Museum, Gardens and an Air Boat Ride

On Tuesday morning, we were scheduled to go on an air boat ride at 9:30.  However, we woke up to temps in the low 40's and a cold wind!  We bundled up (Terri loaned me a sweatshirt to wear as I wasn't prepared for that cold in Florida!) and were ready to tough it out, but the air boat people called just as we were ready to go and asked if we could reschedule for 3:30 in the hopes of it being a little warmer. That sounded like a great plan to us.

We headed into Lakeland to see some things that had been closed the day before. We started at the Museum of Art, where Terri worked for many years. I was excited to see it in person as I remembered Terri's posts about it through the years.

There was a special exhibit happening with items from Florence Italy.  The guard explained to us what went into this display, with people coming over from Italy, just to make sure everything was set up and lit correctly.

An old suit of armor, velvet fabric from the 1500's, incredible paintings and on the bottom right are pieces of a Prince's carriage doors from the 1700's.

Art from an African exhibit, with incredible weaving.

There was even art from Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso.  There was so much more and we greatly enjoyed this stop.

Next, we went back to Hollis Gardens. They were closed the day before, but on this day we were able to wander around these beautiful grounds.

Bob and I at a grotto at the gardens.

After a nice lunch, it was time to head out to the air boat.  We went to Lake Kissimmee, which is the 3rd largest lake in Florida.

We got on the air boat and headed out onto the lake.  We were excited to see the wildlife in the area.

Here's the first thing we saw.  A cow in the lake!  We saw a lot of them on the shore and quite a few more in the lake.

We saw several types of deer.

And we saw several bald eagles - so majestic!

There were lots of alligators!  We were hoping to see at least one, but because it was so cold out, they were out sunning themselves and we were able to see many of them.

There were so many varieties of birds. It was awe inspiring to see birds of many types and sizes, flying out in front of us as we went around the lake.

Here's our airboat.  Bob and I were in the front, Terri and her neighbor Susan who came with us were behind us, and a man and his grandson were in the back.  If you ever get the chance to do this, we highly recommend it.  It was a great reminder of God's intricate design in creation; all these different types of wildlife living in this ecosystem.  

We had supper at an Asian restaurant that Terri recommended, and it was delicious. This beautiful sunset at Terri's place was a lovely end to a very enjoyable day.