The Cathedral Church of St. Luke

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...

Orlando's Urban Monsters #1

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.

Public School Number Four...

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...