Explore: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (Part IV)

We took a quick break from the Miami recaps for the Oscars (hugely important) but today I wanted to share one final Florida adventure with you. 

My parents moved to Miami in the summer between my junior and senior year of college. They left behind my childhood home (I had lived there since I was 4 years old) and were putting a three hour plane ride between us. Did I mention that I'm not good with change? Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled about this new situation. 

Every time I would go to visit my parents in that first year, they were so eager to show me all the great things about Miami. They tried shopping, great restaurants, delicious ice cream, live music, pool days, beach days, even a celebrity home boat tour, but it wasn't until our very first visit to the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden that I found a place in Miami that felt like home. It wasn't that the garden resembled Newton, MA at all, it was just that I'd finally found a place I loved just as much as all of our special family places in Boston. 

I've written about our visits to Fairchild many times here on Pop.Bop.Shop. You can revisit them here, here and here. Each time we go, we see new sculptures and artwork on display. We've also gone to the Butterfly House and to the Chocolate Festival.

This time we were most interested in the photography of Clyde Butcher. He is famous for his large, black and white photographs of the Everglades. I wasn't allowed to snap any photos of his works, sorry! 

After touring that exhibit, we did a big loop around the garden. We had been on the walking path maybe 30 seconds when an egret appeared! This photo is not zoomed; I was standing so close to him! 

Further down the path my mom and I both loved this bush which had light pink blossoms that looked like bells. 

The highlight of the day was the exploring the Orchid Odyssey. There is an area of the garden where they have planted and displayed all kind of orchids varying in size, shape and color. 

I really loved this purple one. 

And these yellow and pink ones. 

Toward the end of our visit, we were walking by one of the lakes (which are so beautiful) and underneath one of the bushes was not one, but two iguanas! Like a total creep, I tip toed over to try and get a closer shot. 

As we do with every visit, we ended by perusing the gift shop. I didn't find anything thing time, but it's always fun to look. 

If you ever travel to Miami for vacation, a bachelorette party or a wedding, definitely make time to visit the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. It really is the most special place in the 305.