Tuesday Tales: Cypress Gardens

 

                I still have a few more vacation adventures to share with you! Today I want to tell you about our trip to Cypress Gardens. I read about it on a Pinterest article and thought we should definitely add it to our agenda. It ended up being one of our favorite days.

                Cypress Gardens is a beautiful place, but its claim to fame is being the location of the famous rowboat scene in The Notebook. Allie and Noah were out in this gorgeous swamp, rowing through swan-filled waters, and then a downpour found them – and that kiss! Well, it turns out the swans were just there for the movie, because alligators live in the swamp full time, but you actually can row through those very waters!

                So we went and were pleasantly surprised to find that other than a field trip, it wasn't very busy that day! 

                I found these boards with quotes from the movie…

                …I liked those better than this sign.

                As soon as we arrived, we put our name in for a boat ride and got on the waiting list. (Note: there are no extra charges for the boat ride, but there are only so many per day, so if you wait too long, you might not get to ride.) While we waited, we hiked around some of the trails and appreciated the absolute breathtaking beauty.

                They had a butterfly garden, but it was hotttttttttttt in there, and there weren’t too many butterflies flitting about. Maybe they were hot too! We didn’t stay long in there.

                Ryan’s requested photo shoot…

                At last, it was our turn. My one solid hope was that we would not see an alligator near our boat. And I did not. If Ryan did, he did not mention it, and I thank him for it.

                This was probably my favorite thing we did the entire time we were gone.

                After our boat ride, we ate salads we brought with us. They had little picnic tables in a courtyard, and you could bring food to eat. (There was a gift shop with chips and candy bars, but they didn’t serve meals.)

                After lunch, we went back out on the trails, which are numerous and go deep into woods. On our way, we passed this couple in the boat…and if you look closely, you’ll see an alligator at the base of the tree next to them. She was NOT sure about it. He was taking pictures. Basically they were Ryan and me.

                The hiking was fun…but I admit my hypervigilance for the copperheads they kept mentioning prevented me from fully enjoying it.

                When we finished the trails, we headed out in search of the Angel Oak tree. It’s the largest, oldest living oak tree, and it was (unfortunately) about an hour’s drive from where we were. When we arrived, there were quite a few people visiting it – more than I expected, honestly.

                The tree is in a park, and it’s surrounded by fencing, so there are only certain hours of the day you can get close to it. The tree is fascinating. I’ve never seen one with branches that grow quite like this!

                We were SO HUNGRY after a full (HOT!) day out, hiking and adventuring, and Ryan craved Culvers. I am pretty sure it took us another hour to get there, but we found a really nice one! The manager was holding interviews with teenagers for summer help, so we had a grand time listening to those while we ate. She was so good with them. One girl, when asked why she applied, said, “I have never been to Culver’s before.” I don’t think the manager knew what to do with that. She asked the girl what her favorite restaurant was, and the girl said Zaxby’s. Ha!

                We even sprang for mixers as a treat. SO delicious. Don’t even remember my last Mixer!

                We were hot and tired, but what a wonderful wonderful day it was. We were thankful for such fun.