Elizabeth's Secret Garden

The Fruit and Spice park is unique place to visit in Miami with its wide variety of specimens located on 37-acres. The parks climate is of a tropical natural which allows the growth of over 500 varieties of fruits, spices, herbs, and nuts. My favorite thing about this park is that you can sample different fruits as a guide takes you on a tram through the area. Another bonus feature is the Mango Cafe where visitors can have lunch. You can visit their website at: http://www.fruitandspicepark.org/     The Annatto or “Lipstick tree” is a unique tropical species which has a purpose that makes it fun to come across. It was nice to see it again since it reminded me of my trip to Costa Rica in 2010 (pictures below). The Central and South American natives use the seeds to make a body paint and lipstick.  In our modern day, it is more common to see it on product labels from natural food companies who use the reddish or yellowish powder to dye butter and cheese. This a good alte...

The National Mall is one of the monuments that comes to mind when I visualize Washington D.C. Many more agree that this is a famous landmark and it becomes even more evident when you consider that as many as 24 million visit it each year! The U.S. Capitol is probably on most visitors “top things to see” list. Yes, I’ve passed by it before, but this trip our family was fortunate enough to arrive just as a tour of the Capitol was starting! You can see the tour in one of my past entries. http://elizabethssecretgarden.blogspot.com/2011/11/standing-in-front-of-u.html The National Archives and Records Administration deals with preserving and documenting historical records along with educating the public on the history behind many of the documents. This is where the documents we treasure most are held. (This was also one of the main buildings to be featured on the movie “ National Treasure”). The most famous articles housed there are the Declaration of Independence, the Constituti...