A visit to Cypress Gardens. Or... lost in the swamp!

Cypress Gardens is a little ways from my house, prolly an hours drive. But my local doll owners and I decided to hold a meetup out there while the weather was still good and the tourist traffic low.

 

I arrived first, and wandered around a bit before I called the others. It seems they were running late so instead of just sitting around, I hopped into a boat and headed out into the swamp! No really! I have proof!

 

DSC_0653 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

SEE? I'm in a BOAT MUTHA F.... oh wait. Wrong song.

 

Anywho, they give you access to free boats you can paddle around the swamp area so I took them up on it and went out for about 45 minutes, mainly to give the others time to show up. I saw lots of cool stuff out there....

 

Huge cypress trees.

 

DSC_0654 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

DSC_0657 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Black water. So black it acted as a mirror.

 

DSC_0659 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Lily pads everywhere.

 

DSC_0661 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Oh... and buzzards. I didn't even know they were watching me until I heard them ruffling their feathers way up above me. It was kinda creepy since I was the ONLY one out there.

 

DSC_0662 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Then I came across a small bridge!

 

DSC_0665 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Near the bridge there were lilies blooming.

 

DSC_0667 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

DSC_0669 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Another bridge!

 

DSC_0673 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Right about then, a voice called out to me. It seems I forgot to take Mashiro out of the bag!

 

"Hi Papa! Took you long enuff to get me out of there!"

 

Sorry about that dear.

 

DSC_0678 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"So where are we? This doesn't look like a garden at all."

 

Well, some things happened and we wound up in a boat in a swamp.

 

"Are you on the lamb again?"

 

WHAT?

 

DSC_0680 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"Ooo! Look at all the pretty lily pads!"

 

DSC_0682 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"And a flower!"

 

DSC_0683 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"Look how pretty it is!"

 

DSC_0684 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"Ahh, the sun feels so warm. It's been cool lately so this is nice."

 

DSC_0687 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"I could sit here all day...."

 

DSC_0688 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Well, while it would be nice to do that, we do need to head back to meet the ot...OH MY GAWD! GATOR!

 

DSC_0694 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

SHOO! GIT! GO AWAY!

 

DSC_0696 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

After our near death experience with the gator ( not really, he was 12-15 feet away and scared of us ), we got back to the docks and met up with the others. Then we headed out along the garden trails that circled the swamp. There were pretty flowers along the trails...

 

DSC_0701 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

DSC_0707 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

And a bat hotel.

 

Yes, a bat hotel. Seriously.

 

DSC_0710 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

This was what was inside.

 

DSC_0709 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Weird huh?

 

Time for a break! Some of the girls that came along sat down on one of the bridges I paddled under earlier. It made for some good photos.

 

DSC_0712 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

DSC_0716 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

DSC_0714 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

DSC_0715 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Back along the trail, Mashiro found some more flowers.

 

DSC_0719 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

After the flowers, the trail opened up into a large area with a gazebo. Mashiro decided to do some posing for me here and out on a dock nearby.

 

DSC_0725 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

DSC_0726 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"Papa, why is the water black?"

 

Well, the water itself is clear but all the dead leaves and other stuff at the bottom make it look black.

 

DSC_0728 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"Ohhh, okay. That makes sense."

 

DSC_0729 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"I like this place Papa. It feels comfy to me for some reason."

 

DSC_0734 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"But it also makes me feel a little lonely."

 

DSC_0736 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Ebelkitty was also out on the dock, showing off her boo.. I mean new outfit! Yeah!

 

DSC_0739 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Back to the swamp. Lots of swampy stuff like trees and water weeds. Why's the water here so green?

 

DSC_0740 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Oh, tons of tiny lily pads!

 

DSC_0742 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"PAPA! Hurry up! Quit taking pictures of the water or we'll leave you behind!"

 

DSC_0744 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Ok, random fireplace in the middle of a clearing. I'm guessing there used to be a house here. Or a BBQ place that went under...

 

DSC_0748 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"It doesn't smell like BBQ Papa. You're so silly!"

 

DSC_0750 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Another pretty girl shows up!

 

DSC_0753 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

And speaking of random, we came along a HUGE gravesite for the family who used to own the gardens. It was VERY creepy out here and several degrees cooler around this site than anywhere else. We think it was haunted! Mashiro didn't seem to care tho.

 

DSC_0756 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

DSC_0759 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

The 07 girl makes another appearance!

 

DSC_0760 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

I really like her, she's super pretty.

 

DSC_0761 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

DSC_0764 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Here's what the site looked like overall. It was in a small clearing surrounded by magnolia trees.

 

DSC_0770 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

As we got closer to the front of the gardens again, we came across a really old looking stone bridge. Mashiro and the others decided we needed a break so she sat down to rest.

 

DSC_0784 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

DSC_0786 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

DSC_0788 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

For some reason, these two weren't talking to each other. No clue why either but they each pretended the other wasn't there.

 

DSC_0790 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

DSC_0791 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

DSC_0794 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Back at the docks!

 

DSC_0796 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"I wanna go on a ride again Papa!"

 

DSC_0797 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"Please take me back out? Can we?"

 

DSC_0798 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

I'm sorry dear but all the smaller boats are out and your Papa is pooped. But I promise we can go back out a boat again sometime soon okay?

 

"Okay Papa, I understand."

 

DSC_0799 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"I guess I just like boats."

 

DSC_0800 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

OH NOES! GATOR ATTACK!!!

 

DSC_0802 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

"Ahhh! He's eating my legs!!"

 

DSC_0804 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Sadly, we lost Cocoa to the gator. Actually I think she TRIED to get him to eat her.

 

DSC_0810 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Ebelkitty - "Attack my minion! Eat this silly man!"

 

Me - AHHH! THE PAIN!!

 

DSC_0807 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

If you eat me you'll get massive gas and indigestion! You'll gross out all your friends!

 

DSC_0805 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Guys? GUYS??!?! Where'd yall go? My car keys are NOT in here like yall said!

 

DSC_0806 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Needless to say, I was eaten by the alligator and died. Twice. Sadly this is my last post.

 

NOT!

 

I escaped by a narrow margin! When the gator was busy picking his teeth with Cocoa's fingernails, I managed to slide out his mouth and swim to freedom! Or something like that.

 

We shouldn't have doll meets in the swamp anymore....

 

 

 

Billy

Oh, that poor gator. He must have had such bad ingestion after that food poisoning

That place is pretty cool looking! Don't think I've ever been in a real swamp before. I like how Mashiro is all dressed up like a proper poised lady and yet doesn't let the swamp or the haunting phase her at all.

 

You may have gotten eaten by a gator, but you got better.

 

PS: If you meant you were

, then it's "lam". Otherwise it sounds like you're riding a sheep. (Easy mistake to make though. I know I've made tons of one-letter typos like that in my noveling efforts!)

Oh gosh on the first picture of the 07 girl I thought she was a Saber! 07s make fantastic Sabers. Mashiro looks absolutely adorable as usual, and so at home among the nature. Swamps are super gorgeous photo shoot locations, in my opinion. As long as people haven't been littering... *grumble*

Mashiro looks so adorable in her little hat. I had to pull Kimberly back from the screen with crowbar. I hope to get Kimberly out soon before the weather gets to cold here. There's a state park here with a cave, so we may go exploring before too long.

Oh, that poor gator. He must have had such bad ingestion after that food poisoning

 

Yep, he was sick for sure after trying to inhale me! I got sick too tho, his innards were NOT very hospitable for humans.

 

That place is pretty cool looking! Don't think I've ever been in a real swamp before. I like how Mashiro is all dressed up like a proper poised lady and yet doesn't let the swamp or the haunting phase her at all.

 

You may have gotten eaten by a gator, but you got better.

 

PS: If you meant you were

, then it's "lam". Otherwise it sounds like you're riding a sheep. (Easy mistake to make though. I know I've made tons of one-letter typos like that in my noveling efforts!)

 

Thanks! I've always enjoyed places like this, mainly because I had a few of them right down the road from me growing up. Playing out there in them was always fun... until you ran across a gator or snake that you didn't want to.

 

And yeah, in my hurry to get this posted, I misspelled "lam". I'll go back and change that.

 

Oh gosh on the first picture of the 07 girl I thought she was a Saber! 07s make fantastic Sabers. Mashiro looks absolutely adorable as usual, and so at home among the nature. Swamps are super gorgeous photo shoot locations, in my opinion. As long as people haven't been littering... *grumble*

 

I totally agree that 07 girls make great custom Sabers! I think this one looks so much like her that I had her pose with mine at the last doll meet just for fun:

 

DSC_0215 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Saber: "Who is this imposter??"

 

And thanks about Mashiro and the pics! I agree that swamps do make excellent photo shoot locations. I wish I had thought of it sooner tho! Don't worry, I didn't see any litter in this garden/swamp area!

 

Mashiro looks so adorable in her little hat. I had to pull Kimberly back from the screen with crowbar. I hope to get Kimberly out soon before the weather gets to cold here. There's a state park here with a cave, so we may go exploring before too long.

 

Thank you very much about Mashiro and her hat! That's too funny about your girl enjoying the pics too! I would LOVE to see pics of Kimberly in that cave! I used to really enjoy going to caves as a kid, it's been forever since I was able to see any. If you do get out there, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would enjoy pics in there!

 

 

 

Billy

Lovely photos naturally! haha. Mashiro's outfit and the setting make this all so gorgeous looking.

 

"are you on the lamb again?" I actually tried to picture you robbing a bank with one of those stereotypical burgler outfits when she said that. Too funny!

 

The water lilies looked nice too. I wish we had stuff like that around here. gives a really placid feel to a place. The Bat hotel was cool too.

 

"My car keys are not in here"

Don't get me started on the gator pictures. I'll fall out of my chair again. Hysterical!

 

Great story Billy it looks like you and Mashiro had a bunch of fun.

Lovely photos naturally! haha. Mashiro's outfit and the setting make this all so gorgeous looking.

 

"are you on the lamb again?" I actually tried to picture you robbing a bank with one of those stereotypical burgler outfits when she said that. Too funny!

 

The water lilies looked nice too. I wish we had stuff like that around here. gives a really placid feel to a place. The Bat hotel was cool too.

 

"My car keys are not in here"

Don't get me started on the gator pictures. I'll fall out of my chair again. Hysterical!

 

Great story Billy it looks like you and Mashiro had a bunch of fun.

 

 

Thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed the pics! Sorry but I don't have any burglar costumes. And I have no idea why all my girls seem to think I do crazy badguy type stuff while I'm really at work. I guess I need to sit them all down and really explain what it is I do and that I'm not some suspicious guy.

 

I really liked the gator pics too. Once we saw that, it was too easy to make gag shots like those. I'm still weirded out by the odd facial expressions I made. I don't think I could redo those again even if asked!

 

We did had a great time out there and we'll be going back for sure!

 

 

 

Billy

Looks like you had a good time! I don't think I would have went paddling along the swamp on my own. I have the type of luck where I'd fall in with the gator! haha

 

Mashiro looks so cute in that dress, very nice shots of her. I also love that 07 girl (07 head is on my list of future buys for sure). Those gator sign photos are hilarous, the one with the legs sticking out is gold! lol.

XD hehehe You are always the victim when the girls find some form of imprisonment or in this case gators to use you as bait.

 

That was a fun meetup. I liked that we could get in one of the more somber feels for shoots, Eblktty doesn't do well in sunlight much so this is the perfect weather for her.

 

Mashiro looked cute as always too ^^

Lovely photos as usual. And I gotta say, Ebelkitty's 'outfit' rocks. I also want to say that I enjoyed the last three photos. They were hilarious. Good to see you and your girls having fun.

Lovely photos as usual. And I gotta say, Ebelkitty's 'outfit' rocks. I also want to say that I enjoyed the last three photos. They were hilarious. Good to see you and your girls having fun.

 

Thank you! I agree with you about Ebelkitty, she's really a fun and beautiful girl! And thanks about those silly gator pics, we all had fun doing those.

 

Looks like you had a good time! I don't think I would have went paddling along the swamp on my own. I have the type of luck where I'd fall in with the gator! haha

 

TRUST ME. I about went overboard several times due to taking pics with Mashiro. With the size boat it was and how wobbly it could be, I'm amazed I didn't fall in or at least lose my camera or Mashiro. It took every bit of balance and luck to get the pics I did manage to get in the boat. Trying to balance her, steer the boat, focus the camera and NOT run into a tree was about impossible!

 

Mashiro looks so cute in that dress, very nice shots of her. I also love that 07 girl (07 head is on my list of future buys for sure). Those gator sign photos are hilarous, the one with the legs sticking out is gold! lol.

 

Thanks about Mashiro's dress! It's not a complete Volks outfit ( It's missing the white shirt ) but for what I paid for it and how it turned out looking on her, I love it. And I agree about the 07 girl, she's just way pretty! Those Twin Snow eyes are so frikkin SHINY! Glad you liked the gator pics at the end, we all had a blast doing those.

 

XD hehehe You are always the victim when the girls find some form of imprisonment or in this case gators to use you as bait.

 

And WHY is that?? What did I ever do to you guys? Oh wait... I made all yall get into DD's.... NOW I see why!

 

That was a fun meetup. I liked that we could get in one of the more somber feels for shoots, Eblktty doesn't do well in sunlight much so this is the perfect weather for her.

 

I agree! I had a really good time out there, especially hiking the trails and watching you guys whine about all the haunted areas we found and playing with that damned haunted feather and stick. THAT was hilarious! And it was nice to see Ebelkitty out and about too. You already know I love the Mai sculpt so seeing yours always makes me smile. I'm happy she got to be outside for this and her pics you took turned out really nicely.

 

Mashiro looked cute as always too ^^

 

Thank you! She hadn't been to an outdoor meet in a long while so I figured she needed to get out again. I'm glad I picked her too since the setting really went well with her look and the fact she's a fox spirit.

 

 

 

Billy

So many fantastic pictures !!!! Mashiro looks so beautiful dressed like that

I really wish to visit this place one day and take pictures , really , you got excellent shots , you should print some of these .

The last pictures were hilarious

So many fantastic pictures !!!! Mashiro looks so beautiful dressed like that

I really wish to visit this place one day and take pictures , really , you got excellent shots , you should print some of these . The last pictures were hilarious

 

 

Thanks so much! I'm happy you like Mashiro's outfit, she chose it all by herself! If you EVER come down here to visit, I'd be glad to take you to this place! There are lots of similar spots to this around here, so there's plenty of photo ops! I'm flattered you think so highly of my photos too. ^_^

 

 

Billy

My favorite pic (if I had to choose one) would be DSC_0734, but it was so wonderful seeing such awesome landscape pics of places I've never seen. Swamps around here are not that beautiful. I still wonder though if the 'tiny lillypads' is or related to duckweed. It's a tiny little plant that floats on the surface of the water with a single root going down. I got to play with some when a friend and I were cleaning it out of their tiny stream as a kid and I've always wanted to grow it. It's considered invasive because it can quickly cover a pond or small stream like your pic showed. I thought the graveyard was interesting too, but I had a hard time not thinking that it looked like one I would have made for one of my Sims families. I'm pretty sure it's because of the wall being broke into sections like it was placed on a grid.

 

I'm glad that no one had an unexpected swim. That was the one thing I was worried about with you guys being in a boat. A couple of the pics makes me want to grab Mashiro and tell her to be careful near the water.

 

~Sister Kyoya

My favorite pic (if I had to choose one) would be DSC_0734, but it was so wonderful seeing such awesome landscape pics of places I've never seen. Swamps around here are not that beautiful.

 

Thank you! It's rare for people to say a swamp is beautiful. I'm glad you like the photos!

 

I still wonder though if the 'tiny lillypads' is or related to duckweed. It's a tiny little plant that floats on the surface of the water with a single root going down. I got to play with some when a friend and I were cleaning it out of their tiny stream as a kid and I've always wanted to grow it. It's considered invasive because it can quickly cover a pond or small stream like your pic showed.

 

Yep, I think that's exactly what that is. I just couldn't think of the proper name.

 

I thought the graveyard was interesting too, but I had a hard time not thinking that it looked like one I would have made for one of my Sims families. I'm pretty sure it's because of the wall being broke into sections like it was placed on a grid.

 

We have loads of graveyards/gravesites like this down here due to the age of the city and all the people that have lived here since the late 1600's. You should check my Flickr page for the set named "DD pics", it has a header photo of Manami at the oldest public cemetery in town. I went there years ago with her and had a really great time.... got some cool photos with her too.

 

I'm glad that no one had an unexpected swim. That was the one thing I was worried about with you guys being in a boat. A couple of the pics makes me want to grab Mashiro and tell her to be careful near the water.

 

Ha ha! I was worried a little bit too but since I have a good background with water ( taught boating and swimming in Boy Scouts ) I wasn't worried if something had happened to one of us. There would be NO hesitation on my part to jump in after her had she fallen overboard. Now if *I* had gone in, I seriously doubt Mashiro would have gone in after me.

 

 

Billy

Mashiro as always looks gorgeous! The last pictures had me cracked me up!

Very cool pictures.

Mashiro as always looks gorgeous! The last pictures had me cracked me up!

 

Thank you very much about Mashiro! I really liked that outfit on her too. And it seems our silly photos are quite popular, I'm glad they made you laugh!

 

Very cool pictures.

 

Thank you!

 

 

 

Billy

Gorgeous pics! I'm also impressed with the balancing act on the small boat!

 

Those last pics with the the alligator er...hole-thingy were a scream!

 

(I swear parts of that graveyard look like they could've filmed bits of that new Sleepy Hollow show there, then again I think it IS filmed in one of the Carolinas.)

Gorgeous pics! I'm also impressed with the balancing act on the small boat! Those last pics with the the alligator er...hole-thingy were a scream!

 

Thanks so much! I'm still amazed Mashiro and I didn't fall into the swamp! And I'm glad you thought the gator pics were fun, we had a good time with them.

 

(I swear parts of that graveyard look like they could've filmed bits of that new Sleepy Hollow show there, then again I think it IS filmed in one of the Carolinas.)

 

The Lowcountry here in Charleston is full of places like this. And all of them share a similar feel and style to them, that's probably why you think they look like the sites in "Sleepy Hollow". That show is actually filmed in North Carolina but their cemeteries and small towns are very similar to the old school stuff here.

 

 

Billy

I'm back! Haha! >:3 Ah that was awesome! I'd love to go somewhere like that ;w; Mashiro looks like a total cutie in that outfit *melts*

I'm back! Haha! >:3 Ah that was awesome! I'd love to go somewhere like that ;w; Mashiro looks like a total cutie in that outfit *melts*

 

 

Hey there! Good to see you back! Thanks about the pics and Mashiro, I'm glad you like her outfit.... she picked it herself!

 

 

Billy