Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Now that I have the tune stuck in your head, I do want to let you know my mama and I had a marvelous time glamping. I'll just remind you that I did not grow up in an outdoorsy, camping family. But since I was about 13 years old, I couldn't get enough of the woods. Real camping didn't start until I was about 18 years old when I met my first husband and I started exploring the north woods of Wisconsin.
After meeting Gerard, I told him roughing it now meant a bed and breakfast. Gosh, how I need to to eat my words. Gerard took me out west on a road trip shortly after our motorcycle accident and it hit me, if I really want to see the real America, I have to really get out there. And now, out there is where I want to be. It's not roughing it either in the ZiOs mobile. It's almost like a bed and breakfast on wheels. So back to that non-camping family. My mother has never been camping until I took her out last spring to the east coast. This is the second trip I have taken my mom on and we stretched it from an overnight to a 3 nights on the road.
We first head north winding our way through orange groves to a place I stumbled across while playing on Pinterest. I saw one of those pins that talk about 10 places in Florida no one knows about, but you have to go see. Bok Tower is an hour and a half northeast of Cape Coral. It is also known as Bok Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Singing Tower. It is a National Historic Landmark, contemplative garden and bird sanctuary located north of Lake Wales, Florida. The 205 foot tall Singing Tower is the home of Carillon Bells, hence the singing. The tower is built on Iron Mountain one of the highest points in peninsular Florida, about 295 feet above sea level.
The singing Tower is the centerpiece of the gardens.. A 60-bell carillon is set within the Gothic Revival and Art Deco tower. The tower is surrounded by a 15 foot moat that serves as a koi pond. Although the tower's interior is not open to the public, it contains the largest carillon library in the world. Inside the bell chamber is a playing room that house a clavier or keyboard the is used for playing the bells. Recitals are give daily from the 60 bell carillon set. We arrive just in time to hear the bells.
With winds gusting up to 40mph, we are back on the road for another 2 hours. Tonight's camp is a Christmas tree farm not far from Mount Dora, Florida– tomorrow's destination. All settled in and we crack open a bottle of champagne and cheese and crackers for dinner.
Morning brings plenty of sunshine and a promise of mid 70s. Jack, the owner of the farm, comes over to "talk story". He is a proud Roadtrek owner also. We all like to share stories of life on the road and the experiences with our rigs. So many experiences.
An early afternoon meandering through Mount Dora proves to be a laid back and relaxing way to wile away the day. It is an Old Florida postcard with quiet country inns, shops and an old railroad station set against picturesque Dora Lake
From here, we have another 2 hour drive to Brooksville, Florida where two fellow RVers will host us for the night. In the morning we only have an hour drive to Tarpon Springs. I have been looking forward to exploring this Greek town set on the Gulf. Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the US.
Tarpon Springs is in a region of Florida with a series of bayous feeding into the Gulf of Mexico. It was first setteld by black and white farmers around 1876. Some of the new settlers spotted tarpon jumping out of the waters and named the location. In 1880, John Cheyney founded the first local sponge business. The industry continued to grow in the 1890s and folks came from Key West and the Bahamas to harvest and process sponges. A few Greek immigrants arrived in the city to work in the sponge industry also. In 1905, John Cocoris introduced the technique of sponge diving and recruited divers and crew members from Greece and they soon outnumbered the divers in Greece and it is one of the leading maritime industries in Florida. We walk from one end of Dodecanese St and have fresh local grouper and hushpuppies at the Rusty Bellies
Only an hour down the gulf shore, we settle into Fort De Soto in St. Petersburg. Fort De Soto park consists of 1,136 acres made up of five interconnected islands (keys). These keys are home to beach plants, mangroves, wetlands, palm hammocks, hardwoods and scores of native plants. It is a perfect setting to sip wine on the water's edge. Our site is #203 and the view perfect for gull, egrets and pelicans finding their meal. After having lunch in Tarpon Springs, our last night needs only more wine and snacks. We visit with other Zion owners. Cathy and Armand stop in to ask about the ZiOs mobile. I walk Sitka over to their site for a quick peak at their Zion. It's time to settle in for the night and ready ourselves for the 2 hour drive home mid day tomorrow. It was wonderful to wander about with my mama... another wonderful excursion. Until I am out there again, I thank you for following along
