We stopped by after dinner with another couple on Clematis. They came up to west palm specially to…read moresee Sandi, the tree. The tall Christmas tree made out of sculptured sand is surrounded by a fence. They warn folks not to lean or sit on the fence. At night from 6 pm to 10 pm, they have music every 15 minutes. The songs vary. The music and different colored lights "dance" alongside the music. The colors change the look of the tree and the surrounding areas. A water fountain with jets also goes up and down in time with the music and lights. By the side is a Ferris wheel. It charges $5 per ride in a locked cage with seats. Our friends took a ride which was about 7 rotations. They had great views of the city and even out to the beach and the breakers. Across the street by the boats and water are a few small sand sculptures, too. Another cool thing is to get some of the official 3D glasses. It makes the colors of the star on top of Sandi appear to multiply and the lawn area in front of the tree looks like it is filled with outlines of Christmas trees. Families with kids were especially enjoying playing in the area, running through the fountain, and posting fun photos as gingerbread men.

Meeting friends for dinner on Clematis Street this evening with plans to visit the huge Christmas…read moretree Sand sculpture. A beautiful night and lots of people enjoying the sights, lights and music orchestration. Lots of young children dancing and frolicking in the projected light on lawn areas, some joined by their parents. The sculpture and lights are free and they even have a ferris wheel ($5 per person). A fun evening, both young and old.

We visited the botanical garden on a weekend, and it wasn't too busy. We were able to enjoy all…read morethe light decorations at a relaxed pace. The walking paths were lovely, surrounded by beautiful plants--it felt great to reconnect with nature. The butterfly garden area was adorable, and we even got to feed the koi fish. There are plenty of photo spots throughout the garden as well. Overall, it was a really fun experience. I'd love to come back in the evening to see the full light show.

I have been meaning to make it over here all holiday season but the poor reviews that popped up on…read moretheir Facebook page kept me away. On the last night of the event at 5 PM my friend sent me a text that she wanted to go so off we went. I am so glad we did because I loved it. The garden hired an outside company to decorate it and I thought they did a a very nice job. My favorite lights were the plastic palm trees but I thought all of the decorations were very classy. Not all of the garden was open but a good portion was. I went in with very low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. As we strolled Christmas music played throughout the garden. I enjoyed taking pictures and getting to wring out a last little bit of the holiday season. Our visit took an hour and then we headed over for snacks and drinks at Old Key Lime House. I didn't mind the $10 entrance fee because I know it goes to support the garden. The best way to visit is definitely during the day when you can see all the plants and flowers. A new exhibit called TWISTED: Patrick Dougherty Entwined is opening in January. It was still very nice to see the garden lit up at night too. I definitely enjoyed my visit to the night garden.

Prosperity Oaks Natural Area is a rustic area to take a hike. It was once part of large parcel of…read moreland owned by insurance businessman John D. MacArthur. Most of the land became the nearby Gardens Mall and multi family housing in the 1960's. Today this natural area covers 1.5 acres on Long Pine Road. Parking is available a quarter mile north at Frenchman's Forest Natural Area. To reach the preserve you have climb down an embankment where you will find a small opening through a fence. From there you walk on natural earth trails that are marked by wooden sign posts. The trails run through scrub and oak hammock behind apartment buildings and condos. Flora you will encounter include prickly pear cactus, wild coffee, live oaks, American beauty berry, and resurrection fern. Fauna that make their home here include box turtles, eastern gray squirrel, black and yellow garden spider, green lynx spider, prairie warbler, honey bee, pileated woodpecker, spiny backed orb weaver, viceroy, zebra longwing, raccoon, North American racer, green anole, and red shouldered hawk. I didn't see any animals on my walk but it is nice to know that this land is preserved for them. If you are looking for a place to enjoy nature I would recommend the larger and more popular Frenchman's Forest next door.

This post is long overdue but I had a wonderful time when I visited the Morikami Museum & Garden…read more The museum is small but well curated and organized. There is a snack cafe on the way out to the gardens where you can purchase drinks & light food items. There is also a museum store and a theater inside the museum. I do recommend that you visit the museum as early as possible to have the best experience with fewer people and cooler temperatures. However, the real showstopper here is Roji-en (Garden of the Drips of Dew) - the 16 acre Japanese garden with over a mile of accessible walking paths to explore and enjoy. The original museum building (the Yamato-kan) measures approximately 2,000 square feet and is set inside the garden. There is a huge pond in the garden as well, and plenty of nooks and crannies to discover/ When driving into the museum grounds, you experience part of the 200-acre Morikami Park, which includes pine forests, nature trails, and picnic spaces. You can definitely continue to enjoy your day surrounded by nature in the park once you've toured the museum & garden. Open: Tuesday -Sunday 10am-5pm Adult entry: $18 Plenty of parking in the large parking lot Arigato!

Had high hopes for a relaxing and informative cultural experience. Heard good things about this…read moremuseum but was very disappointed to learn (AFTER paying our admission fees) that most exhibits were closed on the Saturday that we visited. Funny how they don't tell you that BEFORE you pay and give you the choice to proceed or not. There was a small kimono exhibit -- literally 5-6 displays of kimonos in a small room. And there was a very rudimentary life size model of a tea house with no explanation of the ceremony or tradition serving it. Otherwise, you could explore the gardens which did look beautiful. We were encouraged online that the museum would be suitable and accessible to people with mobility issues. There were many stairs and great distances to cover to truly enjoy this museum and its gardens. Way too ambitious for my 84 year old mother who walks very slowly and has balance issues.

By appointment only with hours between 10 AM & 4 PM Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday. Located West…read moreof the Delray Marketplace off Atlantic Avenue, past Lyons Road south. Since 2013, this twenty acre of beautifully designed & maintained gardens, groves & micro-forests containing rare and beautiful plants and trees, including one of the most extensive palm tree collections in the United States. Currently, it's comprised of 2 sections, a 10 acre garden open to the public by appointment & a contiguous 10 acre privately owned garden available by guided tour upon request. There are over 2500 palm trees including hundreds of other distinct species from every corner of the world. Of particular interest is a half-acre "open-air" conservatory of rare and beautiful shade palms from Southeast Asia, Madagascar, and the Americas, in an artificially created rainforest, beneath an immense Ficus tree. The Asianthemed Zen garden contains a yoga platform hidden in a small bamboo forest, a Tiki Hut, a miniature village for kids with ponds, bridges, a butterfly garden & a mini mountain. Mark & Kathy Ford are Paradise Palm's founders, author & entrepreneurs. Their collection of contemporary outdoor sculptures represent international artists such as Ferenc Varga, Hunter Brown, Chris Guarino, Armando Blanco, Frank Varga and Pablo Seminario.

I've lived in Delray for 10 winters and just recently found out about this GEM!!! This is a great…read moreplace for adults and children, beautiful sculptures, beautiful plantings, Rick and Connot( and the dog Boomer) were perfect hosts, always checking up on us to make sure we were ok. $12 admission was a great bargain for such a high caliber attraction. We will be back!

Unbelievable Acres is an offbeat botanical garden attraction. When he was a young man Gene Joyner…read morestudied the rainforests of South America and collected their seeds. In July of 1970 he planted a rainforest in Florida on 2 1/2 acres of a former cow pasture owned by his father in West Palm Beach. Today it is one of Florida's largest private collections of tropical fruit trees. Mr. Joyner lives in the garden in a house he had built. For 35 years Mr. Joyner worked with Palm Beach County's Agriculture Extension Service and for more than 30 years he wrote gardening columns for The Palm Beach Post. He trained dozens of master gardeners, helped start plant societies and collected hundreds of plants in Central and South America and introduced new species to the local market. Unbelievable Acres has 2000 varieties of plants, 160 varieties of fruit trees, 40 types of citrus, 35 types of banana and plantain trees, orchids, bromeliads, palms, and ferns, jaboticaba, black sapote, jackfruit, and carambola trees. Winding through the garden is a mile of trail. The garden includes the Florida State Champion Cannonball Tree which is used for medicinal purposes in the Amazon. Unbelievable Acres is as authentic to a rainforest as Gene Joyner could make it. This is not a manicured garden like you will find at nearby Mounts Botanical Garden. Plants drop here and there and it is unmanicured. There are no straight lines and everything is random as you would see in a rainforest. Through the years the garden has been hit by several hurricanes and for the most part has been left in its natural state. The garden is a non profit open on the second Saturday of the month. Admission is $10 cash. Mr. Joyner was there to great me when I arrived and his sister was on hand helping to collecting the entrance fee. Wear good sneakers and watch where you are going. According to their website the garden is looking for volunteers to help clear paths. As you walk around you will frequently hear the planes from the nearby Palm Beach Airport fly overhead. Mr. Joyner is a wealth of gardening knowledge. It was an adventure to visit him and Unbelievable Acres.

What a treasure . It was Gene joyner's birthday And he is the owner of Unbelieble acre botanical…read moregarden . He is open every 2 Saturday of the month so I was lucky to be off . He traveled extensively and collected many rare trees and plants . I wish I lived closer to visit more often . If you are into botanical gardens this is a must see. He has lived at this place 75 years.

Was downtown a few nights ago and the tree is up and ready to go for 2025. I actually look forward…read moreto seeing it each year. Fun to walk thru and see the displays... kinda corny but I like it. Also, fun to see all the people taking pictures outside. Nice to see people enjoying themselves. Just missed the rock band performing on the outdoor stage there. Check schedules for various entertainment and events.

The 100 Foot Christmas Tree located in Old School Square is always on my holiday must see list. The…read morelighting of the tree has taken place around the end of November or the first part of December, every single year ever since 1992! Santa always personally shows up and it attracts thousands of people every year officially launching the holiday season in Delray Beach. Every year on January 1st the tree and carousel are dismantled and packed away for next year's fun. The 3,000 branches of the 100 foot treeree are decorated with 39,000 ornaments and the top is crowned with an 18 foot high star. At night it is lit up with 15,000 LED lights. The city sets out photo opportunities around the tree and you can walk inside the tree and see replicas of four historic buildings in Delray Beach, The Sundy House, Cornell Museum, Spady Museum, and the Delray Train Depot. Each building has a holiday scene reflecting the historic building it is in. The Sundy House has animated reindeer and elves, the Cornell Museum features penguins, the Spady Museum has children singing carols, and the Delray Train Depot has a train display. While it is free to visit the tree a $1 donation is suggested. The city also sells $3 tickets at the Gingerbread House for ice skating and the holiday carousel set up outside. Visiting the tree is a great family outing and there is a parking garage next door and many great restaurants, ice cream shops, shops, and art galleries within walking distance along Atlantic Avenue. You can make a whole afternoon or evening of visiting the famous 100 Foot Christmas tree.

The Artwork of Reuben Hale is an incredible experience! Both locals and tourists will enjoy touring…read morethe house and gardens, and hearing stories from the director, Irma Hale (Reuben's daughter). The museum is impressive on many levels: the incredible art of Reuben Hale, in many media; the stunning architecture of the home and its renovations and additions by the Hale family; and the history of Palm Beach County neighborhoods and art scene in the last half of the 20th century. Do yourself a favor and book a tour at this most precious of gems in Palm Beach County!