A piece of St. Pete that’s been around longer than any citizen of the city is earning national attention (again), and this time it isn’t for the flamingos. Well, not only the flamingos, anyway.
Sunken Gardens, the 100-year-old mid-city oasis on 4th Street, was named one of the top 10 hidden gems in the entire country by the publication The Street. With a hat tip to travel site HawaiianIslands.com, The Street combed Travel Advisor reviews to find the best tourist destinations across the country that weren’t just fun, but highly underrated.
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With 32 mentions of being underrated for every 1,000 reviews, Sunken Gardens cracked the list’s top 10. For a frame of reference, Colorado National Monument was the final spot on the list at No. 30 with 22 mentions for every 1,000. The top spot went to D.C.’s Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens with 83 mentions per 1,000 reviews.
To be sure, even St. Pete locals may be willing to consider Sunken Gardens a hidden gem. After all, It’s surrounded on all sides by neighborhoods and busy streets. Even when you know it’s there, it’s easy to miss the four acres of sprawling gardens, water and wildlife. Without the iconic road sign, our eyes might just go straight from the parking lot to Carrabba’s.
In their review of Sunken Gardens, The Street gave the lush destination credit for creating multiple moments of Zen on any visit.
“St. Pete’s oldest living museum is a 4-acre botanical paradise in the heart of the city,” The Street said. “The 100-year-old Sunken Gardens is a historic gem and home to some of the oldest tropical plants in the region. Wander through a living collection of more than 50,000 tropical plants and flowers complete with cascading waterfalls and a flock of flamingos.”
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