Florida USA: Fairchild Tropical Garden

Our last day in Florida was the Thursday. We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel – keeping to the “continental” style of breads/bagels, cheese and fruit rather than the “full American”.

We then checked out of the hotel, checked in (online) for our flight and set out to drive to Miami. There were long queues to get into southern Miami because of road works.

We went to visit the Fairchild Tropical Garden. Partly because my mother likes gardening – and we do too, but also because it offered a tram ride round the place and shouldn’t take too long to visit! It claims to be the largest Tropical Garden in the world. It’s pretty big, but we’re not sure how it compares with Kew Gardens and The Eden Project in the UK.

We walked a little way together along the very pleasant path, then Mum went off to wait for the tram by the lake side and we carried on for a few more minutes before joining her.

We then had an enjoyable tram ride together. There was an informative talk from the volunteer guide as we went round the park. She pointed out the art works on display as well as the plants and other interesting features.

Many of the plants had been damaged by recent cold weather and had brown leaves or had shed them completely.

In addition to the plants we were lucky to catch sight of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster who both seem to be resident at the park. Other residents included birds and at least one turtle.

 

 

After the tram tour we needed a drink, but the only cafe was some distance away up a slight hill (yes, there is a hill in Florida). One of the volunteer guides used her radio to call for help, and we were soon on our way to visit the cafe in a little electric cart driven by another volunteer.

After our drinks (tropical fruit juice sodas of course) we spoke to another volunteer about getting back. She offered to call for help again, but suggested we tour the orchid house while we waited.

The cart arrived soon after we emerged from looking at the orchids and we were soon back at the main entrance.

We then drove back into Miami, looking for the car rental place to return the car. My satnav took us to a random street in downtown Miami – which was a bit worrying especially as my friend Bob had said the day before that there were places in Miami that he didn’t like to get lost in. We wanted 3901 SW 28th Street. Later analysis suggested it had taken us to 390 SW 28th Street.

I put the address in again and it directed us through a maze of side streets and light industrial areas until we arrived at the Budget Car Rental facility. All a bit stressful!

We checked the car in, which took only about 10 minutes and got on the bus to the airport. The driver forgot to ask us which airline we needed so we missed our stop for Virgin Atlantic and had to go round again!

We dropped our bags and then the special assistance arrived in the form of a wheelchair and handler to take Mum to the gate. She was taken all the way to the plane door: after we’d had a brief break for a burger and a Panini – which was all there was to eat in the departure lounge.

The flight was uneventful, but on arriving at Heathrow our taxi took a few minutes to reach us. That was partly because it took a few minutes for the messages he had left for me on my mobile phone to get to me.