| As part time motorhomers we, husband Don and I, look forward to the
next time we will be on the road. Until now our longest outing had been
16 days, so we were excited to be leaving on a two month adventure. The
thought of warmer weather in February and March was appealing to us northern
Indiana residents.
Traveling around various areas of Florida was interesting and educational. We learned the word carillon is pronounced like my friend Carolyn's name. Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, FL was a great place to spend a day. Wayne, a guide led a group tour thru the beautiful gardens and pointed out huge longleaf pine trees (funny name because they don't have leaves, but needles), turkey oak trees, colorful azalea bushes and many other interesting plants. We were fortunate to be there when a live recital was given on the 57 bell carillon. We sat on chairs, watched live video of the carillonneur, and looked up to the 205 foot pink and gray marble tower which holds the bells. The keyboard with 1 ½ inch side keys are played with fists. The outdoor cafe was a comfortable place to sit and eat and watch small lizards scurry about. Later we were in White Springs, FL at Stephen Foster State Folk Culture Center Park, and alas, another carillon tower. This one was 200 feet tall with 97 tubular bells. How wonderful to hear music every quarter hour and to hear the bells strike the hour, and four times a day a 15 minute playing of Stephen Foster's pieces. We kept the windows of the motorhome open to hear all of the music. Exhibited in the center is a set of ten dioramas (miniature three dimensional displays) depicting scenes from Stephen Foster's songs. These took many hours to create and one can spend much time looking at all parts of the scenes. For people who appreciate music these two carillons are exciting to learn about and hear. |