The trip required getting up before breakfast for a 6:30 AM departure. Our friends at Suntrust Ellenton Branch kindly allowed us to use their parking lot to rendezvous with the chartered bus. The bus was quite comfortable, equipped with a restroom and a/v system. That allowed us to pass the time on the trip down viewing a rather gory movie brought along by the inventor of the trip, Scott Petersen. Scott is owed a vote of thanks for getting this trip together, coordinating with the people at our two destinations, arranging for an excellent box lunch, collecting money, dealing with the bus people, etc.

The weather forecast for the day in South Florida included rain, if you can remember what that used to be. That turned out to be more good news than bad. When we got to The Kampong, it was drizzling, and at times there was more than a drizzle as we were guided through all the tropical fruit trees by a staffer. But it kept the temperature down, and, as my Mom used to say, "a little Florida rain never hurt anybody". Many of the trees were very old, having been planted by David Fairchild in the twenties and thirties, and often set back up after being put down by hurricanes. We had our box lunches at the Fairchild home, and before heading out for the Fruit and Spice Park, finished our tour with a walk down to Biscayne Bay. There we saw what is said to be the last invention of Alexander Graham Bell, Fairchild's father-in-law. It was a solar-powered water distiller, so elegantly simple that one wonders why it isn't being marketed today. A concrete tank holds the water to be distilled, covered by an inclined glass cover. The solar heat causes the water to evaporate and condense on the glass, from which it flows down to a drain that collects the distillate.

When we arrived at the Fruit and Spice Park, the rain had ended and the heat was oppressive. It had rained all morning, and that dampened the spirits at the Tropical Ag Fiesta. To our benefit, it also limited the crowd, which didn't make the vendors very happy. The Fruit and Spice Park had to be completely rebuilt after being devastated by Hurricane Andrew in 1952, and some of this construction continues today. Director Chris Rollins, a frequent speaker at our club, toured some of us around the Park, while others were taken for a tram ride tour.

The long ride home ended about 9:30 PM. Everyone agreed that we'd like to do similar trips in the future, and Scott agreed to help in planning them. Thanks again, Scott.

Thanks to Steve Lohn for the photographs from the trip.