Florida Everyone Forgot

Tampa Streetcars

2011-12-17T21:49:00.000-05:00

Amtrak

2011-12-02T23:59:00.000-05:00

Train spotting is fun. Decided to get out my camera when I saw this Amtrak approaching Candyland Park in Longwood. Pretty soon we will be seeing commuter trains running along these same tracks!

Clearwater Sunset

2011-03-27T13:58:00.000-04:00

STS-133

2011-03-06T14:46:00.001-05:00

The final launch of Space Shuttle Discovery as seen from Port Canaveral...

Coral Castle

2011-01-10T20:00:00.001-05:00

A few months ago I visited the Coral Castle while down in South Florida. It's a really interesting place where a large structure was constructed using locally quarried rock, supposedly by a single man. The short version of the story goes that a man named Edward Leedskalnin was set to get married. He ended up being ditched, and moved to Florida to build a stone tribute to win back his long lost love.

Multiply that admission price by 100 to get closer to the current admission.

The most recognizable scene from Coral Castle are these giant carvings of various astronomical bodies (or astrological, depending on what the tour guide says).

Edward Leedskalnin must have had a thing for astronomy with his moons and planets. He also built what is now being called a telescope. If I remember correctly, it points to Polaris.

And a working sundial. It was just after 3 when I took the picture.

The original name of the Coral Castle was Rock Gate Park. This is the namesake rock gate. The large rock was originally so perfectly balanced on it's pivot that it could easily be spun. Eventually it stopped working and the group of civil engineers that came to fix the gate were 'baffled' at it's workings and weren't able to get it to it's previous condition.

There was a well which also served as a refrigerator.

An oven out of car parts.

Delta IV

2010-11-22T08:00:00.002-05:00

I drove out to Port Canaveral to watch the Delta IV rocket launch on November 21, 2010. With the weather, I really didn't think it was going to go, but it did indeed launch. The rocket wasn't in view for long before disappearing into clouds, but it was still very nice. It really is thrilling to watch these incredible feats of engineering fly, especially as close as I was (7 miles). I also think I found a new favorite spot to watch the launches!

Lake Eola Fountain

2010-11-16T13:00:00.000-05:00

I'm glad it's working again...

St. Johns River Shipwreck #1

2010-05-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

I came across this sunken boat that had washed up against the seawall in Lake Monroe along the Sanford Riverwalk. I've always found shipwrecks, even with relatively small boats like this, to be both intriguing and creepy at the same time. What's the story behind what caused the boat to go down? Who did it belong to? What happened to the rest of the boat? And then there's the creepiness of having a large, mostly submerged object, just sitting there in the dark water, creaking with the currents.

A few months ago, I noticed a few sailboats that had sank a few hundred feet off shore. They were gone when I came across this boat. Perhaps this is part of one?

Seminole County Fair 2010

2010-04-19T08:00:00.003-04:00

STS-131

2010-04-05T17:22:00.004-04:00

Space Shuttle Discovery launched at 6:21am on April 5, 2010. It was definitely one of the coolest launches I've ever seen in a while. The shuttle formed a noctilucent cloud in it's contrail, then about 3.5 minutes in, it did this cool thing where what could be described as a wake or an aura formed around the shuttle as it started to dip below the horizon. At about 5 minutes, the sound waves finally hit and a faint rumbling could be heard...

Only three more launches of this awesomeness!

SDO, Sonic Booms, & Sun Dogs...

2010-02-17T20:00:00.002-05:00

On February 11, 2010, the Solar Dynamics Observatory launched on an Atlas V Rocket. I attepted to watch the launch from my front yard, but there were too many clouds between where I was and the coast to get a good view. I was able to see the rocket for about five seconds through a hole in the clouds, but that was about it.

Being closer to the launch apparently provided an awesome show. Turn the video to 720p and turn on full screen. Wait until about two minutes in when the rocket is about to pass through the sun dog, and then the rocket goes supersonic while passing through the ice particles in the air. I've never seen anything quite like this!

Lakeland Neon...

2010-02-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

One night while driving through Lakeland, I came across this great spinning neon sign, if you want to even call it a sign. Perhaps spinning neon object would be more appropriate. It was in a car dealer parking lot and was very mesmerizing to watch. The next time I was driving at night through Lakeland, I was disappointed to see they didn't have the spinning illuminated starburst on a pole turned on...

Ice Skating @ Light Up UCF

2010-01-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

I had forgotten how much fun ice skating is! I find all of the outdoor ice skating rinks that pop up every winter all over Central Florida to be kind of funny. It's typically too warm for the ice to stay properly frozen, so there ends up being a puddle of water on half the rink. For example, this was the case at the rink set up at the University of Central Florida seen in the video below:

Daytona Beach Cable Cars

2009-11-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

I went for a ride on the cable cars at the Daytona Beach Pier. It's an expensive ride for what it is, and it's a bit scary, especially when you look at all of the rusted metal bits on the ride from all of the exposure to the salty air. I enjoyed my ride though:

Ares I-X

2009-10-29T00:19:00.002-04:00

Possible shuttle replacement? I hope so!

Spring Hammock Preserve #2

2009-10-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

I returned to Spring Hammock Preserve in Longwood on bike to find the boardwalk leading to Lake Jessup had been reopened. The water in the flooded swamp was pretty high, so it was a bit creepy riding on a narrow boardwalk, inches above the duckweed covered water. The whole time, gators were bellowing in the distance, just to add to the experience...

Cypress knees:

This little alligator was on a log about ten feet away from the boardwalk.

Finally, the swamp opened up to a marsh overlooking Lake Jessup:

Spring Hammock is definitely one of my favorite places to go for a bike ride!

STS-128

2009-08-30T05:00:00.000-04:00

Space Shuttle Discovery launch as seen from Titusville!

Deerfield Beach

2009-07-12T17:00:00.002-04:00

On a recent drive down to South Florida, I stopped at Deerfield Beach. I didn't stay long or go swimming, but it was definitely a nice looking beach. I think I need to return...

Sanford 4th of July

2009-07-05T17:00:00.001-04:00

For this year's 4th of July, I headed over to Downtown Sanford to see the fireworks. I really like the location on Lake Monroe, and the event has definitely grown quite a bit since I last watched the fireworks in Sanford several years ago. It was a good show, although the fireworks over the river in Deland looked much more impressive and went on for several more minutes after Sanford's show had ended.

The Seminole County Fair

2009-04-18T11:26:00.004-04:00

I visited the 2009 Seminole County Fair a few weeks ago in the parking lot of the Seminole Towne Center Mall in Sanford, FL. My definition of a county fair must be different than Seminole County's, because I would consider this event a carnival. It needs farm animals to be a fair (besides from a pony)...

Cedar Waxwings, Robins, & Mockingbirds

2009-04-09T14:04:00.003-04:00

Two years ago, a flock of Cedar Waxwings flew through my backyard and devoured a Beauty Berry Bush that somehow planted itself in the yard. They were soon joined by a few American Robins and some Mockingbirds and by the end of the day, the plant was picked clean of berries. When I saw the feast going on, I got my video camera out and this was the result (make sure you hit the High Quality (HQ) button):

Since that flock of Cedar Waxwings visited, I've yet to see another one. The robins migrate through Central Florida every year, and if you're at the right place at the right time, you'll see them. This year, the Beauty Berries have been completely untouched. From what I understand, birds only eat these berries if there is nothing else around because they are so acidic, but I'm still waiting for the Cedar Waxwings to pay another visit...

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-119)

2009-03-15T22:30:00.003-04:00

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS 119) launched on March 15, 2009 at 7:43 pm. I drove out to Titusville, FL to watch the launch, and it is very nice to be able to hear the noise that the shuttle makes.

As it got darker, the contrail left by the shuttle started glowing with wonderful colors from the setting sun. Of course, these could have something to do with all of the nasty chemicals that the shuttle spews out in that smoke refracting the light, but it was still nice to look at. In contrast with Titusville's older buildings, this could have provided some great pictures, but I'm not entirely happy with how they came out.

Here's a video of the launch.

Cady Way Trail's Tied Arch Bridge

2009-03-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to go bike riding along the Cady Way Trail for a while now, specifically over the bridge crossing 436, but it seems I never have my bicycle when I'm in the area. Recently, I was riding along Colonial Drive and happened to have a unicycle in the car, so I decided to see how far I could get before dark. I started at Fashion Square Mall, not quite knowing exactly where the trail traveled. I eventually made it to the bridge and made it my turn around point. It ended up being my longest ride ever on a unicycle (just over 8 miles), but I had fun!

The bridge over 436 is a basket-handle tied arch bridge. This basically means it's and arch with the roadway suspended by vertical cables. It's a very nice looking bridge that I would rate near the top of my favorite Central Florida pedestrian bridges.

Here's some of the strangely fascinating engineering details of the bridge...

And the view of the car dealers and fast food restaurants below on 436:

I need to come back with a bicycle and ride along the rest of the trail. From what I saw of Cady Way, it's nowhere as nice as Seminole County's trails, but it's still an interesting ride.

Kepler Telescope Launch on a Delta II Rocket

2009-03-06T22:20:00.003-05:00

The Kepler Telescope launched on a Delta II rocket at 10:49 pm on March 7, 2009. Kepler sounds like a very interesting project, and lets hope it finds plenty of earth-like planets. You can read more about it on NASA's website.

I think I'll go turn on my SETI@home software now and leave you with these two fifteen second exposures of the launch:

Great Horned Owl at Flagler College

2009-02-28T22:46:00.003-05:00

I was in St. Augustine near the fountain in front of the Lightner Museum (former Alcazar Hotel) when I spotted this great horned owl across the street at Flagler College. The bird flew to several of the windows on the upper floors of the school where he would stop and peer inside for a while before moving on to another window. He eventually made it up to a chimney where he sat for a while before flying off.

It was a very unique sight, and was a bit Harry Potter-like with an owl flying around a castle-like school in broad daylight. Maybe the owl was delivering a letter to a student...

Eating at the Crooked Bayou

2009-02-24T21:19:00.004-05:00

In honor of today being Fat Tuesday, I borrowed a restaurant review of the Crooked Bayou in Downtown Orlando from my Watch Me Eat Blog. With Jockamos out of business, Crooked Bayou is the only restaurant that I know of in the Central Florida area that specifically specializes in Cajun food. Crooked Bayou is a tiny little place on Central Blvd that seemed to be more bar than restaurant. They had some cool stuff in the tiny space like a big tree made out of bent rebar in the center of the restaurant and a window to an old painted advertisement on the neighboring brick building.

I started by ordering a cup of Jambalaya. It was really good, with plenty of chicken, andouille sausage, and shrimp along with the rice. According to Wikipedia, this was Creole Jambalaya since it was tomato based rather than Cajun Jambalaya that is tomato free. It was definitely some of the best Jambalaya that I've eaten.

I ordered a Cajun Crawfish Po'boy to follow the Jambalaya. The crawfish were tiny, but the sandwich was still really tasty. There was plenty of seasoning on the crawfish, which were placed on pressed french bread with lettuce, tomato, and tarter sauce. A pickle and potato chips were served with the sandwich.

Lake Monroe Sunset

2009-02-08T21:14:00.005-05:00

I was in Sanford, FL a few nights ago and witnessed this great orange sky over Lake Monroe as the sun was setting...

Sombrero Key Lighthouse

2009-02-04T21:30:00.004-05:00

I recently found these old pictures of the Sombrero Key Lighthouse that were taken back in 2002. I was so proud of my BIG 2.5 megapixel camera back then.

The Sombrero Key Lighthouse is located off the coast of Marathon in the Florida Keys and marks a reef that is now an attraction for snorkeling tours. I personally am amazed at the engineering behind these skeleton lighthouses. All those little metal trusses and cables fitting together into a structure that can survive hurricanes...

Freezing Florida

2009-01-26T23:38:00.003-05:00

Contrary to the northern belief, Florida does get cold. On January 22, 2009, Central Florida had one of the coldest nights of the winter. That morning, plants were covered in ice. Grass had a thin layer of frost on it. Icicles were hanging from trees, and the cold pretty much destroyed any tropical plants I was growing, as well as plenty of non-tropical plants in my garden.

Car windshields were also a problem. I don't own any ice scrapers, so pouring a little warm tea on the ice and turning on the windshield wipers did the trick.

Any water that was warmer than the air was releasing lots of steam. Every drain into the sewers was releasing a cloud as well as most lakes. Steam rising off of lakes is very strange in the early morning light. It looks almost prehistoric, like a dinosaur could be drinking out of the water.

Of course, when it's cold like this, it's a perfect time to have a fire in the rarely used fireplace.

I love the cold weather!

Lenticular Clouds

2009-01-21T22:16:00.003-05:00

Lenticular Clouds are a rare sight in Florida. They seem to only occur in cold weather, and Florida doesn't get cold that often. These strange looking clouds take the form of very smooth concave shapes. The best lenticular clouds are ones that are perfectly round and resembles an upside down bowl. I've only come across one of these perfect "UFO Clouds" on one occasion, but I've seen lenticular clouds like the ones on this page more frequently. These clouds don't have as much of a spherical shape and are more like several overlapping upside down bowls.

These lenticulars were seen over the cities of Casselberry and Longwood in January 2009.

Delta 4 Rocket Launch (January 17, 2009)

2009-01-19T01:45:00.003-05:00

A Delta 4 Rocket launched on January 17, 2009 from Cape Canaveral. I tried taking some pictures/video of the launch, but didn't have much luck. Insead, check out this video of the launch from Spacevidcast on Youtube:

Swimming Horse

2009-01-16T12:00:00.000-05:00

I came across this horse going for a swim one afternoon while biking along the Seminole Wekiva Trail in Lake Mary, FL.

Wolf Moon

2009-01-11T01:31:00.005-05:00

January's Wolf Moon, which occurred on the 1/10/09, was the biggest and the brightest of all of 2009.

Light Show on the Vue

2009-01-09T00:58:00.002-05:00

The Vue in Downtown Orlando has a rather interesting light show on what appears to be the building's stairs. I imagine this must get old quick if you live in one of the condos with windows next to the lights...

Happy 2009

2009-01-01T01:26:00.001-05:00

Out of all of the New Years Eve firework shows that I've seen in Florida, nothing beats this one. Disney definitely does fireworks the best...

BAD BEES!

2008-12-30T01:46:00.004-05:00

I was in Lake Mary, FL when I came across this hand written sign on the side of the road that read BAD BEES.

There was an arrow pointing across the street to a small wooded area, and although I think the sign may have been a warning, I was intrigued. I took a look around where the arrow was pointing and saw no bees. It was kind of disappointing that I didn't get to see these Bad Bees for myself.

I bet there is a good story that goes with this sign...

Miniature Train @ the Central Florida Zoo

2008-12-28T01:07:00.003-05:00

The Central Florida Zoo in Sanford, FL has a miniature train that loops around the wooded area surrounding the parking lot. It's a cramped ride for adults, but I always enjoy taking the ride around anyway. Here are some pictures from my last visit to the zoo in 2006:

Christmas in Celebration, FL

2008-12-24T02:33:00.004-05:00

I happened to pay a visit to Celebration, FL when I decided to eat at the Market Street Cafe. In December, Disney's planned community has some interesting stuff downtown. This includes snow machines that pump out fake snow every hour and nice Christmas decorations all over town. These are pictures taken in Celebration from that evening:

This is a video of some of the fake snow in Downtown Celebration, followed by a house with Christmas lights synchronized with Christmas music and music from Epcot's Illuminations show.

Backyard Turtle

2008-12-22T01:45:00.004-05:00

I was outside the other day in my yard, and this turtle wandered by. I got my camera and took these pictures:

It was a little hard to tell since I'm not a turtle expert and his shell was covered in algae, but I am going to assume that this was a Florida Redbelly Cooter. Luckily, this turtle didn't end up in any swimming pools, and I didn't see it squished on any nearby roads, so hopefully it got to wherever it was going.

Speaking of turtles and other reptiles, check out this website. I probably spent at least an hour reading about many of Florida's reptiles that I've never come across.

Longwood Christmas Parade 2008

2008-12-20T01:15:00.006-05:00

Every year, Santa Claus come around on a fire truck through Longwood, FL. In the past, it has always been Santa on the truck, and not much else. This year it seems that Longwood has expanded their Santa procession into a mini parade, with fire trucks, police cars, some candy throwing floats, and Santa. It was nowhere on the scale of the Orlando Christmas Parade, but this was kind of better. The parade comes to your house...

Insects #2

2008-12-17T00:22:00.004-05:00

Dragonfly:

This spider built a new web every night for over a month between two citrus trees in my yard. I was never able to identify why type of spider it was, but here it is eating a roach:

This beetle was running around the parking lot at the Congo River Miniature Golf Course on International Drive in Orlando. It was huge, and had large claw-like front legs (hidden under the wood). Thanks to the comments on this post, I have been informed that this is a type of water bug commonly known as a Toe Biter. I'm glad my toes were covered...

More Florida Insects here.

Mcdonald's Christmas Parade 2008

2008-12-15T19:02:00.004-05:00

I went to see the Christmas Parade in Orlando on December 14, 2008. Formerly, this was the Orlando Christmas Parade, but it seemed a corporate sponsor bought the parade with the official name being the Mcdonald's Christmas Parade. The parade circled around Lake Eola and was nice and long.

It started out with the police.

Then Ronald Mcdonald's float.

There were several of these antique cars advertising Cabot Cheese. Cheese is tasty, but it doesn't go with antique cars in my opinion.

These horses were behind a float carrying a bubble machine. The bubbles seemed to be making the horses very nervous.

Johnny Martino from the Godfather movies. He was handing out autographed postcards of himself.

This float was driven all the way to Orlando from a high school in Palm Beach.

Juggler...

A pony pulling a person that seemed to big to be pulled by ponies.

The Geico Gecko...

Followed by the Tijuana Flats Iguana.

Apparently people are scared of clowns. There was a group of clowns in the parade, besides from Ronald Mcdonald. This clown in particular actually left the parade route to chase down somebody with coulrophobia across a little park at the intersection of Magnola and Palmetto. It was great.

The Orlando Fire Department.

This is Sir Gus the Kissing Camel. He travels around with the Shriners to events like this. The Shriners stick a carrot in a volunteer's mouth, and Gus reaches down and takes the carrot, thus kissing the volunteer in the process. I was kissed by Sir Gus once in Downtown Longwood.

And finally, Santa Claus at the end of the parade. Unfortunately, there was no Krampus traveling along with Santa. There should be a few of them in every Christmas parade!

American Bison in Florida

2008-12-13T01:46:00.004-05:00

A few years ago, I came across this herd of American Bison on a farm somewhere northwest of Gainesville, FL. This particular herd was definitely domesticated, and I'm assuming these 'Buffalo' were being raised for meat.

I never knew this, but apparently there are some wild herds of bison living in Paynes Prairie State Park which were introduced from the American Midwest in the 1970s. That's even better than farm animals, but only without the barbed wire fence that might deter a bison from trampling you.
More about the wild bison.

Brightest Full Moon of the Year

2008-12-12T01:03:00.003-05:00

This is the full moon as seen from Longwood, FL on December 11, 2008. Tonight's full moon was predicted to be the brightest full moon of 2008.

Armadillo

2008-12-10T12:21:00.004-05:00

I came across this armadillo searching for food in the grass along the Cross Seminole Trail in the Spring Hammock Preserve while going for a bike ride. Armadillos are very weird products of evolution with their furry feet and leathery shells...

The Cathedral Church of St. Luke

2008-12-01T01:27:00.004-05:00

Florida doesn't have too many ornate cathedrals that I'm aware of. As far as I know, there is nothing like Washington DC's National Cathedral or some of New York's cathedrals. I'm always interested in these church's ornate and sometimes over the top architecture, so I was a bit surprised when I stumbled upon the Cathedral Church of St. Luke on my last visit to Downtown Orlando. Somehow I never noticed this church, with it's ornate stone carvings and stained glass windows. As goes with most buildings like this, I'm sure there are lots of architectural details that I didn't see on my walk past on my way to the Crooked Bayou. I think I'll need to return and take a closer look, and maybe see something else that I never noticed in Downtown Orlando...

Venus & Jupiter

2008-11-29T01:15:00.003-05:00

This is a picture of Venus and Jupiter at dusk in Deltona, FL on November 29, 2008. On December 1, the two planets will be joined by a crescent moon...

Longwood Arts & Crafts Festival 2008

2008-11-23T12:07:00.004-05:00

I went to the Longwood Arts & Crafts Festival on November 22, 2008. It was a good time walking around Downtown Longwood, looking at the old houses and what people were trying to sell. Much of it was actual handmade arts/crafts, while a lot was also mass produced junk made in China that people were trying to pass off as their own.

Here's Warren Ave covered with vendors.

This old house was for sale, and so was the VW Bus. I noticed that a whole lot of old historic houses were for sale in Downtown.

Kettle Corn, pork rinds, fried potatoes, and the historic Bradlee Mcintyre House in the background.

The old Longwood Hotel. Now it's offices.

Someone was selling hypnosis CDs. If I'm reading this sign correctly, it sounds like these CDs can cure your fear of children. I actually listened to these people trying to sell some stop smoking CDs to someone. It's $10 a CD, and you should buy multiple CDs. The CDs will work a whole lot better if you are using a patch or taking pills to help you stop smoking at the same time. Go figure. Hypnosis is great for making someone act like a chicken, but I have issues when someone is trying to say it can cure all of the real problems listed on the sign.

The Inside-Outside House.

Historic Church.

I enjoy taking pictures of the food stands at these type of events. The food always seems to be very photogenic, and the artists don't get upset with me taking pictures. I didn't eat any, but these pictures may still end up on my Watch Me Eat Blog.

The Last Day of Cypress Gardens as an Adventure Park

2008-11-23T01:58:00.004-05:00

I went to Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, FL on their last day of existence in their current form. On this post, I'm going to post some random pictures from Cypress Gardens in it's current state with an occasional comment.

To start, here's the front entrance to the park. The park's last day was the busiest I've ever seen Cypress Gardens. It took about twenty minutes of sitting in traffic on this road to finally enter the parking lot due to the crowds.

After entering the park, I first headed towards the small zoo in Cypress Gardens and saw giant rodents, miniature deer with tusks, an albino blind wallaby, lemurs, and all sorts of other animals.

After the seeing the animals I walked through the Santa's of The World exhibit and saw mannequins dressed up as variations of Santa Claus.

After I saw the Santas, I decided to go on a ride on the park's observation tower type ride that is currently called The Sunshine Sky Adventure. Formerly, it was known as the Island in the Sky, but whatever it's called, it's a very cool ride that was one of the park's original attractions. The only problem was that it wasn't open. It actually looked like it was sort of in a state of disrepair from the angles I saw the ride from and would take some work to get it in working order again. I don't see it up for sale with the rest of Cypress Gardens' rides though.

Since the ride was closed, I headed towards the Wings of Wonder Butterfly exhibit. I guess all of the butterflies must have died because instead of butterflies, they put a few parrots in here instead.

In some of the gardens right outside of the former butterfly exhibit, I did come across a wild butterfly that sat there while I took pictures of it, along with a sad looking vegetable garden and some lion statues.

I wandered through more of the gardens in the park, like the topiary garden. I kind of wonder if this part of the park will still be here when Cypress Gardens reopens next year. I kind of get the feeling it won't be (if the park reopens at all).

There's the park's big waterfall nearby the topiarys. I remember all of the plants around here being much more lush on my last visit to Cypress Gardens.

The water ski show was up next. They no longer had an ice skating show, so Cypress Gardens was down to only one 'big' show. I actually didn't watch the whole thing, but I did stay for the best part, which was the hang glider. During this show, I guess the employees all wanted to get one last flight in, so there were multiple gliders flying at once. It was cool.

After the ski show, I continued through the rest of the botanical gardens in the park. This is actually one of the coolest parts of the park in my opinion, with all sorts of unusual plants in a jungle like environment. That baynon tree is very impressive. Rumor is that this part of Cypress Gardens is staying, but I hope they at least bring back the boat ride through the canals when (or if) they reopen.

After I finished up viewing plants, I took one last look at the rides at Cypress Gardens. It seems every single one of these rides are up for sale and a parking lot will be built in their place once they are gone. They are mostly carnival rides and small (and painful) roller coasters which really won't be missed, but my personal opinion is that Cypress Gardens should keep the two wooden roller coasters. The Triple Hurricane is small, but it really is a fun ride. It was the only roller coaster that I enjoyed riding before the park bought the Starliner.

The Starliner is Cypress Gardens newest roller coaster, and it is something they should definitely keep. It was built in 1963 at Miracle Strip in Panama City, FL. When Miracle Strip closed in 2004, Cypress Gardens bought the ride and rebuilt it in it's current location. It finally reopened in 2007, and less than a year later, it's up for sale again.

Going for a ride on the Starliner was one of my reasons to visit Cypress Gardens one last time. Apparently, I wasn't alone because I rode at the end of the day when the line was shortest and the wait was still over an hour. I overheard the ride attendants talking that people flew in from places as far north as Massachusetts to get a ride on the Starliner before it was sold or demolished. The Starliner is definitely a draw, and since it is the first roller coaster built in Florida, and Cypress Gardens likes to advertise they are Florida's First Theme Park, the two seem like a perfect match for each other. Cypress Gardens wants to build a parking lot here, but I think they should definitely consider building the parking lot around the Starliner.

I found this video of the Starliner on Youtube from Theme Park Review:

After riding the Starliner, it was 5:00 and Cypress Gardens was closed for the day, at least until next year or possibly forever. I made my way to the parking lot where I sat in traffic for over an hour trying to leave due to the huge crowds that Cypress Gardens had on their last day.

As I was heading home, I took one last look at the Starliner...

Space Shuttle Endeavour

2008-11-15T00:38:00.003-05:00

On November 14, 2008, the Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-126) launched into orbit to meet up with the International Space Station. With the Shuttle being retired in 2010, the number of future shuttle launches is well into the single digits. In fact, tonight's launch was the last shuttle launch that is scheduled to occur after dark. It's kind of sad, since night launches are the best type to watch...

Cross Seminole Trail Pedestrian Bridge (Over 17-92)

2008-11-12T01:51:00.004-05:00

The Cross Seminole Trail will eventually travel from Sanford to Oviedo (and possibly beyond). On one of the newer sections of the trail, where it crosses 17-92 in the Spring Hammock Preserve, a very curvy pedestrian bridge was constructed. These pictures are from a recent trip that I took across the bridge.

This video starts in Big Tree Park and ends at Soldiers Creek Park. It was taken while parts of the trail were still unpaved, but the bridge was completed.

Spring Hammock Preserve #1

2008-11-10T12:03:00.003-05:00

I went for a bike ride through the Spring Hammock Preserve's Environmental Studies Center in Longwood, FL. The first point of interest was the Question Pond.

At one point in time, I remember the Question Pond having a bright coppery blue color. Now it's the same tannic color as the rest of the water in the swamp. I turned off onto one of the smaller trails and did some extreme biking, and then found myself at Soldier's Creek.

The path actually brought me to the creek right by the newest section of the Cross Seminole Trail. The bridge seen here is one of three places that I'm aware of where the trail crosses the Creek.

There were several small offshoots running into Soldier's Creek, creating these mini canyons.

I then returned to the main trail and rode as far as I could. I reached this point where the trail got very narrow, with the overflowing Lake Jessup surrounding me on three sides. It was very creepy, hearing nothing except for the occasional splash in the water and distant alligator bellows.

Orlando's Urban Monsters #1

2008-10-25T02:38:00.004-04:00

Here's a collection of pictures taken in and around Downtown Orlando of gargoyles, dragons, griffins, green men, and mythical creatures carved into building's architecture.

These griffins are on a building near Orange Ave and Church St.

This nice Chinese Dragon is on the sign for Slingapours in Wall St. Plaza.

A painted Green Man outside of Dandelion Community Cafe just off of Colonial Drive.

This very similar green man is on Orange Ave in College Park.

Zellwood Corn Maze

2008-10-18T15:55:00.003-04:00

Autumn is here with Halloween soon approaching. To get into the season, enjoy these pictures from a corn maze at Long & Scott Farms in Zellwood, FL, taken in 2005. This was an extremely difficult maze, and after hours, we still didn't complete it and eventually gave up...

Demolished Building...

2008-10-17T14:08:00.003-04:00

On my last trip through Downtown Orlando, I came across this demolished building on Orange Ave. A demolished building usually isn't much to see, but in this case they left the foundation, still covered with the various types of tiles that were in each room. It's kind of cool to see the floor plan of an old building that no longer exists.

Here's a view of the new 55 West from the empty lot.

Starry Night

2008-10-15T02:56:00.002-04:00

The stars over Longwood, FL...

International Talk Like a Pirate Day 2008

2008-09-19T01:47:00.006-04:00

Ahoy! For all of you land lubbers out there that aren't aware, September 19 each year is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. You bilge rats know what today is? The following set of photos are of various pirates or pirate themed locations throughout Florida. Arrr...

Here is a pirate carved out of wood on the dock belonging to the Down the Hatch restaurant in Ponce Inlet, FL.

Pirates at the Pirate's Cove Miniature Golf Course on International Drive in Orlando, FL.

The Ghost Pirate Ride at the Seminole County Fair in Sanford, FL.

More pirates at another miniature golf course. I believe this is the Pirate's Island on 192 in Kissimmee.

More pirates carved out of wood. These two are in the Tin City shopping area in Naples, FL.

Perhaps some of Florida's most popular pirates are at Disney.

Arr...

Ducks at Lake Lily

2008-09-19T00:30:00.004-04:00

These ducks were hanging out at Lake Lily in Maitland, FL. Ducks are funny birds...

This duck found himself a plastic lizard/fishing lure that he was very proud of. He probably ended up chocking on it later...

Then there was this family of ducks with some rather large ducklings...

And in closing, here are two angry old ducks at the lake...

Eating Seafood in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park

2008-09-14T02:06:00.005-04:00

I climbed the lighthouse and then I ate seafood while at the Bill Baggs Cafe Florida State Park on Key Biscayne...

Flooding In Downtown Sanford

2008-09-09T14:37:00.007-04:00

After Tropical Storm Fay dumped huge amounts of rain over Florida, there was lots of flooding. Little lakes in city parks overflowed to very high levels, so you can imagine how high a large body of water overflowed. For example, along the St. Johns River. The flooding was seems to be the worst where the river opens up into Lake Monroe. These pictures were taken on September 1, 2008 in Downtown Sanford along the shore of the lake:

Wood Storks were exploring their new watery shoreline.

The road leading into the Sanford Marina was completely underwater. That didn't seem to stop people from driving to the restaurants at the end of the road or riding bicycles to their favorite fishing spots.

There was a news truck there covering the flooding.

At the time that these pictures were taken, the St. Johns River still hadn't crested. It would still be another week before the river reached it's highest point and the water would start to recede.

Weeki Wachee Springs

2008-09-08T11:35:00.004-04:00

These pictures were taken several years ago at Weeki Wachee Springs, located in Spring Hill, FL. No mermaids are in these pictures, but there are some manatees, wood storks, pelicans, fish, and raccoons along the park's boat tour going up the river...

Flooding @ Cranes Roost Park

2008-09-05T01:22:00.005-04:00

Cranes Roost Park is located in Altamonte Springs, FL, right next to the Altamonte Mall. The park has recently been incorporated into the Uptown Altamonte complex and had a big overhaul and the park saw many improvements. One thing that wasn't fixed was the drainage problems on the central lake that the park is built around.

After the massive amounts of rain that was dropped from Tropical Storm Fay passing over the area, the lake in Cranes Roost Park rose to levels I have never seen. In the past, the lake has flooded, but I've never seen it flood this high. Here are some pictures of the flooding taken on September 1, 2008.

The two bridges that normally provide a trip above the surface of the lake were no longer usable. When Cranes Roost Park has flooded in the past, these bridges do get slightly submerged. I've never seen other sections of the park go under though.

The stage and amphitheater was perhaps where it was easiest to see how high the water actually was. Luckily, the stage floats, but I wonder what happens if the water rises above the pylons anchoring the sides of the stage in place?

As for the bleachers in the amphitheater, there are at least two rows of seats below the surface of the water.

Tropical Storm Fay has stopped pouring liquid into Cranes Roost Park, but it does tend to rain often in Florida, so it may be a while before the water recedes...

Fantasy of Flight Balloon

2008-09-01T19:55:00.004-04:00

Fantasy of Flight is a museum all about the history of aviation in Polk City, FL. If you're into old aircraft and stuff related to aviation, you'll probably love the place. I'm not all that into that type stuff, but it is still a cool place. One thing that used to make Fantasy of Flight much better in my opinion was their giant balloon. The balloon was a giant Helium balloon tethered to the ground by a steel cable. Museum guests would load into a ring shaped basket, and the cable would then unwind, allowing the balloon to rise to several hundred feet. It was a very cool ride and provided some nice views of the surrounding area.

Fantasy of Flight has a small airport attached to the museum where they sometimes give airplane rides. Here is an ultralight plane giving a ride as seen from the balloon.

I'm not sure what the reasons are, but the balloon has since been removed from Fantasy of Flight. For me, the balloon really was the highlight of the museum, so it's a shame that it's gone. The helium balloon experience can still be achieved in Florida though. There is a similar balloon to this that was recently installed in Downtown Miami, but looking at their website now, it appears they have closed. Downtown Disney has also announced that they will be adding one of these balloons to compete with the nearby giant Ferris Wheel being constructed.

Cross Seminole Trail Tunnel

2008-08-30T11:00:00.003-04:00

The Cross Seminole Trail is part of Florida's trail system that partly passes through Lake Mary, FL. One of the interesting features of the trail in this area is the tunnel that travels under Greenway Blvd...

Here is a video taken while biking along the trail. The tunnel is about two minutes in...

Trains in Maitland, FL

2008-08-29T11:37:00.005-04:00

Lake Mary Blvd Farms...

2008-08-27T23:53:00.004-04:00

These are a few farms along Lake Mary Blvd in Sanford, FL. Given the rate of growth in the area, they probably won't be around much longer since Lake Mary Blvd was extended through this area. Seeing melons growing or goats wandering around on these farms is a whole lot nicer to look at than housing developments...

Cypress Garden's Old Garden Railroad

2008-08-26T18:03:00.007-04:00

Cypress Gardens is an amusement park in Winter Garden, FL. The park originally opened in 1936 as a botanical garden, and expanded from there with water ski shows, various exhibits, animals, and eventually a few small rides. The park survived until 2003 when Cypress Gardens went bankrupt and closed for a while. Luckily, the park had generated enough interest to attract a buyer who rebuilt and reopened the park with some major changes. A few roller coasters along with various other rides were added. This seemed to have saved the park from closing, but some of the best parts of the old version of the park didn't make it into the updated version. One example of this was the boat ride that would float through the canals weaving through the park's botanical gardens. Another example was this great garden railroad...

Since the construction of this railroad uses lots of natural materials in it's structures, it leads me to believe this was built by a company called Applied Imagination. Many of their other model train layouts appear to be similar to the one Cypress Gardens had, such as this one in the New York Botanical Gardens.

If I remember correctly from when I took these pictures, the buildings in the garden railway are modeled after actual buildings in Florida. I believe this is supposed to be the University of Tampa with it's onion domes. Could the lighthouse be the St Augustine Lighthouse?

Tropical Storm Fay Snake

2008-08-24T02:23:00.003-04:00

It seemed frogs weren't the only cold blooded creatures to come out after Tropical Storm Fay. I almost stepped on this small foot-long snake this afternoon as it was crossing the sidewalk in front of me. If I was able to identify this correctly, I believe it is a Corn Snake.

Downtown Ocala's Art Horses

2008-08-22T17:12:00.003-04:00

The last time I was in downtown Ocala, I came across these painted horses scattered throughout the center of the city. Although it seems like most cities do an art program like this from time to time, it's still nice to support the local artists that paint whatever the themed object is.

It seems like the newest public art program in Central Florida is Orlando's GuitarTown...

Skydiving Shuttle...

2008-08-21T00:09:00.005-04:00

A few days ago I posted a very unique perspective of a rocket launching (I said Space Shuttle at the time, but it may be a Delta Rocket instead) as seen from an airplane. Today I came across this video of a skydiver filming the STS-117 Atlantis launch. Not quite as high as the airplane was flying, but still very cool.

Frogs After Fay...

2008-08-20T14:43:00.005-04:00

As Tropical Storm Fay drenched Central Florida for hours and hours, many more frogs than usual started appearing all around thanks to all of the rain that the storm provided. This green frog found his way into a swimming pool...

This tiny tree frog took shelter from the storm in a garage, picking up all sorts of dust on it's moist skin.

And then there is this Cuban Tree Frog that found his way into my house during the storm. This one was a bit difficult to get back outside...

Clouds of Tropical Storm Fay

2008-08-20T02:03:00.005-04:00

Tropical Storm Fay passed over Florida today. The storm wasn't much to hunker down for. In the Central Florida area, it seemed to be really nothing more than lots of rain with the occasional gust of wind.

At dusk, the storm clouds turned a great orange color that lasted a few minutes. The orange clouds then turned purple, and then returned back to the normal gray as it got darker and darker. Here are a few photos:

Hungry Squrrel...

2008-08-18T02:35:00.003-04:00

Sanford Water Tower

2008-08-17T01:09:00.003-04:00

The water tower on Mellonville Ave in Sanford, FL used to have this great red and white checkerboard paint job. It's since been repainted to a boring solid color...

Space Shuttle Launch from Above...

2008-08-15T13:47:00.003-04:00

I came across this very cool video of a Space Shuttle Launch filmed from an airplane. The cameraman is a bit overexcited though...

Orlando's Creepy Statues #2

2008-08-14T14:14:00.005-04:00

Previously, a creepy statue near Lake Eola in Downtown Orlando was discussed here. It wasn't the only creepy statue in the city though...

This giant rabbit was located in an atrium outside of the Bank of America Building on Orange Ave. While the previous artwork discussed was creepy, this rabbit looks like he is out of a horror movie. It was a mystery to me why this monster rabbit was in front of a bank until my last visit to Downtown. Much to my dismay, the rabbit was gone. Next to where the rabbit was located is a restaurant called Harvey's Bistro. Check out their logo on the green awning...

I'm guessing Harvey's Bistro was responsible for installing the monster bunny. I have no idea what happened to the rabbit, but it will be missed. No matter how creepy it was, the rabbit was one of my favorite bits of public art in Downtown Orlando...

Mayfair Fox Squirrel

2008-08-14T00:30:00.004-04:00

Fox Squirrels are North America's largest tree dwelling squirrel. The first time I saw one, I questioned if it was really a squirrel and not another type of rodent due to it's large size. This picture was my first sighting of a Fox Squirrel at the Mayfair Golf Course in Sanford, FL. I've since seen several more of these animals, all within the same golf course.

Orlando's Creepy Statues #1

2008-08-12T18:44:00.005-04:00

The Paramount is one of Downtown Orlando's newest skyscrapers. It's on Central Blvd, right across the street from Lake Eola. They did something correct in this building by opening up the first big supermarket downtown. Now people living downtown don't actually have to leave downtown in order to go food shopping. The only deterrent may be this creepy statue placed in front of the entrance to the Publix...

She's very random, very creepy, and whoever decided to place this statue here made a good choice...

Insects #1

2008-08-09T01:35:00.004-04:00

Fruit Fly...

Beetle...

Mole Cricket...

Public School Number Four...

2008-08-08T00:55:00.005-04:00

Public School Number Four is an abandoned building in Downtown Jacksonville that has always intrigued me. The former school has wonderful brick architecture and a columned entrance. It has been abandoned for as long as I can remember and like any long abandoned building, it has gained some ghost stories. Books have nicknamed the building as "The Devil's School" to go along with the associated ghost stories.

I don't know the whole history behind the school and why it was let to rot for decades, but my guess it had something to do with I-95 being twenty feet away from the front entrance. It's still a shame to let such a beautiful (and probably historic) building rot away, although I probably wouldn't be inclined to take pictures when riding by if the school wasn't in it's current state...

Chainsaw Art

2008-08-07T02:03:00.003-04:00

Chainsaw carving in a gas station parking lot along SR 46 on the outskirts of Sanford, FL.

Downtown Miami at Sunrise

2008-07-17T01:38:00.003-04:00

These pictures were taken from the Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas cruise ship in 2005. They are on the upper decks of the ship as it was pulling into the Port of Miami at sunrise.

Cheyenne Saloon

2008-07-15T13:29:00.003-04:00

As a cross post from my Food Blog, I am posting this here on the Florida Everyone Forgot Blog. Not necessarily for the food, but more for the great building that this restaurant is housed in...

I ate at the newly reopened Cheyenne Saloon on Church Street in Downtown Orlando on July 4th. Back before the Orlando theme parks built their nighttime entertainment complexes (Pleasure Island, Boardwalk, Citywalk, etc), Church Street Station was one of Orlando's most popular attractions. This area was filled with shopping, restaurants, and clubs. There was other types of entertainment here as well, like a Q-ZAR Laser Tag, a haunted house called Terror on Church Street, and a large arcade. At nighttime there would be street performers juggling in the streets, and the area was always packed with people. Slowly, the crowds began to disappear and all of the activity on Church Street began to close. For a while, Church Street was completely dead with almost nothing open in the area that was once bustling with people. Slowly though, it seems to be coming back to life. A skyscraper with a few restaurants called The Plaza has recently opened on the site of the old Bumby Building, where Terror on Church Street once was. Another building called 55 West is almost complete. It looks like this building will have street level shopping as well.

One of the more recent happenings on Church Street was the reopening of the Cheyenne Saloon. This was one of the original clubs on Church Street, and when it reopened with an added restaurant, I had to try it. It is in a wonderful building, and the food was good too.

The restaurant is on the second floor of a western themed club, all in a massive building with great stained glass windows, balconies weaving all around the upper floors, and western paraphernalia all around.

The menu was somewhat small and consisted of all barbecue, but I didn't have a problem with it. I had a pulled pork dinner that was served with a choice of sides. I chose mashed potatoes and collard greens.

A basket of biscuits was brought out first. They came with butter and honey as a topping, but they really didn't need anything and tasted fine the way they were.

My pulled pork came out soon after. The pork itself was good. It wasn't as finely shredded compared to the pulled pork I've gotten elsewhere and was pulled into bite sized chunks instead. It was very tender and was served with barbecue sauce on the side. The mashed potatoes tasted very boring, and definitely needed gravy, or at least some salt. The collard greens were tender and very tasty, compared to the occasions when sometimes collard greens are bitter and stringy instead.

I thought the Cheyenne Saloon had good barbecue, and the building was a nice plus...

Sanford Marina...

2008-07-13T14:40:00.004-04:00

Sanford, FL is located along the St. Johns River in Seminole County. The city used to have a large steamboat industry due to it's location along Lake Monroe. Lake Monroe is the last area that large boats can travel in before the river gets too shallow. The steamboats are all gone, but the city does have a nice marina near where the steamboats used to dock...

Cheap Gas?

2008-07-10T00:58:00.004-04:00

I saw this Texaco gas station on Lake Mary Blvd, just west of Downtown Lake Mary, FL. Surprisingly, there weren't any buyers...

Lake Eola July 4th Fireworks

2008-07-05T16:34:00.003-04:00

On July 4, 2008, I watched the firework show that took place over Lake Eola Park in Downtown Orlando. The show was about twenty minutes long, but I was disappointed that the park didn't dim the lights or broadcast the soundtrack to the show over the park's speakers. It was still an okay show, although it seemed like Red, Hot, & Boom from the night before shot off a whole lot more fireworks. The environment of watching the show among skyscrapers was an added plus...

Red, Hot, & Boom 2008

2008-07-03T22:39:00.003-04:00

Red, Hot, and Boom is Altamonte Spring's annual 4th of July Fireworks show. The show takes place on July 3 each year, over the lake in Cranes Roost Park.

I wasn't planning on seeing the fireworks here this year. I had a bad experience here a few years ago when it took me four hours to travel about three miles after the show because of all of the traffic, none of which was being directed by the police. I just happened to be riding by this year along I-4 when the fireworks were going on. Since the show's music was broadcast over the radio, it seemed everyone decided that the middle of a highway was a perfect place to watch fireworks and the cars all came to a complete stop.

I have to admit, it was a perfect view of the show...

Red-Tailed Hawk

2008-07-03T01:37:00.003-04:00

I spotted this red-tailed hawk was sitting on a fence searching for food. It must have seen something because it swooped down into a grassy area before flying up into some trees with empty talons...

Cape Florida Lighthouse

2008-06-26T17:12:00.005-04:00

The Cape Florida Lighthouse is located on Key Biscayne, just outside of Downtown Miami. The 95 foot tower has wonderful view of the surrounding state park, the Atlantic Ocean, Downtown Miami, Stiltsville, as well as the rest of the surrounding areas. The lighthouse is in Bill Baggs State Park, which has some really nice beaches, as well as some good waterfront restaurants...

Space Shuttle Discovery- STS 124

2008-06-02T11:05:00.004-04:00

The Space Shuttle Discovery launched into space from Kennedy Space Center on May 31, 2008 at 5:02 pm. It's job is to deliver and install Japan's Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station. Where I viewed the launch, there were some low clouds that blocked the view of the shuttle for a few seconds, but beyond that there were clear skies. It was even clear enough to see the boosters separate from the shuttle!

Here is a video of the launch that I filmed. A little shaky in the beginning, but it soon improves:

Of course, NASA TV always has some impressive videos of the launch that end up on Youtube. Like their video of the launch:

Or their video of the shuttle's external fuel tank falling below the shuttle:

Only seven shuttle launches left, then nothing until the Orion program starts in 2014(if it happens)...

Farm Animals along the Seminole Wekiva Trail

2008-05-29T23:34:00.003-04:00

When traveling along a section of the Seminole Wekiva Trail in Lake Mary, Florida, horses and cows are a regular sight...

Daytona Beach Boardwalk Adventure

2008-05-26T01:35:00.007-04:00

After seeing a movie in the Ocean walk Theater and eating, I took a walk around the Daytona Beach Boardwalk and pier. It was a busy place compared to the last time I was there. To start, here is the Ocean Walk shopping area. The bright paint colors, tall buildings, and blue sky make this place nice to take pictures of...

Walking towards the boardwalk, you see the Daytona Beach stage...

Walking along the street running along the boardwalk, you pass by this Slingshot ride. It's one of the few working rides still on the boardwalk...

Next to the Sling Shot is this empty spot along the boardwalk. This is where there used to be arcades, go kart tracks, kiddie rides, and all sorts of good stuff. It was all knocked down a while ago, and not much has happened since leaving this large scar along the boardwalk...

Coming up is the back side of one of the remaining Arcades, the Mardi Gras Family Fun Center. Next door is the giant swimmer...

Coming up on Main Street, you come to a group of interesting older buildings. This building for example had nothing in business in it, but had two green men on the second floor balcony. The myths behind green men are that the faces should bring weath, good luck, and fertilty to the building that the faces hang on. In the case of the Beachside Cafe, it apparently didn't work...

On to the pier. The first thing you come across is this sky tower ride. It all looks good as you are approaching the ride. As you get closer though, it becomes apparent that the ride isn't actually running. Instead, the cabin is being used as a digital photo booth of some sorts...

The Cable Car ride on the pier was working. This ride is actually kind of scary when you think about it. You are hanging high above a wooden pier, high above the Atlantic Ocean, all from a rather thin cable that it constantly exposed to the moist and salty ocean air, encouraging rust. The ride has survived when the end of the pier didn't during hurricanes. It's been through a lot, but is still going.

See the guy sitting on the platform in the black? Following in the footsteps of the larger Orlando theme parks, he takes your on-ride photo while you are riding the cable cars over the Daytona Beach Pier.

Leaving the Pier and walking back towards the Ocean Walk along the boardwalk, you see the front side of the Mardi Gras Fun Center with it's wonderful giant paper machie jester heads...

On the other side of the void from the removed amusements along the boardwalk, you come to the other remaining gift shop/arcade with the sling shot on the roof...

Past the amusements, you come to this park in front of the Hilton Hotel with the Clocktower in it. There were some street performers doing shows in this section of the boardwalk. There was a magician that did some pretty good slight of hand as well as some guitar players. It was cool to see, but from the reaction of the police officers, it didn't seem like they were very welcome...

I was then back to the Ocean Walk, where I crossed the pedestrian bridge over A1A to the parking garage, and left the Daytona Beach Boardwalk.

It was fun...

Return to Ginger Ale Springs...

2008-05-23T00:36:00.003-04:00

I wrote about Ginger Ale Springs here previously. It is a small natural spring in Longwood, Florida that was possibly used in a Ginger Ale bottling plant, hence the name. Very few people seem to know about it even though it is just a few meters from the road.

Recently I returned to Ginger Ale Springs to see if anything changed from my last visit. Stuff did change. Much of the foliage between the spring and the road has been trimmed back. There were no longer any ginger plants along the path leading up to the spring either. Much of the random junk that surrounded the spring pool also disappeared. The Virgin Mary and the Barbie Dolls in the trees are all gone.

It seems like all of this has been replaced though with a new collection of junk around the spring. I spotted a decorated CD, an angel up in a palm tree, and flower pots...

The flower pot is sort of perplexing, trying to grow domesticated plants in a jungle-like environment. Whoever puts all of this junk around the spring must be tenacious to have replaced the old collection of junk with a new collection rather quickly.

As for the spring itself, not much has changed. It's still flowing strong. The guppys are still there. The water still smells. All is good...

I also came across this response to the original video that I posted on Youtube of Ginger Ale Springs that somebody made. By the look of it and the clear view of cars passing by, this was filmed after the trees around the spring were cleaned up and trimmed...

Stiltsville

2008-05-21T11:56:00.003-04:00

Stiltsville is a group of houses built off of the coast of Key Biscayne in Miami, Florida. The houses were built back during prohibition so that the owners could drink and gamble while technically being outside of the United States. Seven houses still survive today...

An I-4 Vehicle's View of Downtown Orlando

2008-05-14T01:24:00.003-04:00

I took some pictures while riding through Downtown Orlando from I-4 last weekend. What you see here are the results of taking pictures out the passenger window of a speeding car...

Beetle...

2008-05-09T02:11:00.001-04:00

I found this beetle hanging out by a light. Cool insect...

Mount Dora Doodlebug

2008-05-07T16:41:00.005-04:00

The Mount Dora Doodlebug was a passenger train car that had a motor added to it. It ran for a while on the train tracks running through Mount Dora and Tavares, Florida. It was relatively short lived and stopped running when the scenic railroad company that owned it closed down.

These pictures are on a ride from the train station in Downtown Mt. Dora to the 441 railroad overpass...

For more, follow this link:
LINK: MOUNT DORA DOODLEBUG

Fun World...

2008-05-05T12:25:00.005-04:00

Fun World is a little amusement park attached to the Flea World flea market in Sanford, Florida. They have an arcade with a bunch of really old games, miniature golf, go carts, a section of kiddie rides, and also a section of carnival thrill rides that are pictured here. The rides are kind of scary looking, especially knowing the parks history. They had a swing ride where some of the chains broke holding up a swing sending people flying. On the bumper cars, a hot electric pickup fell from above a rider landing on them causing burns. The swings are gone, but the bumper cars are still at the park. The remaining rides look like they have seen better days...

The Tilt-A-Whirl...

The Scrambler...

The red, white, and blue outer space themed Round Up ride. It wasn't open...

The Fun World Super Slide. All of that rust under the platform at the top of the ride can't be a good thing...

And the Fun World Express...

Point Orlando Bench Monster

2008-05-02T01:38:00.004-04:00

I came across this little monster in a bench along International Drive in front of the Pointe Orlando mall. All of the tourists walking by seemed perplexed by me kneeling down to take pictures of a bench...

Octopuses Can't Read...

2008-04-30T02:24:00.004-04:00

Isn't the Octopus climbing? The sign clearly says No Climbing!

At the Ocean Walk Village in Daytona Beach, Florida.