Sharleen N. Stuart Photography: Vizcaya the gardens

If you are following my story, this started out as my project for 30-minutes-in-the-life, and continued as a follow on to that post. For the blog Vizcaya from the beginning click here. This has been an interesting journey walking around Vizcaya. The house is just stunning. The gardens unique and exceptional. Join me as I show you just another element of the wonderful place.

Statues line the gardens, his and hers, faces set in time.

Unique Railings separate the displays, and take you to another area of this beautiful garden.

Everything is old, pitted black and worn with time. Spanish moss hangs from the branches and there is a feeling that this will be here forever.

Stairs leading to places I did not always follow

I headed to the very back of the property that bordered onto the mangroves and walked around just taking it all in. Curving walls, quiet places to sit and critters that are along for the ride.

I reached the back and walked along the wall that edged the mangroves, black and green with age. I had to wonder how often the guests of Vizcaya made their way back there in James Deering's time.

Steps carved in stone flowed down to the waters edge. Perhaps they took boats out to navigate the mangroves.

Seems like there was some kind of hazard warning created back in the day.

As I turn around to head away from the water I look straight into an patio in the base of Garden Mound. Three arches lead the way into this closed area where two doors lead away from it. Above each door and in the center of the wall is designed the face we see below, surrounded by the ever present coral type design found around the garden. Is this the face of Neptune, to go with the whole mermaid theme?

Moving away from the patio I climb the curving steps to the Garden mound. Once again the steps are pitted with black, and lined with green moss and tiny weeds.