A Hidden Treasure!
In the Daytona Beach Area, there are a few true
hidden treasures that are not easy to find - lucky for those of us who live here! Tucked away on an obscure little road
behind Herbert Street are the beautiful Sugar Mill Gardens.
Sugar Mill Gardens is a botanical garden featuring
a 19th-century sugar mill, which is part of the former Dunlawton Plantation. The
property was donated in 1963 to the County of Volusia by J. Saxton Lloyd and
operated since April 1988 by the non-profit Botanical Gardens of Volusia Inc.
The gardens provide year-round beauty of 12
acres of flowering trees, holly magnolia, and other native flora, accompanied
by informational signs, extensive walkways, the aforementioned sugar mill
ruins, a human sundial, the enormous Confederate Oak, gazebos, brooks, ponds
with fish, little bridges, hidden benches, and much more.
Weird Americana
When you are walking through the lush gardens,
you wouldn’t necessarily know that from 1948 to 1952 the area was known as
Bongoland, until you come upon a stegosaurus and a triceratops! There used to
be a theme park with a miniature train, a replica Seminole village, and these
strange dinosaur replicas made by M.D. "Manny" Lawrence out of
concrete and chicken wire. Bongoland was owned by Perry Sperber, the first
dermatologist in Daytona Beach. It was named for "Bongo," a large
baboon that lived there.
This is a fun surprise for children and adults
- try and find all five of the dinosaur replicas! They are huge, but blend into
their surroundings well.
There is no admission fee to the gardens
(donations are appreciated) and the gardens are open from dawn to dusk daily.
950
Old Sugar Mill Rd, Port Orange, FL
This splendid garden is less than two miles away from my home by the Halifax River, yet it took me two years to find it.
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