Welcome! I hope I bring a spot of calm and happiness into these uncertain times. I blog about my photography adventures, flowers, gardening, the importance of chocolate in a well lived life, or anything else on my mind.
From the archives, here are two photos from January 2019.
Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida (near Orlando) has a "Walk of Fame" containing stones from over 200 different locations. The collection includes stones taken from birthplaces, property, or even graves of famous people, or from locations important in history. Apparently, back when some of these were collected, this was not considered vandalism. However, my understanding is that the majority of these stones were taken with permission. Here's more information on the Walk of Fame.
Fred Rogers ("Mr. Rogers") (above, upper right), was an alumnus of Rollins College.
Here's another stone.
Orlando has so much more to offer than theme parks.
Doctor Phillips is an upscale unincorporated area in Orange County, Florida, adjacent to the southwest part of Orlando. If you drink Florida orange juice, or driven on Sand Lake Road during an Orlando visit, or seen something in Orlando named after Dr. Phillips, you may have been one of the many affected by him without realizing it.
The nice part of having a relative living in Orlando is that you get to find out non-tourist, and unexpected, non-Disney things that are interesting.
But before I show you a hidden gem of Doctor Phillips (at least as of 2020, the last time I was there), let me tell you a little about Doctor Phillips.
We can thank a number of individuals for introducing and developing the
citrus industry in Florida, including one Phillip
Phillips. Dr. Phillip Phillips, who was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1874, and who died in 1959, was a medical doctor, a
philanthropist, and a businessman, and a man who became
rich off of citrus.
Phillips first came to Florida in 1894. His first
venture failed when a freeze wiped out his crops. But, he didn't give
up.
Eventually, Dr. Phillips owned thousands of acres of orange groves. He developed several
innovative ways of processing and packing orange juice, including
developing the "flash pasteurization" process that took the metallic
taste out of canned orange juice.
In 1958, Phillips opened a hospital to provide treatment to African-Americans, who could not obtain treatment in any of the segregated white only hospitals in Orlando. It closed in 1964, but the building remains as a nursing home.
For the hidden gem, we must travel to the Trader Joe's in Dr. Phillips. My relative told me to look nearby when we shopped there during a 2020 visit to family in Orlando. To our delight, we found a small pocket park.
This is what we found.
Fountains and a pond.
I believe this is a fairy iris.
I can not find anything online about this pocket park except a 2015 post on Facebook by the Dr. Phillips Trader Joe's. I don't even know if this park exists anymore. If any of my readers know about this park, I would love to know more.
"D" Day on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme: Gardens, History, Art and The Unexpected.
Long before Orlando, Florida became a theme park destination, the Orlando area grew a lot of oranges. To the south, past the theme parks, they still do.
Here, to get you thirsty for some "OJ", is an orange juice commercial from the 1950's, featuring New York Giants football player (and late husband of NBC's Kathie Lee Gifford) Frank Gifford.
We can thank a number of individuals for introducing and developing the citrus industry in Florida, including a man by the name of Phillip Phillips. (No, not the same Phillip Phillips who won American Idol).
Dr. Phillip Phillips, who died in 1959, was a medical doctor, a philanthropist, and a businessman, and, most of all, a man who became rich off of citrus. Phillips first came to Florida in 1894. His first venture failed when a freeze wiped out his crops. But, he didn't give up.
He owned thousands of acres of orange groves. He developed several innovative ways of processing and packing orange juice, including developing the "flash pasteurization" process that took the metallic taste out of canned orange juice.
I remember a brand of canned orange juice called "Donald Duck"....oops, I just made a Disney reference again.
Orange Juice processing plant
If you are ever in the Lake Wales (south of Orlando) area, I recommend a visit to the Grove House of Florida's Natural juice. You get to taste the fresh juice, and it is oh-so-good. And it's free, too.
When I lived on the West Coast of Florida between 1974 and 1976, we would sometimes (if the wind was blowing right) smell the wonderful fragrance of orange trees in bloom. I wonder how many of those groves were once owned by Dr. Philips.
Today, Dr. Phillips has a number of buildings in Orlando (an art center, a high school, and more) named after him. It turns out I was staying in a suburb of Orlando, population of around 11,000 . Dr. Phillips had purchased this land in 1905 and turned into orange groves. My pictures were really being taken in Dr. Phillips.
I'll end this post with a picture of Poinsettias growing outside a store in Dr. Phillips.
Considering that we got snow squalls yesterday where I live in upstate New York (and many people got much worse), you'll forgive me for Pining away for Florida.
Welcome to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. For my theme, "Florida - Outside the Theme Parks", the letter O was so simple. Or was it?
Should I blog about Orlando, the city that is 8th in population growth in the United States? Its Greater metropolitan area now has a population of over 2.13 million people, but some 51 million tourists visit each year.
Or, should I go back to basics and blog about Oranges, the fruit that made Florida famous? Before Orlando became a theme park destination, after all, there were oranges (and a man I will blog about more in my "P" post.)
I remember visiting passing through Orlando in 1972 and again in 1975 and 1976. When I next returned, in 2006, it was as if a small city had been replaced by New York City. Yet, there is a lot to explore outside of the theme parks. So, Orlando is my pick.
Here are some non-theme park oriented pictures I took on a January visit.
Apparently, even Batman has moved to Orlando.
Downtown Orlando- a historic park and new construction.
The Coca-Cola Orlando Eye, a 400 foot tall ferris wheel. It became a fascination, watching it change color at night.
Theme parks in the distance. Sorry, I had to stick a theme park (see left side of photo) in.
And one more shot of Eola Park. You would never think, if you know where to go, that you were in a major metropolis.
Anyone interested in Orlando history can access a website called Historic Orlando for more information.
"O" day of the Blogging from #AtoZChallenge and day 17 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.
It may be Friday the 13th on the calendar, but this is a lucky day for you, my readers. You get three memes for the price of one.
If Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 lakes, then Florida is the Land of Five Thousand Lakes - at least.
Today, I want to show some of them to you, along with the beautiful Florida sky.
Lake Monroe, Sanford, Florida.
Lake Eola swan boats, Orlando, Florida
Lake Mary, Florida - no lake here, but two Sandhill cranes wandering around a shopping center.
Mountain Lake. (I am not sure this picture was taken in Mountain Lake, but my iPhone identified it as such.)
Join Yogi and other bloggers watching the sky each Friday at #Skywatch Friday.
It is also "L" day in the Blogging from #AtoZChallenge, where my theme is "Florida - Outside the Theme Parks" and the 13th (luckiest) day in the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.
Orlando, Florida is well known for its theme parks.
But how many people venture into other parts of Orlando?
Don't let the traffic of this city (and I can't lie - it's terrible) stop you. Come along with me (and my spouse) for a January's Sunday morning drive to Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando.
There is an urban skyline....
Red Chinese Ting at Lake Eola, built in 1988 to celebrate the friendship between Orlando and a sister city in China.
Water birds and cypress trees.
More water, and more birds.
Pigeons.
Man made rainbow. (the Walt Disney Amphitheater) painted like a rainbow in commemoration of the tragic Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016. In this landmark, one can listen to music while others nearly sun themselves or enjoy the park in other ways.
