Last days in Florida

Our  time in Florida, like all good things, must come to an end.  Our last days, spent with Ralph and Catherine, saw us visiting old places and new places.

We spent a pleasant afternoon wandering around Celebration - a place that Walter and I have visited several times.  We took some of the trails that we had walked before, only this time, went further than we had in the past.

 A white bird of paradise flower.  I had never seen one like this before.  Beautiful.

 Walter, Ralph and Catherine on one of the various boardwalks.  It was a sunny warm day, and many of the little of forest creatures were out seeking mates and building nests.  Spring was in the air!

 We were scolded several times by this squirrel while we were walking from one lagoon to another.  I guess we were too close to either his nest or his mate (or both).  He would follow us along the rails of the boardwalk and squeak at us.  If we stopped and turned around, he then jumped to the nearest tree - a distance of over two feet.  I was surprised that he could jump that far.

 A male anhinga drying its feathers. This bird swims with only its neck about water.  It doesn't produce a waterproof oil for its feathers, and so must sit with its wings spread out, allowing the feathers to dry.  It was sitting on one side of a lagoon.  A good thing too, because on the other side was a rather large alligator.

 A muscovy duck (notice the wet head feathers) flapping its wings in the water.  These birds are used to being fed by humans, and so when they see us walking along the path, they come right up to us expecting to have pieces of bread or other food thrown to them.  We didn't have anything, and the ducks moved on to the next lot of tourists.

On Ralph and Catherine's last day, we took them to Bok Tower Gardens.  This time, we determined that we would visit Pinewood Estate.  On previous trips we wanted to visit the estate, but always got sidetracked in the gardens.  This time, we did the estate first.  And I'm glad we did.  What a treat!

Pinewood Estate was built in the 1930s by Charles A. Buck, a vice president of Bethlehem Steel, in the spanish style, as a winter retreat for his family.  Mr. Buck was an avid amateur horticulturalist.  He hired a firm to design the gardens first, and then place the house within the gardens to maximize the views from each room.  The house was acquired by the folks at Bok Tower Gardens in the 1970s.

 Part of the back of the house.  Designed in the spanish style, it it stucco on the outside, with tile floors and beautiful painted tiles everywhere.

 Part of one of the gardents and the water fountain.  The tiles of the fountain, as all the painted tiles, were hand painted in Tunisia.  Each room has different designs of tiles.  

 The staircase from the driveway to the front door.  Note you walked down the stairs to the door.  Off to the side, a path led to the fountain above.

The door in the wall - leading to the kitchen garden with the house in the background.  Everything was designed to be visually pleasing to the eye.  What a place!

 Doorway into one of the bedrooms.  As an aside, there are several bathrooms in the house - each one decorated in a different colour, and all still with the original American Standard tubs, sinks and toilets from the 1930s.  Things were built to last then.

 Part of Mrs. Buck's bedroom.  She had a separate suite from the husband. 

We spent several hours visiting the house and the gardens of Bok Tower before we returned to the house, then taking Ralph and Catherine to the airport.  

After that, it was back home to pack and clean up before Walter and I began the trek home.  The trip back to Canada was smooth.  Good weather all the way back.  It was a wonderful time away, and we look forward to travelling again.  As much as I like travelling, though, it felt good to be home.  Even if it's only for a short time.

St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach

On Thursday and Friday, Walter, Ralph and I went to St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach (across the causeway).  Ralph's friends, Steve and Cindy, are in St. Augustine Beach for a month, and graciously invited us to stay overnight.  Thursday was probably the coldest day we've had so far.  In St. Augustine, the temperature rose to 15C and didn't get much higher.  It felt weird to wear long pants and shoes and socks. By Friday, though, we were back to warmer temperatures.

St. Augustine is about 2 1/2 hours away from Kissimmeee.  The whole city has about 12,000 people, according to the latest census. Not very big, at all.  We arranged to take a tour of the old part of St. Augustine on Thursday morning.  It is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in North America, having been founded in 1565 by the Spanish.  The original city was rather small, as it was situated between the Maria Sanchez Creek and the ocean.  The city was expanded in the 19th century by Henry Flagler (a partner of John D. Rockefeller) when he bought several parcels of land and filled in the creek. Unfortunately, most of the original historical building burned over the years, and today the historic centre has mostly replicas. There are a few original buildings left, about five or so according to our tour guide.  It's an easy area to walk around, and I would go back, just to do that.  There is only so much that we can see from a trolley car, and I would like to see more of the old part.

The Spanish, who had St. Augustine for 200+ years, built a fort Castillo de San Marcos.  It changed hands several time, first Spanish, then British (who traded Cuba to the Spanish for Florida), then Spanish again, and lastly American.  Oddly enough, the fort was handed over by treaties, not because it was conquered.

 A typical street in the historic district.  The upper balconies are Spanish influence.  

 One of the many buildings built by Henry Flagler.  This one is a church, although, unfortunately I don't remember which one. He was involved in the building of several churches.

 One of the more whimsical residents of St. Augustine.

 This restaurant is in what used to be an indoor swimming pool.  The floor was leveled out and the dining area is where the pool would have been 12 feet deep. The balcony above is at street level.

 Another typical street, and another Spanish style balcony.

 The oldest wooden school house in the USA.  I think this is a replica, but I could be wrong.

 Some of the old roads are paved with bricks from Birmingham, Alabama.  It took me a while to figure out what 'BHAM, ALA" meant.

 Our friend Ralph on the board walk up to the fort.

 View from the top of the fort, overlooking the estuary.

 Walter and Ralph contemplating something about the cannon.  There were several examples of Spanish cannon, some made in Seville and brought over to St. Augustine on ships.

 The boardwalk across the sand dunes at the resort where Steve and Cindy are staying.  It just invites you to walk across and enjoy the beach.

 One of the many residents of the beach - a ring billed gull.

 A sandpiper of some kind.  I haven't identified exactly which one yet.

 Birds everywhere.  There were a few fellows out fishing for whiting.  The birds would swarm when the nets were drawn in. Gulls and pelicans - all waiting to see what they could steal from the fishermen.

 Some of the many pelicans looking for easy pickings.

 The condo complex where we stayed overnight, courtesy of Steve and Cindy, Ralph's friends.  We will definitely reciprocate at some time in the future.

Lazy days in Florida

Celebration has turned out to be a hidden treasure.  We've been there a few times on our own, and have been there with Alicia.  Yesterday, we went again, just to walk around in the afternoon.  It was a beautiful day, and being out in the sunshine seemed like a good thing to do.  There is something soothing about feeling the warm sunshine on my skin - and yes, there is sunscreen.  After all, I don't want to get burned.  But more than that, it feels good to be out and about (probably because it doesn't feel like exercise).

If you've never been to Celebration, it's a town that was developed by the Walt Disney Company.  It was designed to have an early 20th century feel.  Houses generally have large balconies, no high-density housing, and lots of parkland and walking area.

We've walked around the main lagoon at the bottom of Market Street a few times.  There is always something to see, especially various water birds.  When Alicia was here, she and I walked across the board walk on the other side of the lagoon, and came upon another lagoon in a secluded residential area.  Yesterday, Walter and I walked around that lagoon and found another boardwalk.  That led us to another larger lagoon, with walking paths along it.  In other words, if we're energetic, we can walk all around Celebration by keeping to the walking paths and the boardwalks.  The whole area is about 20 square kilometres.  We haven't walked it all, and mostly likely won't on this trip to Florida, but it will be something to keep in mind for future visits.

 Walk with me along the path, and together we will explore what lies before us.  One of the many walking paths in Celebration.

 Water lilies almost ready to bloom.

 The juxtaposition of old and new is always interesting.  A few feet from the young water liles, a sign of spring, I found this dead maple leaf, a sign of autumn and winter.  Even here, the seasons are represented.

 Segways parked along one of the boardwalks.  The tour guide and his party were down by the lagoon edge looking at an alligator in the distance.

 Spring is mating season.  And the squirrels were not happy with all the people walking along the boardwalks.  Seems we were too close to their trees.  We were roundly scolded by just about every squirrel we saw.

A snowy egret.  Beautiful!

I love the reflection in the water.  These houses are part of the group around the second lagoon we visited.  

Return to Lakeland

Today was a beautiful sunny day.  And, as it was so gorgeous outside, I asked Walter if he wanted to go for a walk.  After all, who could pass up sunshine and warm weather?  So, we did - go for a walk that is.  We drove to Lakeland to walk around Mirror Lake.

When we got to Lakeland, we couldn't remember exactly where Mirror Lake was.  The city has over 30 lakes within its limits, and we've only visited two of them.  We did find Lake Morton.  And the downtown area.  What a treat.  Today, all the garden clubs and horticultural societies were having an event in Munn Park.  Lots of plants for sale - gardening starts earlier here than at home.  And, lots of orchids.  Gee, they were beautiful.

We strolled through the plant and flower exhibits, and then had lunch.  Then used our trusty GPS to find Mirror Lake - by getting it to direct us to the city centre.

Here are a few pictures from our day.  What a lovely city.

 One of the many clubs with displays in the park.

 The main street was closed off to traffic.  Seems everyone was out, buying plants or just enjoying the day.

 Some of the orchids on display.

  More orchids.  Seems to be a popular flower here.

 Recycling oil cans to make bird houses.  Whimsical!

 After lunch, we walked around Mirror Lake.  There is a platform anchored in the middle of the lake - popular with the pelicans, cormorants and other birds. 

 View across the lake.

 Walter lining up his shot

  There is a lovely flower garden, Hollis Garden, at one end of the lake.  Today, there was a wedding going on, so some areas were roped off.  The bits that we saw though were beautiful.

 The swans are everyone - including in stone.  

 An invitation to walk.  There are pathways right around the lake.

Alligators Unlimited Airboat Nature Tour

This morning we were up bright and early (5:15 am), so that we could leave the house by 6:30.  The reason?  An airboat tour starting at 8 am, in Lake Wales.  It took just over an hour to get there, because the tour is not exactly in the city of Lake Wales.  Actually, it's practically at the Kissimmee State Park.

For us, the name of the tour was both misleading and accurate.  We didn't see many alligators.  But we did see lots and lots and lots of birds.  So, if you're not interested in looking at pictures of birds, or reading about birds, skip this blog and wait for the next one.  If you are interested, read on.

This airboat tour was not like the one that Alicia and I did in Louisiana.  There, we were in the bayou.  Here, we were in the headwaters of the Everglades.  Unlike the bayou in Louisiana, there is no brackish or salt water.  It's all fresh water, and flows through the middle and south of Florida to the Everglades.  Lots of shallow lakes and marshes.  And the birds were amazing.  My only regret (actually two) is that I didn't bring the bigger lens for my camera (and it was over so quickly).  Walter, Alicia and I were the only ones on the six-passenger boat, and so had our own private tour.  Couldn't ask for anything better.  I would have gladly paid the fellow, Captain Carl, to spend the whole morning, not just two hours, out in the water.  If you want to do something different in Florida, I would recommend this.  You'll see what Florida used to be like before the swamps started to be drained in the 1960s.

 Bald eagle - the symbol of America.

 Part of the swamp.  Birds everywhere.  It's hard to take a picture that doesn't have a bird in it.

  Wood stork in flight.

  Snowy egret.  I don't know how many of these I saw.  They are beautiful birds, especially in flight.

   How now brown cow!  Florida has more cattle per capita than Texas.  It is second only to Texas for cattle ranching.  Cattle ranching is the third largest industry in Florida.  The state has allowed cattle to roam free on some park land, and so it's not unusual to see cattle near or in the swamp.

  This little fellow is a purple gallinule.  He has long yellow legs and walks among the lily pads in the swamp.  Said to be the most colourful bird in Florida.   I can believe it.

  Typical swamp.  Looks like it's solid ground, but it's not.  And, of course, there are birds everywhere.

  There are fish in the water, and that attracts the fish eagle - aka the osprey.  

It was an incredible two hours, and I would do it again.  Loved the experience.