Confession: I’m still a bit stuck on being on vacation in my hometown of Vero Beach Florida. If you find yourself along the Treasure Coast in the near or distant future, McKee Botanical Garden is worth a trip. Anyone who’s grown up in or around the Indian River (it’s really a lagoon) you will almost certainly take a field trip to McKee Botanical Garden.

Originally opened in 1932 as a tourist attraction and one of the first “theme parks” in Florida, the grounds were known as McKee Jungle Gardens. Today the grounds are a fraction of the size they used to be, but filled with beautiful vegetation and some interesting buildings. The Hall of Giants, below, was built primarily of driftwood and is home to the worlds largest mahogany table. Also just to keep me on topic you can have your ceremony and/or reception there.