Bok Tower and Gardens were built by Edward Bok (1986-1930), who was born in Holland and immigrated to the US at the age of six. After going to night school, Bok worked in the publishing field rising through the ranks eventually becoming editor of The Ladies Home Journal, a post he held for thirty years.
Bok coined the term Living Room, such a room was previously called, The Parlor.
He also said, "make the world a bit better or more beautiful because you live in it."
Edward Bok's winter residence was in exclusive Mountain Lakes, FL. where he got the idea of the gardens and a "singing" tower.
Bok Tower and Gardens are on the highest point of land, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, on the peninsular of Florida.
The tower which rises 205 feet is constructed of a steel frame, brick walls, an outer facing of pink and gray Georgia marble and Florida limestone of shell and coral fragments. Construction started in 1927. Dedication by President of the United States Calvin Coolidge, took place on February 1, 1929.
The Carillon housed in the tower consists of 60 bronze bells manufactured in England. The bells weigh from 16 pounds to over 11 tons each, all making different sounds. They are played from a keyboard.
The bells strike on the hour, every hour from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM, playing such tunes as Drink to me Only with Thine Eyes, How Great Thou Art and America, The Beautiful.
In addition, there are daily concerts at 1 and 3 PM. We were fortunate to hear a concert with selections from The Sound of Music.
Hearing the sounds of "The hills are alive" we expected to see Julie Andrews and the Von Trapp children come dancing out from behind the large oak tree that surround the grounds....It wasn't the Swiss Apls but it was a high hill top with a view for miles around.
If you are going to the area, we recommend a visit..For details go to
The next day of our journey we found ourselves in the beautiful Gulf Coast community of Sarasota.
For decades, Sarasota has been the Winter Headquarters of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, aka The Greatest Show on Earth.
John Ringling (1866-1936) the circus entrepreneur, financier, collector of art and his wife Mable (1875-1929) made Sarasota their winter home.
Upon his death, Ringling left his art collection and his 66 acre estate to the State of Florida. In 2000, The State turned stewardship over to Florida State University.
The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art (http://www.ringling.org/) is located just north of Sarasota, west of Highway 41.
A general admission includes entry to Museum of Art, the Circus Museum , Ca d'Zan the Ringling Mansion, the historic Asolo Theater, plus the grounds and gardens.
The museum contains masterpieces of Rubens, Titian, Valazquez, Hals, and Gainsborough. The total collection is valued among the top 20 museum collections in the USA.
After touring the Ringling Estate, we drove to Sarasota's St. Armand's Circle for lunch at the "Gem of Spanish Restaurants," the Columbia.
end 04/16/2010
1 comment:
I loved the Ringling Museum the one time I went to Sarasota -- and we, too, went to the Columbia Restaurant. They also opened in CityPlace, West Palm Beach, a few years ago but it was unsuccessful and closed.
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