I had an unexpected surprise on Memorial Day weekend, a friend of mine suggested we go to Cypress Gardens.  Ah yes Cypress Gardens, the one that closed due to lack of attendance and then reopened with an amusement park.  Yes, just what Florida needed, another amusement park.  Well I thought I'd give it a try, so I said OK let's go, at least I will take my camera and get a few shots of the gardens.

Well to my surprise, I had a great time.  There is so much to do there you can't get it all done in one day.  That surprised me, I figured see some gardens, a water ski show and then come home.  Boy was I wrong!

First we went through the zoo, I saw one of the biggest pythons I have ever seen in my life!  Boy was I glad we had glass between us.  It was big enough to eat a human!  Then we saw Tarzan, a 75 year old alligator that was used in one of the original Tarzan movies.  Poor guy, he was blind in one eye, but he is 11 feet long and still has what it takes to be feared.

After the zoo we went to see the Pirate show, it was cute, geared towards kids and as it was a hot day, the spraying of water felt good.  Then it was on to the Sunshine Sky Adventure, it is a panoramic tower that goes up 160 feet and rotates so you can see all of Cypress Gardens from above.  I got some great pictures from that tower.  Click here for the photo album.

We wandered around a bit and made our way over to the botanical gardens.  I have only one word to say, WOW.  These are some of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen.  Every place I turned was another great picture to take, and did I ever.  I took about 150 photos that day. Click here for the photo album

After touring the gardens, we went on the paddle boat ride around the lake.  Being that it was a hot day, the breeze coming off the lake sure felt good.  It was a great way to sit and rest for 45 minutes before we finished walking the grounds.

When we got off the boat, the water ski show was right there so we decided to watch it as our timing was perfect and it had just started.  That was fun to watch and I do have to say it takes quite the athlete to pull off those moves.  I wasn't as successful taking those photos, but I do have a couple in the photo album. Click here for the photo album

We finished off the day by walking through the formal gardens and wait till you see those pictures, the topiaries are amazing.  We didn't get to go through the butterfly house because it already closed for the day but we will get that the next time around.  We also didn't have a chance to check out the rides but we will add that to the list of things to do the next time we go.

So for those of you who think Cypress Gardens will be boring, trust me, there is something there for everyone.  Just give it a try!