Lost in Kissimmee

This was me yesterday afternoon--Lost in Kissimmee. Interestingly enough I took this image at the beginning of my journey Wednesday morning. I saw it from the road at a construction site on Conway Road; little did I know it would be five hours later!

I was ready for a little road trip for several reasons, one of which we discussed earlier this week--not enough out and about these days! I headed towards the rural areas around Narcoossee, and possibly St. Cloud, eventually ending up in the "historic" downtown of Kissimmee, which turned out to be just about perfect. For whatever reason, I'd only been in the area one time for Michelle's shower dinner although it's only sixteen miles from the house which suits my purposes perfectly. There are only a few blocks of old colorful buildings, all beautifully maintained, with alleyways an added bonus. You know how I like to roam alleys! I found some graffiti on a great old brick wall which could turn out to be a real winner. We shall see about that this Sunday because I'm having Roger make a baby canvas to show and sell.

So here's the scoop on the area. Parking my car on Main Street, I roamed around, seeing this beautiful Methodist Church, appropriately placed on Church Street.

As well, I'm not sure if it is a permanent installation, but at each corner wonderful outdoor sculptures made your time waiting to cross the street enjoyable.

Speaking of crossing streets, it was a breeze with cars stopping for you at crosswalks. I went into a gallery for a look-around, and saw some great pieces by a Croation artist I know named Mirjana. She does mixed media, layering flowers on painted burlap sounds weird, but what she does with it is wonderful. Taking the gallery owner's advice after a little chat, I made my way down the street to a restaurant in the back of a Medicine Shoppe, which, if you are unfamiliar with them, are locally owned pharmacies. Although it was a pretty bare bones operation, (the chef's name plate was just above the heat lamp where the servers picked up the food,) it was clean and with locals seated having their lunch. Everyone knows how much I love a good hamburger, fries, and coke, so that is what I ordered--bad choice. The burger was the kind you buy frozen, the fries looked about the same color as a fresh potato, hardly any evidence of frying. Did I mention they were tasteless as well? No matter that I used both the salt and pepper shakers liberally, even resorting to ketchup, they were just bad. You know those really, really, cheap buns that fall apart after one bite? They do too. I decided to eat just enough to know I'd eaten something, leaving the rest for the trash. Somehow the restaurant has been in business for over fifty years, however, you could have fooled me from the quality of the food. I won't be returning any time soon.

Coming across another gallery, I learned it was a cooperative, with members taking turns minding the store. Turns out there are four galleries in the just the few blocks.

On the opposite side of Main Street you will find FOUR barbershops in two blocks! I'm seriously wondering how they all stay in business, both the galleries and the barber shops.

After Bruce saw the graffiti shot he suggested I try again because he thinks it's a possible winner too, just not exactly the way I took it. Mind you the alley is quite narrow and it's super hard to get a good shot but I agreed. Which meant a return trip this morning. I almost couldn't find it again and even had visions of someone painting over it before I got there but after a little bit of wandering I found it. If it is even a tiny bit as popular as my other graffiti then I'll be thrilled and the second trip will be totally worth it. This morning I came across a small farmer's market with several produce vendors, herbs, honey, fresh bread, and plants. I do love a good radish--don't you? I especially like when they still have the tops attached as shown:

So back to the Lost bit from yesterday. I turned the wrong direction to head home, driving many miles out of my way. I even called Bruce in DC to ask him what I'd done wrong because he did a couple jobs out this way some months back. All he could tell me was that I was many, many miles from I-4. Eventually I came across a road I knew, which led to another, and then the sweet familiar sight of I-4 came into view. I could have stopped for directions earlier, however, by the time I realized I'd gone the wrong way, I figured it was too far to turn back!

Switching gears, I'm thinking of having the exterior of the house painted again. We last had it done maybe seven years ago? While doing a bit of internet research I came across this: Colour Lovers Take a look at this site. I tell you there is something for everyone online! I especially like how they name the palettes like art work. Maybe when Matthew comes home he can help me come up with something new.

Angela was here a few minutes ago with a Christmas ornament catalog. She and Matt got a big kick out of one they came across--a dog bone with green striped ribbon. On the bone itself, the name is Baxter, with a little red heart attached inscribed--"Worlds Best Dog"--which if you know Baxter personally you would be hard pressed to dispute!

Despite what the calendar says, the weather forecast for the weekend is 92 degrees, hardly fall-like wouldn't you agree?

Hurray, Mr. Bruce arrives home shortly after a busy time in DC. The restaurant is getting closer every day--93% according to his field report. When I saw the pictures I could hardly imagine it was the same space I saw two months ago. Yeah for his team and their coach!
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Listening to: Annie Lennox - Lost
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It Only Seems Fair....

Because I've taken everyone else's picture I thought that I show you what I look like these days. I went out back to clean the pool and heard our cardinal from last spring. If you don't recall, we had a nest with three eggs--only one survived. I brought my new tripod out to see if I could get a photo of the male when I was done with the pool. He disappeared quickly, probably because Baxter goes nuts when I use the cleaner. He barks like a little maniac which is unusual for him. I finally had to put him back inside. Did I mention it was 80 degrees today? Really nice.

I realized after getting done with the pool that I could try taking my own picture with the self timer and tripod. Believe me, it took lots of tries before I got this one. I cropped it because previously it showed how my upper arms have gotten so weird since I've not been lifting weights. Even though I am very slender, skin sags where you don't want it to at my age. I suppose I'm lucky that I'm just experiencing this phenom.

I followed Bruce to the BMW dealership to have some light fixed in his car, dropping him off at work resulting in being out early. I've been sleeping entirely too late, this was a good reason to be out and about early. Naturally, I did not waste the opportunity to use the wonderful morning light. I traveled out to Kissimmee to see their little downtown, but ended up at Lake Toho. I'm using the short version of the lake's name as I'm uncertain if I can spell the real name correctly. It's one of the largest lakes in Florida with a waterfront park in downtown Kissimmee (I use that term loosely). Although people think Disney World is synonymous with Orlando it is really closer to Kissimmee. A little more history of the area--it used to be cattle ranching and little else, now it is filled with hotels, tourist traps, and traffic. I spoke with a native today who echoed just what I've long thought--they are terribly distressed with the changes.

Nevertheless, the lake front was still marvelous. Let's put it this way--the lake is so huge you can't see the other side. I met some interesting folks--one man who had a Panasonic camera which is a rare sighting. As you know, that is what I use, but not too many people do. Carl was the fisherman's name. I'll share his info tomorrow, but I will tell you he caught some tiny fish which he then threw on the dock for us to photograph while the heron and egret scrambled for it. Florida is home to many birds; mostly they have long legs and beaks to facilitate finding food along the shoreline. I've never shown it but I previously photographed a vulture very close, today I think I found a bird, that at least in the face, rivals the vulture for ugliness--a wood stork. More later.

Sunday I sold the print of Ron Jon's--the famous surf shop in Cocoa. The girl was buying it for her boyfriend's birthday. I only have the one surfer picture; when we got home I mentioned to Bruce I should probably go to Sebastian's Inlet because it is a large surfer haven. Serendipity prevails. Not one hour later Bruce saw on television that a huge surfer contest was going on all week in Sebastian!! Those readers familiar with Florida geography know Sebastian is just above Vero Beach. You guessed it--he has a job site visit there tomorrow and yours truly will chauffeur. That's right--I'll drop him off at the restaurant and mosey for the time he is working. I'm sure you will much prefer a surfer picture to the wood stork, of course, you may still get the wood stork at some point.

One caveat--I've no makeup on as you can probably tell!




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Now playing: Keane - Crystal Ball
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