vizcaya gardens - miami, florida

pete and i headed to the airport early on saturday morning for our flights...to different cities on the east coast. his travels took him to pittsboro, north carolina, for a week-long woodworking class; my travels took me miami, florida, for a conference. any guesses as to who is having a better time?!


i manged to escape my hotel room and the conference for a bit today to find a gem hidden near downtown miami. visiting botanic gardens is one of my favorite travel activities and the vizcaya museum and gardens certainly did not disappoint. the property sits on biscayne bay and is a mix of native plants (mangroves included) arranged in the style of an english garden with a backdrop of florida limestone (aka coral). i have to say that miami earns a gold star for this locale.

garden entrance

 the orchidarium (that's what the sign said)

 the ship and tea house

 limestone bridge

 marine themed alcove (check out the shells on the ceiling)

 crazy manicured english-style gardens

the wild-hair caterpillar!
(i don't know what it is really called, but isn't it cool?!)

alcove in the "secret garden"