Postcards: Cypress Gardens

Grandma was known as "boss" and Grandpa always got the last word by saying "yes boss." Had Grandma been born in another time, she could easily have been the President of a multinational corporation, or, at the minimum, the Prime Minister of Canada. Yes, really. In their retirement years, Grandpa and Grandma wintered in Florida and had season passes to Cypress Gardens where they took their visiting children, grandchildren, and friends. For Grandma, the Gardens were a perfect combination of botanical gardens (she loved flowers) and attractions that would entertain adults and children alike. Grandma had the timing all worked out: if you left the parrot show four minutes early, you could make it to the water show on time. If you didn't set some healthy boundaries, she would plan your entire vacation for you, down to 15 minute intervals. In October 2011 Cypress Gardens reopened as LEGOLAND. Had she lived to see this, Grandma, a future-oriented person, would have taken her great-grandchildren and their parents to it, after all, the Lego Southern belles were still surrounded by real flowers.