Back to Florida, This Time the West Coast

June 21st, 2016

Our February 2016 trip to see “Mickey’s plants” and gardens of central Florida went over so well that Lowee’s Group Tours and I have put together an encore winter get-away for 2017 – this time to Florida’s west coast.

Naples Botanical Gardens is one of the gardens we’ll be seeing on the February 2017 Florida tour.
Photo Credit: Lorrie Preston

We’ll be flying back and forth to Tampa and seeing excellent gardens and nature attractions as far down the coast as Naples from Feb. 14-21, 2017.

Included in the lineup are superb public gardens such as Naples Botanical Gardens and Sarasota’s Marie Selby Botanical Gardens (my favorite Florida garden) but also a few off-the-beaten-track stops that I think gardeners will like, such as a greenhouse that specializes in caladiums and a spectacular home garden in Punta Gorda.

We’ll also see plenty of Florida’s native plant life at places such as Sanibel Island’s Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge and the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples.

The whole trip costs $2,350 per person double, which includes airfare, hotels, all admissions and 14 meals. Lowees is taking bookings now by calling 717-657-9658 or by emailing Chrissie Kelly at ckelly@lowees.com.

The day-by-day itinerary with a signup sheet is now posted on the Lowee’s Group Tours website.

Here’s a look at what we’ll be seeing:

   Tue., Feb. 14, 2017: Fly into Tampa, grab a bite to eat, and bus to Punta Gorda, where we’ll check into the Holiday Inn Express and Suites. Dinner on the water at Hurricane Charley’s is included.

   Wed., Feb. 15, 2017: Breakfast at the hotel and spend the morning touring the Edison and Ford Winter Estates, where Thomas Edison and Henry Ford made their side-by-side winter homes and planted elaborate gardens. After lunch at the estates, we’ll spend the afternoon seeing the Lee County Manatee Park and then the private Burroughs home landscape in Punta Gorda. We’ll end the day with a stop at the Sun Harvest Citrus Packinghouse for a sweet treat.

   Thur., Feb. 16, 2017: Breakfast at the hotel and head to Naples, where we’ll spend the morning touring the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary (part of the western Everglades) with its wetlands plants, bird life (especially endangered wood storks) and the world’s largest remaining virgin bald cypress forest. Tour the beautiful Naples Botanical Gardens and its tropical theme gardens in the afternoon. Lorrie Preston, former president of our local chapter of the Audubon Society and a former Penn State-trained Master Gardener as well, will join us to add insights. Dinner is included tonight.

Fri., Feb. 17, 2017: Breakfast and a varied lineup today, including a tour of the Peace River Wildlife Center, where rescued animals are cared for and returned to the wild; a school bus tour through the Babcock Ranch, a working cattle ranch with four Florida ecosystems and lots of local wildlife, and a visit to serene Sanibel Island for a tram tour through Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Dinner is included again this evening.

Poinsettias are used as a landscape plant in Florida. This is at the Florida Botanical Gardens near St. Petersburg.

Sat., Feb. 18, 2017: Breakfast and check out of the Holiday Inn, then depart for Lake Placid, where we’ll meet a step-on guide who will tell us about what Reader’s Digest called the “most interesting town in America.” We’ll tour Lake Placid’s beautiful murals and have time to explore the downtown and grab a bite to eat. Then it’s on to a tour of a nearby caladium bulb farm followed by a visit to the Avon Bombing Range, where there’s an interesting prison greenhouse project going on. Check into the Hampton Inn and Suites Downtown Bradenton. Dinner is included.

Sun., Feb. 19, 2017: Breakfast at the hotel and tour the Florida Botanical Gardens near St. Petersburg. The gardens are run by and cared for by the Pinellas County Master Gardeners and feature a colorful collection of tropical plants, theme gardens and water features. Then we’ll head to Tarpon Springs to explore the docks of this Greek-influenced community famous for its sponging industry. We’ll tour the town and go on a sponge-diving boat ride to see how sponges are harvested. An authentic Greek dinner is included after the tour.

A waterfall is one feature of Selby Botanical Gardens children’s garden.

Mon., Feb. 20, 2017: Breakfast at the hotel and head to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota. This gorgeous garden set on Sarasota Bay has an interesting collection of tropical trees as well as an orchid greenhouse, a Florida forest garden, a really nice water garden, and a rainforest-themed children’s garden like you’ve never seen before. After Selby, we’ll have lunch at the Der Dutchman – a restaurant that’ll remind you of our own Lancaster County fare. In the afternoon, we’ll tour Sarasota’s impressive Ringling Art & Circus Museum with its meticulous bay-front gardens. Enjoy the evening along Bradenton’s waterfront.

Tue., Feb. 21, 2017: Breakfast and tour St. Petersburg’s Sunken Gardens before heading to Tampa’s airport for the flight home.