Ken and I took a short road trip this morning, 45 miles north, to visit the Port St. Lucie botanical garden. Ken had seen something about it on the local news, and we never turn down a chance to visit a botanical garden. Off we went.
The botanical garden is set inside a large city park, and it’s a lovely setting. I’d describe it as a series of small gardens in a park-like setting. It’s very peaceful. There are lots of benches and picnic tables scattered throughout the grounds. It was a very enjoyable visit.
We saw lots of butterflies in the butterfly garden, but I couldn’t get pictures of any. I did take lots of photos of the wide variety of plants.
The cactus and succulent garden was extensive and cleverly designed.
I guess what made the secret garden a secret was that it has a gate that can close it off. What attracted me was the white variety of sky vine.
The bromeliad garden had some beautiful specimens. We sat on a bench and enjoyed the setting and the quiet.
We really enjoyed our visit. Before we left Port St. Lucie, we grabbed lunch at Dale Arepa Bar. It’s a little Venezuelan restaurant, clearly geared primarily to takeout. It’s in a strip center, with very little seating indoors. However, there’s a patio with several tables, and it was a perfect day to sit outside. Ken had a ham and cheese arepa, while I opted for a chicken burrito bowl. Both were served with a delicious garlic-cilantro sauce. Ken’s arepa was absolutely stuffed with ham and what they referred to as white cheese. I think it was queso fresco or something similar. My bowl included grilled chicken, black beans, corn, avocado slices, and chopped onion on a bed of perfectly cooked quinoa. We both thoroughly enjoyed our choices. Ken had some of my bowl, because it was definitely more than I could eat. Significantly, he liked the quinoa, which he usually won’t touch.
The garden and the lunch were definitely worth the drive.
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