This hub will show many photos of the beautiful Cypress Gardens in Florida.

Hope you enjoy them half as much as we did in taking the pictures and strolling through the gardens.

After leaving Tarpon Springs my mother and I decided that we had enough time to visit the renowned and beautiful Cypress Gardens before we would be expected to arrive at my aunt and uncle's home in Englewood, Florida.

You can see more about our visit toTarpon Springs here: http://hubpages.com/hub/Visiting-the-Sponge-Capital-of-the-World--Tarpon-Springs--Florida

Cypress Gardens opened in 1936 and was visited by my grandparents along with many other people over the course of numerous passing years.

It is the oldest operating tourist attraction in Florida which is a state filled to the brim with other tourist attractions.

Dick and Julie Pope were the founders and owners for many years until it was finally sold in 1985. Julie had a "green thumb" and with her involvement over 8,000 varieties of plants were showcased in this scenic garden with waterways and cypress trees adorning this distinctive piece of land.

In 1938 electric boats were added to take the touring visitors through the gardens via this mode of transportation.

The water ski shows became a part of this evolving attraction in 1943.

When my mother and I saw it in March of 1998, Ski Xtreme was advertised with water skiers forming a human pyramid culminating the performance. Every type of acrobatic showmanship was shown including jumps off of a ramp and other fast moving entertainment to make for a very enjoyable and memorable water show.

Young women dressed like Southern Bells in hoop skirted colorful dresses adorned the gardens adding even more color to the already beautiful sight. Other young women could rent these hoop dresses in all types of colors for photo opportunities and we saw several families taking pictures of their young daughters dressed in this attire.

Besides the botanical gardens, topiary gardens were cultivated and punctuate the landscape with fantastic shapes.

This is a gardening art form that takes plenty of tending and constant pruning to keep the desired characters in shape. The topiary forms we saw included things like cute teddy bear shapes, a horse drawn carriage in which people could actually sit for photos, and a hoop skirted woman that was made to look like she was standing outside near a waterway painting a canvas. This is just a small example of the many topiaries that graced the grounds when we were visiting.

A small zoo was also a part of Cypress Gardens when we visited there.

When the Pope family sold Cypress Gardens in 1985, things began to change. Slowly carnival and adventure rides including things like roller-coasters were added. A paddle wheel boat joined the scene in 1999. Splash Island, a water park was added.

After September 11th............our modern "day of infamy" in the United States............the park was running such a large deficit that it had to be closed.

Today Cypress Gardens has pretty much gone back to its roots. What is being featured once again are the spectacular gardens. The water park, Splash Island, is being continued and one can pay separate admission charges to see one or the other.

The adventure rides are being sold off and the zoo animals are being relocated into other good homes. Apparently that is an ongoing project as of this date.

The water ski show will continue to be an attraction, according to what I have read, but the human pyramid will no longer be a part of the show for cost cutting economic reasons.

Personally I believe that eliminating all of those rides and keeping the quiet beauty of the gardens as the focus will serve Cypress Gardens best in the long run. People can go elsewhere to enjoy an amusement park atmosphere. I am happy that my grandparents saw it many years ago and that my mother and I got to see it in almost the same condition that many decades later.

Hopefully Cypress Gardens will continue to offer it's gracious southern charm and atmosphere to generations of visitors to central Florida for generations to come.