mango madness

when my friend suggested I do a post on mangos, I thought she meant the "tropical cafe." As a matter of fact I've been dying to play tourist and spend an evening at Mango's surrounded by girls that look like this:

and men wearing silk leopard shirts, ordering drinks called stupid things like Mango Madness, and surrounded by girls from Jersey wearing tiaras celebrating bachelorette parties. But, strangely, I haven't made it there yet (coming soon though I promise).

It turns out she didn't mean that Mango's, she meant mango the fruit, and as it turns out I recently stumbled upon true mango madness.

The Fruit and Spice Park is in Homestead and has 150 varieties of mangoes. That's right, in just a short drive you can find a place that will not only show you more mangos than you can imagine, but also 75 banana varieties and 70 kinds of bamboo. They also give classes on "Edible Wild Plants" and "Things That Poison, Itch, Sting, and Bite."
Tickets are $8 for adults and people-watching is no-additional cost, but it's gotta be pretty priceless.


images via mangostropicalcafe.com and fruitandspicepark.org