Christmas in January for John

To see the online photo album of our 3 days on Siesta Key, Florida, click on https://picasaweb.google.com/115483244393507838338/SiestaKey2016January

For my 2015 Christmas present, Paula gave me 3 days, all expenses paid, on Siesta Key, the #1 beach in America according to some travel sites (and me). We returned from Siesta Key to The Villages, our winter home, Wednesday evening.

It’s my favorite beach in the world, even better than the Isle of Capri, although Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is far more impressive.

John with his favorite banyan tree

We visited my favorite banyan tree in the world at Marie Selby Gardens, which has thousands of orchids, too, and epiphytes, plants that grow on trees without being parasites.

Marie Selby planted her banyan grove in 1938. I’m guessing the trees are 100 feet tall. One Banyan tree has dozens of above-ground “roots” that are each larger in diameter than some oak trees.

The Selby staff has gone as far as Borneo, which is 10,174 miles from Sarasota, to bring transplants to the garden.

It is the #1 public garden with epiphytes (air plants, such as orchids, bromeliads and gesneriads).

The international field expeditions began in Ecuador in 1973. Today, there are plants from all over the world, particularly tropical climates.

Only the Stanley Gardens in Vancouver can rival Marie Selby Gardens in my mind among those I have seen in my travels to 53 countries and 43 states.

Marie Selby had the “temporary” home constructed on their property in 1921, but Marie and husband Bill lived there till they died, and are buried under a sculptural fountain in front of their beloved home on Sarasota Bay.

They turned the gardens over to the city of Sarasota upon their demises.

In 1975 it cost $1 for admission. Today, it’s $19.

And we had dinner at Captain Curt’s restaurant, which has my favorite oysters in the world, and at Der Dutchman, an Amish restaurant.

We’ll be on Siesta Key again in February, after going to Punta Gorda for the 6^th Monongah High alumni get-together in 3 years (2 in Sarasota, 4 in Punta Gorda). We’ll spend 2 more nights lodging on Siesta Key, 50 miles north of Punta Gorda, after the MHS reunion.

I love that place and beach!!!

If you want to join the Punta Gorda Monongah High alumni reunion, phone Bill Meredith at (941) 342-0030 because Punta Gorda’s Laishley Crab House needs to know how many seats to set aside.