Humbly sitting on US 92 lies a botanical garden. I wondered to myself how could there be a garden worthwhile of my time anywhere in Pinellas county. So I sat out early Saturday morning to find out.

Thankfully this gigantic sign on the side of the road helped me find my destination. The garden opened at 10AM and I was early. So I drove around the surrounding neighborhood looking at houses. When I returned the morning rush of people had already purchased their tickets and entered.

At the admission counter I was third in line. Standing there I couldn’t help but to notice the shirt one of the girls at the counter was wearing. It looked like the Red Hot Chili Peppers symbol but it said something random around the outside that I couldn’t make out. When it was finally my turn in line, I noticed that the shirt said “I’m With You” which is the name of the latest album they released. That shirt’s awesome I say. Somehow I find myself in a conversation with this chick and she offers me a discounted admission and a free bag of fish food. Now I’m no gambling man but I would say the bag of dried up pellets was her way of saying she wanted me.

The garden was much larger in size than I had expected. It also had several paths to take and thankfully they give you a map. I elected to take the main outlined path and set out. As I took several steps forward I started to wonder when I was going to see the good stuff. And that’s when it dawned on me. I was seeing the good stuff. It was all around me.

To my right something moving caught my attention. It was a black lizard. Picture worthy for my blog. I reach into my pocket and grab the camera. It was gone. There will probably be more ahead, after all it is Florida. I let it go and continue on.

I could hear birds harmonizing all around me reminding me of the peaceful atmosphere this place provides. I kept walking until I discovered a set of beautiful parrots. There was a sign that said this parrot loves to talk but usually only talks to females. Coming from a household full of birds I knew I would get this feathered creature to talk to me. There was a list of his favorite phrases on another sign. I tried them all. The damned parrot is a sexist bastard. He wouldn’t say a word to me. Defeated I decided to move on.

Lizards were starting to appear and disappear more frequently around me. This is a lizard’s paradise. So much nature all around. I found a bench and sat on it for a moment. Not only could it serve as a lizard’s paradise but a writer could potentially find nirvana here.

I eventually stumbled upon an amphitheater. I’m not sure what goes on here but when I passed by there was a yoga class going on. I looked like a creeper trying to snag a photo of it but whatever.

I found a couple of koi fish ponds but the damned fish wouldn’t eat the damned pellets. Great! Now I have a bag of fish pellets I can’t even get rid of. FML.

Fish refusing to eat my pellets

I few more windy paths and I come upon a rock bench. Nothing fancy in my opinion really. I had several of these in my yard growing up. But what set this one apart from the ones in my backyard is that this one had a sign. Yes. A sign that promised me tranquility if I sat upon it. So I did.

And I sat there for a while. Sitting alone in a palm tree garden for a moment I thought about what would make me tranquil. Nothing came to mind. But as i was sitting on the limestone, listening to the waterfall, birds singing, surrounded by plants, watching lizards I started to notice that all felt right in the universe. I decided at that moment I needed a picture on the rock. So I sat there longer and waited for someone to show up and take a picture for me. And I sat. And I waited. And I thought some more.

Finally, 15 minutes later, a guest approached and I was able to capture an awesome picture.

Then I found a little wooden bridge. Another opportunity to feed some koi presented itself. I dropped a few pellets in. These fish were hungry. Started fighting for the pellets. I realized I hadn’t dropped enough in. I offer some more. Even more fish appeared. Again not enough. My favorite sunglasses started to come off my ears a little bit so my fear of losing my favorite piece of attire persuaded me to dump the whole bag in. The fish feasted.

I roamed around some more and found a wedding reception area, a zen garden, more benches for sitting and thinking and even a cacti garden. sitting on some of the benches I people watched when I could. All of the men there looked so unhappy. How could they be so unpleasant in such a great place? They were definitely not comfortable in their own skin. If your not comfortable in your own skin, you wont enjoy this place.

I realized I was near the end and I began to get a little sad. I had to enjoy the last bit of a the Sunken Gardens while I still could. So I sat and watched a huge turtle for like 10 minutes before I decided my adventure for the day was over.