McKee Botanical Garden

McKee Botanical Garden in Vero Beach is 18 acres of tropical immersion that families from both the Orlando area and Florida's Treasure Coast visit regularly — and both groups often discover it through word of mouth rather than tourism marketing, which is part of what makes it feel like a find.

The garden was originally established in the 1920s as Waldo Sexton's tropical plant collection and has been carefully restored and maintained as a public garden since 1995. The result is a rare combination: mature, enormous tropical plants that feel genuinely wild, with the maintained paths and educational signage of a professional garden.

The lily pond is the centerpiece and the experience most parents describe when recommending the garden. Victoria amazonica water lilies grow here — the giant Amazonian species with circular pads that can reach 6 feet in diameter and support the weight of a small child. Young children stare at them in genuine astonishment.

The bamboo tunnels and canopy walks through native hammock vegetation add to the sense of exploration.

From Orlando, Vero Beach is about 90 minutes east via SR-60 — it's not an impulse stop, but paired with a day on Vero Beach's Atlantic coast beaches, it makes a perfect two-activity day. Arrive at McKee in the morning (opens at 10AM, closed Mondays), walk the garden, have lunch at the on-site café, then spend the afternoon at the beach. Admission is genuinely affordable, especially compared to theme parks.