Oh the places We Go, The People We see

[jenseib]

Some of us lagged behind a bit before heading to the bus and took a few more pictures.







We passed by the certified Hair braiders. Now really, how do we know they are certified? LOL.



We got on our bus, which was like a big van. 2 seats on one side and 1 on the other. Since we had such a big group, we took up the majority of our bus. We also got the Disney CM in our bus as well. I cant for the life of me remember her name nor our bus drivers name, but both were very nice.

We learned that our bus driver had a secret and it would be shared with us at the end of the tour. Now I know I am going to forget to mention it later, so I will spill the beans now.
This was our drivers first day on the job. He had recently retired from another occupation completely different than this one and we were his first bus load. I will tell you when we found that out, I was STUNNED! He did an amazing job and was very knowledgeable too. He did a FANTASTIC job!

Off we went. We drove around the city a bit on our way to Ardastra Gardens. He pointed out a few places, and honestly, I dont remember any of the details anymore.



The famous sign I see in so many other Trip Reports. I just had to get my own version.









This is a Government Building. I cant think of the official name right now, but I have seen it a few times.









There was damage throughout the city too. Some from the hurricane and some from storms of the past.

[jenseib]

We then arrived at Ardastra Gardens. Our bus driver did tell us that they were not in the best shape right now because of the hurricane. Most of the flowers had blown off during the storm, and though it would still be nice, it wasn’t at its full glory right now.







Right as we walked in we saw the Lemurs, or as Claire calls them , the “King Julians”. They were a huge hit for her and we ended up going back to look at them after a bit.







And this was one of the main reasons I picked this excursion.



Parrots! Ok, they might be technically called Macaws, but they will always be parrots to me.











The water was so nasty looking. I am not sure if this is normal or a leftover from the hurricane.



Claire and I had separated from the family while we looked around, but the place isn’t too big and we easily found them after a bit.









HELLO!



Yes, this guy said that to us and it scared the crud out of me at first. Then we both laughed.





Aren’t these guys just too cute?

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I love Clair's skirt

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by tinkerbellandeeyor

I love Clair's skirt

Thanks

[MEK]

Originally Posted by jenseib

Aren’t these guys just too cute?

Triplets! How cool!

So do you think the Garden's were worth the admission price?

Again, I love all your pictures. What is Pink? Is it a champagne bar? It really is pretty.

Sorry you did not love your sushi. Denny does not like sushi, but Nick and I love it. So I'm pretty excited to know I can get it at lunch.

Too funny about your niece not wanting to give up her princess dress.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by MEK

Triplets! How cool!

So do you think the Garden's were worth the admission price?

Again, I love all your pictures. What is Pink? Is it a champagne bar? It really is pretty.

Sorry you did not love your sushi. Denny does not like sushi, but Nick and I love it. So I'm pretty excited to know I can get it at lunch.

Too funny about your niece not wanting to give up her princess dress.

Yes, Pink is the Champagne bar.

I think Ardastra was a good spot for a one time visit. I don't think I would rush back to do it again, but I am glad we did do it. I'm sure it's most likely prettier too when it's in full bloom and hasn't had a hurricane come through just a week or so prior.

Abby is a little character. She's so cute, with a touch of devil.

[mickeystoontown]

The gardens look pretty despite the fact that a storm had been through just weeks prior. The macaws are beautiful!

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by mickeystoontown

The gardens look pretty despite the fact that a storm had been through just weeks prior. The macaws are beautiful!

It was still pretty and I saw more flowers than I expected. The birds were beautiful. That to me was worth coming.

[jenseib]

Here are a few of Geoffs pictures.










They were having a budgie feeding, so we all decided to check that out. We had to wait for the OK to walk in and then we got apples to feed the birds with. The birds would come right to you and eat, but you werent supposed to let them eat the skin. We had to throw those in a bucket and then we could get new apples. We had a lot of fun here.























Pete was the bird man. They loved him!

[jenseib]

This was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed it, though Abby didn’t want the birds to touch her. She was more into watching them eat. Even Alexis was squeamish at times about the touching her too.











I thought this was a cool shot.





Claire and I ended up being some of the last ones in there. As people left, they kept handing off apples to Claire and she decided she was done, so she handed them off to me. I finally just took them to the lady as I wanted out too. It was fun to do, but I didn’t want to spend my whole day in here with the birds when there were other things to look at as well. And the Flamingo show was going to start after a bit, so I wanted to scope out the rest of the area before that.



We spotted Flamingos running freely and we had to check those out. Warning, between Geoff and I, we took about 40 zillion Flamingo pictures.





















Some of these Flamingoes had a bit of an issue with each other. It was funny to see them yell at each other. It just made me think of 2 women having a fight, with lots of nasty words and head bobbing going on.

[mickeystoontown]

How neat that you were able to feed the birds! Abby's expressions always crack me up. I bet she couldn't ever play poker.

I can just imagine what the flamingos were saying to each other while flapping their wings "Oh no you just didn't!"

[that's nice]

I don't know if I could of taken all those birds walking on me during the feeding.

Love Claire's dress.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by mickeystoontown

How neat that you were able to feed the birds! Abby's expressions always crack me up. I bet she couldn't ever play poker.

I can just imagine what the flamingos were saying to each other while flapping their wings "Oh no you just didn't!"

That was one thing I really hadn't realized we could do, so it was an added bonus.

Abby was very unsure about this. Why would people want to touch these birds?

That is exactly what I was saying about the birds too. The exact saying. LOL

Originally Posted by that's nice

I don't know if I could of taken all those birds walking on me during the feeding.

Love Claire's dress.

It was kind of a weird feeling when they would land, but we quickly got used to it. They were not shy at all.

[dolphingirl47]

I would have loved the birds. One of my favourite places to be is the aviary at Discovery Cove. I could spend ours in there playing human perch for the birds.

Corinna

[mickeystoontown]

Originally Posted by jenseib

That was one thing I really hadn't realized we could do, so it was an added bonus.

Abby was very unsure about this. Why would people want to touch these birds?

That is exactly what I was saying about the birds too. The exact saying. LOL

What can we say except great minds think alike.


It was kind of a weird feeling when they would land, but we quickly got used to it. They were not shy at all.

.