford's home (The Mangoes)are open for public tours.  This is the site of the Edison Botanic Research laboratory where he investigated using plant based rubber instead of synthetic rubber.  The museum has half glass walls up on the porches which allow you to see into almost every room.  There is also vintage music playing as you visit.  This is a "midnight" garden with plants specifically designed to either bloom or be more fragrant in the late evening hours....

Definitely an enjoyable and very different part of Tampa...... we only went in the daytime and evidently night time is when it comes alive... we certainly enjoyed a walk around to see the architecture and the remnants of the booming cigar business.... demonstrations of cigar rolling going on in several shops......  The original Columbia Restaurant is in this part of town as well....  This is the bakery called La Segunda Central.... no dining tables but plenty of folks picking up their lunch on FABULOUS bread.... YUmmy!  Probably their most famous sandwich.... but as long as the bread is used you can't go wrong!