I spent most of Friday in Washington, DC hanging out with my friend Joe Sandillo who I know from my time at the University of Florida. But it seemed to take a long time to travel just 30 or so miles to get to DC from Baltimore. I took Baltimore’s Light Rail to Penn Station after waiting 20 minutes for the train to arrive. It seemed to take another 20 or more minutes to get to Penn Station. So much time, in fact, that although I left the hotel at 9:30 I barely made it to Penn Station in time to get my ticket for the 10:50 MARC commuter train to Washington. It was a relief to finally get to Joe’s. He recently bought a condo in the Logan Circle neighborhood at N St. and 14th St. and I was excited to see him and his new home. We had lunch al fresco at a nearby restaurant and then took a long walk through his neighborhood up to Meridian Hill Park overlooking the city and then back down to the DuPont Circle area. It was nice to be away from tourists and since I have been to DC many times and seen most of the tourist attractions, I didn‘t really care what we did. I think the highlight of the day for me was sitting outside at a bar on 17th Street, having a few beers, catching up, and talking about old time. Good times; good times.
Drew came back from his class that evening and the three of us, along with Joe’s friend Andrew, went to a restaurant called Marvin in the U Street neighborhood. U Street was historically the cultural center of African American Washington, sort of the Harlem of DC, but today it has become a neighborhood of various groups and seems to be going through a renaissance. Many of the establishments are named for Jazz greats like Duke Ellington and others. Marvin is a restaurant named for Marvin Gay and the food is a mixture of Southern and Belgian food as Marvin Gay once spent several years in Belgium. They had a large menu of Belgian beers and mussels. For dinner, I had fried chicken on top of a waffle. It seemed at first like a strange combination, but I enjoyed the flavor of chicken, waffle, and maple syrup and would have it again. After dinner, we walked down the street to a bar called Nellie’s and hung out on the roof deck for a little while. Drew and I felt like two old men when we pooped out at 11:00 and went back to our hotel. Going out on the town is just not what it used to be when we were young.
Saturday, Drew and I still had half a day before our flight home but had no plans as to what we wanted to do before then. After breakfast we decided to go to the National Cathedral which is a straight shot up Massachusetts Ave. from our hotel in Dupont Circle. As we waited for a taxi in front of our hotel we noticed a long line forming at the Portuguese embassy across the street (Mass. Ave. is often called Embassy Row). We wondered what it was about as they didn’t look like asylum seekers or anything, but didn’t pay to much attention to it. Once in the taxi heading to the cathedral we learned that it was European Union Embassies’ open house day. We passed several more on our way up the street and were especially impressed with the goings-on at the British embassy. We made a quick loop through the cathedral and then walked back down the street to the British embassy. Out in front a children’s choir was singing Let It Be and the gates where decorated with union jack bunting. Once inside, we were able to walk through the gardens of the ambassador’s residence, take pictures, listen to bag pipes, try some scotch, and browse the booths. We probably stayed for about 45 minutes. The anglophile in me was in heaven and I kept wondering what Hyacinth Bucket (from the BritCom Keeping Up Appearances) would think about my getting to go to a garden party at the ambassador’s. We didn’t have time to go to any of the other embassies and by then the lines were getting long anyway. We met my friend Donald Hitchcock for lunch who filled us in on all the political goings-on behind the scenes in DC--he and his partner Paul are very well connected politically--and then drove us to the airport for our flight home.
It was nice to travel with my friend Drew again as it had been sometime since we had gone on a trip together and I found it interesting that my trip that began with a visit to Fort McHenry ended with a visit to the British Embassy. Thanks Drew for a great trip.
Here is a link to some pictures I posted on Facebook (you do not need to be a member of Facebook to view them):
Just click here to view pictures.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Baltimore
Greetings from Baltimore! I am here with my friend Drew who is here for a doctors' continuing education class and invited me along. This is my first real time in Baltimore (I came when I was five to a Baltimore Orioles game with my Dad and uncle and cousin who lived in DC but that's all we did, so I don't think that really counts).
We arrived Wednesday by various transportation modes: we flew into Washington, DC, took the Metro to Union Station, a commuter train to Baltimore, and a taxi to our hotel. We are staying in downtown Baltimore across the street from Camden Yards baseball stadium. Once we finally got settled in, we walked down to Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Baltimore has a natural harbor formed by the Patapsco river which snakes it way into the inner city. The final end of it is almost surrounded on four sides by land. We had drinks at a bar with a great view of the National Aquarium and the USS Constellation, a ship from the War of 1812. We later met up with some friends of Drew's and their newborn for dinner and then walked back to their row house in the Federal Hill neighborhood. Baltimore seems covered with row houses. I had no idea it was such a "real" city like Boston or Washington, DC--very dense with houses right on the street, walkable neighborhoods, and lots of parallel parking. The Federal Hill neighborhood was particularly charming. On a large hill overlooking the harbor, was a large American flag on the spot where there was once a huge union garrison stationed during the civil war to "keep an eye on the rebellious elements in Baltimore." At least that's what the historic marker said.
Today, I took a water taxi to Fort McHenry at the opposite end of the harbor. The fort was heavily bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. During the bombardment the flag flying over the fort was not damaged and Francis Scott Key wrote a poem about it, called "The Star-Spangled Banner, " which was eventually set to music and became our national anthem. The flag that inspired our anthem is now in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian but there is a replica of it flying over the fort. It has fifteen stars and fifteen stripes for the 15 states that were part of the union at the time. Before heading to the fort I stopped at the visitor center for a short film. When the film was over, the curtain to the right of us parted revealing a large picture window with a perfect view of the fort and the flag. We were asked to stand and the national anthem was played over the speakers. I thought it was a little hokie and wondered what would happen if I started to sing, "There'll Always be an England?" But I didn't and actually, the rest of the day I couldn't get the national anthem out of my head. There were several elementary school groups there on field trips but somehow I managed to avoid them by seeing various parts of the fort at just the right time. After seeing all I wanted, I took the water taxi to the historic Fell's Point neighborhood where I had lunch at a pub. I took a long walk after lunch, partly by accident, back to the harbor. After walking around the Mount Vernon neighborhood a bit, I returned to the hotel for a nice nap.
When Drew got out of his class we took a free shuttle bus to an Irish pub by the harbor for a beer before going on to Obrycki's restaurant back in Fell's Point for a traditional Baltimore Blue Crab dinner. We got three jumbo Blue Crabs as well as two crab cakes. I had never had a traditional crab meal before and while it was delicious, I think it was the messiest meal I have ever had. We went through a whole big stack of paper napkins and had crab and goo all over our hands. I have since washed my hands three time and they still smell like crab. But it was a lot of fun and we got some good pictures and had some good laughs. Tomorrow Drew goes back to class (something with cadavers and tracheotomies) and I am heading back to Washington, DC to spend the day with my friend Joe. Stay tuned for more.
We arrived Wednesday by various transportation modes: we flew into Washington, DC, took the Metro to Union Station, a commuter train to Baltimore, and a taxi to our hotel. We are staying in downtown Baltimore across the street from Camden Yards baseball stadium. Once we finally got settled in, we walked down to Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Baltimore has a natural harbor formed by the Patapsco river which snakes it way into the inner city. The final end of it is almost surrounded on four sides by land. We had drinks at a bar with a great view of the National Aquarium and the USS Constellation, a ship from the War of 1812. We later met up with some friends of Drew's and their newborn for dinner and then walked back to their row house in the Federal Hill neighborhood. Baltimore seems covered with row houses. I had no idea it was such a "real" city like Boston or Washington, DC--very dense with houses right on the street, walkable neighborhoods, and lots of parallel parking. The Federal Hill neighborhood was particularly charming. On a large hill overlooking the harbor, was a large American flag on the spot where there was once a huge union garrison stationed during the civil war to "keep an eye on the rebellious elements in Baltimore." At least that's what the historic marker said.
Today, I took a water taxi to Fort McHenry at the opposite end of the harbor. The fort was heavily bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. During the bombardment the flag flying over the fort was not damaged and Francis Scott Key wrote a poem about it, called "The Star-Spangled Banner, " which was eventually set to music and became our national anthem. The flag that inspired our anthem is now in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian but there is a replica of it flying over the fort. It has fifteen stars and fifteen stripes for the 15 states that were part of the union at the time. Before heading to the fort I stopped at the visitor center for a short film. When the film was over, the curtain to the right of us parted revealing a large picture window with a perfect view of the fort and the flag. We were asked to stand and the national anthem was played over the speakers. I thought it was a little hokie and wondered what would happen if I started to sing, "There'll Always be an England?" But I didn't and actually, the rest of the day I couldn't get the national anthem out of my head. There were several elementary school groups there on field trips but somehow I managed to avoid them by seeing various parts of the fort at just the right time. After seeing all I wanted, I took the water taxi to the historic Fell's Point neighborhood where I had lunch at a pub. I took a long walk after lunch, partly by accident, back to the harbor. After walking around the Mount Vernon neighborhood a bit, I returned to the hotel for a nice nap.
When Drew got out of his class we took a free shuttle bus to an Irish pub by the harbor for a beer before going on to Obrycki's restaurant back in Fell's Point for a traditional Baltimore Blue Crab dinner. We got three jumbo Blue Crabs as well as two crab cakes. I had never had a traditional crab meal before and while it was delicious, I think it was the messiest meal I have ever had. We went through a whole big stack of paper napkins and had crab and goo all over our hands. I have since washed my hands three time and they still smell like crab. But it was a lot of fun and we got some good pictures and had some good laughs. Tomorrow Drew goes back to class (something with cadavers and tracheotomies) and I am heading back to Washington, DC to spend the day with my friend Joe. Stay tuned for more.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Christmas 2009
I went to Orlando for Christmas this year as I always do, but this year I drove and stayed longer. While I was there I also visited Fort Lauderdale to see some friends. Besides just hanging out a lot, I did a couple of things that I would like to blog about.
On my way back from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando, I decided to forgo the turnpike and take back roads through the Everglades and past Lake Okeechobee. I stopped about 20 miles west of Fort Lauderdale at the Sawgrass Recreation Park on US Hwy 27. The park is situated in the northeast corner of the vast Everglades and has both a boat launch and a small zoo. I took an air boat ride first. I have always wanted to go on one but until then had never even been to the Everglades despite having grown up in Florida. The boat took us out for about a half an hour over the sawgrass swamp where we saw a couple of alligators and some birds. The Everglades used to be a giant 60 foot wide slow moving waterway that went from Lake Okeechobee down to Florida Bay at the end of the state. But because of all the levies, canals, and roads that have been built over them, most of the glades are now a non-moving marsh. Such was the condition of the swamp we were seeing. We also stopped at an island where some Malaluca trees had been planted and an Osprey was resting on one. These foreign trees were at one time planted all over the everglades in the hope that they would drink up the water and help convert the land to farmland. The trees reproduced like crazy and now the state is trying all kinds of methods to try and kill them. After the boat ride, I walked around the small zoo and saw more alligators and a Florida Panther, the state animal. I also read a display about efforts to "restore" the Everglades, which basically involve more dams, canals, and pumping stations to try to recreate the natural flow. I'll believe it when I see it. You can read more about Sawgrass Recreation Park at their website: http://www.evergladestours.com.
After my air boat adventure, I headed north on Hwy 27 toward Lake Okeechobee. On my way there I passed more swamp which eventually gave way to sugarcane fields as far as I could see in both directions. Eventually I did pass other farms including several palm tree farms where several varieties were being grown to be used later for landscaping. At the southeast corner of the lake, I passed through the town of Belle Glade. Although it is in Palm Beach county, it must be one of the poorest cities in the state. It was certainly the poorest place in Florida that I remember visiting. I took a wrong turn at one point and ended up going through downtown and then through a neighborhood that reminded me of some of the poverty I have seen in Honduras. You know things are bad when the main store downtown is the Goodwill. Apparently most of the economy comes from people working on the sugarcane fields. God bless them. In Pahokee, I drove up on the levy surrounding the lake and walked around the marina. Lake Okeechobee is the second largest lake in the US that is entirely within the US. It is so large that I could not see across it. As I continued on and drove around it, I did not see much more of the lake as it is surrounded by a high levy to prevent flooding during hurricanes. While it serves its purpose it has damaged the Everglades ecosystem south of it, which depended on it flooding. So I drove north with the levy on my left and passed numerous Sabal Palms (the state tree) and Live Oaks and fishing camps and felt like I was in the "real" Florida.
On the Monday after Christmas, my parents and I went to Lake Wales to see Bok Tower and its surrounding gardens, about an hour southwest of Orlando. It is situated on a hill known locally as iron mountain which rises 342 feet above sea level, making it the highest point in peninsular Florida and the second highest point in the state. The tower was built in the 1920s for Edward Bok and the gardens surrounding it were designed by Frank Law Olmstead, Jr. After Bok's death, it was given to the State of Florida. Although one cannot go up in the tower we did get to hear the 60 bell carillon give a concert and we enjoyed walking around the grounds taking in the views of the surrounding orange groves and enjoying the scenery of the ponds and native Florida trees. We also visited the Pinewood Estate property next door and enjoyed seeing the house professionally decorated for the holidays. The house was at onetime the winter home of C. Austin Buck, the one-time president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Although the Christmas decorations were very pretty, we would have rather been there on an ordinary day when they give the regular tour which would have been more informative. You can read more about Bok Tower and the Pinewood Estate at their website: http://www.boktowergardens.org.
I have posted an album on Facebook with some of my pictures from my trip. You do not need to be a member of Facebook to view these photos. Just click on the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47835&id=1410030498&l=999cc50b56
After our visit to Bok Tower, we went to the nearby Spook Hill. I had always heard of Spook Hill, a hill where it appears that one can roll backwards up a hill. It is really just an optical illusion but it sure seemed real when we were there. Here is a video of my parents' car rolling backwards "up" the hill:
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Birthday Weekend 2009
For my birthday (Monday Oct. 5) this year I decided to spend the weekend with my parents and my brother at my parents' condo in Ponce Inlet, Florida. We had a fun time and since it has been a while since I've blogged I thought I would write about it.
I arrived Sat. afternoon and spent the rest of the day just hanging out at the condo relaxing and doing nothing. We had dinner that night at Down the Hatch, overlooking the Halifax river and watched the sun set. Sunday morning we just relaxed once again but that afternoon we went to the science center down at the inlet. The science center consisted of a museum, a turtle rehabilitation center, and a bird rehabilitation center. We visited all three. The museum had several display aquariums of sea life in the area. As I have my own aquarium, albeit fresh water, I enjoyed these exhibits the most. The turtle rehab center is a small hospital where sick or injured turtles are isolated and cared for until they heal and are ready to return to the wild. There were turtles there for a variety of reasons, such as propeller injuries, digestive issues, and fight wounds. There was one display showing the kinds of things that often end up in their stomachs, such as fish hooks, cigarette butts, and deflated balloons! The bird sanctuary was a similar facility for birds and there were several varieties there including owls, pelicans, bald eagles, and even a stork with a broken wing. That night we went to one of my favorite restaurants Aunt Catfish's in Port Orange. I enjoyed Lobster (for $12.99!), the giant salad bar, and their cinnamon rolls.
Monday on my birthday we drove up to Saint Augustine for the day. Saint Augustine is the oldest city in the United States, founded by the Spanish in 1565. I had not been in about 15 years though I went several times as a kid with boy scouts and school. Our first stop was the Castillo de San Marcos fort built in 1762 to protect the city from the British and French. We took a self guided tour of the fort and saw various rooms, an old prison, a chapel, and a musket demonstration. We also walked around on the ramparts looking at the old canons and admiring the view. After the fort we went over to the Columbia restaurant for lunch but it was closed. We were all disappointed as we had been talking for several days about eating there. At this point it was super humid and we were super hungry. Not a good combination for four stubborn people. But after going to three other restaurants we finally found an Italian one that we all agreed on and ended up having a really nice time. After lunch we walked through the historic district to the Cathedral and went inside just as it started to rain. After that, we slowly made our way up St. George Street running from awning to awning dodging the rain. Before we left town we decided we would go take a tour of the oldest house in Florida. It looked simple enough to find on the map but we hadn't counted on their being so many one way streets and several being flooded. It was actually nice to get lost though and see the old city from a different perspective (that probably is not how my mom would describe it though as she was driving). The oldest house in Florida was built in 1702 shortly after the British burned St. Augustine. The house had had several owners over the last 300 years and the different rooms were decorated to each show a different time period in the history of the house. We then drove around a little more before leaving St. Augustine, having had a fun day. That night we had breakfast for dinner, an ancient Rencher Sunday tradition (even though it was Monday) which I enjoyed experiencing on my birthday.
Thanks Mom and Dad for a fun weekend.
I have posted an album on Facebook of pictures from the weekend. You do not have to be a member of Facebook to view them. Just click on the link below and enjoy:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38706&id=1410030498&l=27a846e850
I arrived Sat. afternoon and spent the rest of the day just hanging out at the condo relaxing and doing nothing. We had dinner that night at Down the Hatch, overlooking the Halifax river and watched the sun set. Sunday morning we just relaxed once again but that afternoon we went to the science center down at the inlet. The science center consisted of a museum, a turtle rehabilitation center, and a bird rehabilitation center. We visited all three. The museum had several display aquariums of sea life in the area. As I have my own aquarium, albeit fresh water, I enjoyed these exhibits the most. The turtle rehab center is a small hospital where sick or injured turtles are isolated and cared for until they heal and are ready to return to the wild. There were turtles there for a variety of reasons, such as propeller injuries, digestive issues, and fight wounds. There was one display showing the kinds of things that often end up in their stomachs, such as fish hooks, cigarette butts, and deflated balloons! The bird sanctuary was a similar facility for birds and there were several varieties there including owls, pelicans, bald eagles, and even a stork with a broken wing. That night we went to one of my favorite restaurants Aunt Catfish's in Port Orange. I enjoyed Lobster (for $12.99!), the giant salad bar, and their cinnamon rolls.
Monday on my birthday we drove up to Saint Augustine for the day. Saint Augustine is the oldest city in the United States, founded by the Spanish in 1565. I had not been in about 15 years though I went several times as a kid with boy scouts and school. Our first stop was the Castillo de San Marcos fort built in 1762 to protect the city from the British and French. We took a self guided tour of the fort and saw various rooms, an old prison, a chapel, and a musket demonstration. We also walked around on the ramparts looking at the old canons and admiring the view. After the fort we went over to the Columbia restaurant for lunch but it was closed. We were all disappointed as we had been talking for several days about eating there. At this point it was super humid and we were super hungry. Not a good combination for four stubborn people. But after going to three other restaurants we finally found an Italian one that we all agreed on and ended up having a really nice time. After lunch we walked through the historic district to the Cathedral and went inside just as it started to rain. After that, we slowly made our way up St. George Street running from awning to awning dodging the rain. Before we left town we decided we would go take a tour of the oldest house in Florida. It looked simple enough to find on the map but we hadn't counted on their being so many one way streets and several being flooded. It was actually nice to get lost though and see the old city from a different perspective (that probably is not how my mom would describe it though as she was driving). The oldest house in Florida was built in 1702 shortly after the British burned St. Augustine. The house had had several owners over the last 300 years and the different rooms were decorated to each show a different time period in the history of the house. We then drove around a little more before leaving St. Augustine, having had a fun day. That night we had breakfast for dinner, an ancient Rencher Sunday tradition (even though it was Monday) which I enjoyed experiencing on my birthday.
Thanks Mom and Dad for a fun weekend.
I have posted an album on Facebook of pictures from the weekend. You do not have to be a member of Facebook to view them. Just click on the link below and enjoy:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38706&id=1410030498&l=27a846e850
Monday, April 27, 2009
Easter 2009 Pictures
I have created an album on Facebook with some of my Easter pictures. You can check it out at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22009&id=1410030498&l=1adc814e21
You do not need to be a member of Facebook to look at the album. And if you want to see more of the inside of my grandparents' house there is a link below to my family's weblog.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22009&id=1410030498&l=1adc814e21
You do not need to be a member of Facebook to look at the album. And if you want to see more of the inside of my grandparents' house there is a link below to my family's weblog.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Easter Weekend 2009
I realize it has been quite some time since I last blogged. When I set up my blog just before my trip to Yellowstone, I intended to go on more trips and to write more about those trips. But the economic situation has led me to decide to focus on saving money this year, and therefore, I have no big trips planned. Nevertheless I do plan on taking some small trips mainly with my family and I have decided to go ahead and blog about these.
I took some time off around Easter this year and went to see my parents and brother in Orlando for a few days. We saw several things that I thought would be interesting to write about.
I arrived in Orlando on Saturday morning, April 11th and my parents picked me up at the airport. After picking me up, we headed to rural Seminole County near Chuluota to see my Grandfather’s old ranch and house. Granddad sold the ranch in 1960 so that his children could go to college and he could retire. Much of the land is now a girl scout camp but the house that he built there is still standing. We had not called ahead so we just pulled in the front gate when we saw it was open. Although, we couldn’t walk in the house, I was allowed to walk around the grounds and take pictures. The house is a very plain one story rectangular building with a gravel roof and a screened-in porch around the back. The back yard slopes down to a lake with a dock. I noticed a large live oak tree in the back yard and asked my mom if she remembered it as a kid. She said that they used to have a rope swing on it and while they never climbed it, they did play around it a lot. I had heard about the ranch and this house many times growing up and I was thankful to have had a chance to finally see it.
On Sunday we went to Easter service at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church in Altamonte Springs, the church that I grew up in and that my parents still attend. It was good to see old friends and faces. After church, we went back home and had a nice Easter meal of ham, sweet potato casserole, and green beans. Later that afternoon, we went into Orlando and had the opportunity to go inside my grandparents’ old house in Colonial Town. The house was designed and built by my grandfather in 1937. My grandmother sold the house in 1995 when she moved into a retirement home. It has been owned since then by a Mr. Ellis. He recently put the house up for sale but has since taken it off the market. Nevertheless, he allowed us to walk around and take pictures. It was neat to be back in the house after so much time but it also felt strange for it to be decorated by someone else in a way that I was not used to. After seeing the house we went across the street to see my grandmother’s neighbor Amelia who has lived there since my mother was a little girl. We had a nice visit and it was hard for me to believe that Amelia is almost 100 years old! I have posted pictures of the inside of the house on our family blog at http://www.ryboltfamily.blogspot.com/ if you would like to see them.
Monday, my mom had a bunch of activities planned for us. We began with a morning boat tour of the Winter Park chain of lakes. Lakes Osceola, Virginia, and Maitland are connected by canals and the tour was of the three lakes and the canals. It was about 80 degrees and breezy and in my opinion, the perfect weather for a boat ride. We went past many mansions on the lakes as well as Rollins College. Although I had grown up in the area, I never really knew about the canals. The longest one, the Venetian, is about half a mile long. It is only wide enough for one boat and I’m not sure what happens when two meet going in opposite directions as the canal is not regulated. There were many large homes and gardens on the canal as well. Perhaps the best part for me of the whole tour was getting to see the Dinky Dock and beach on Lake Virginia. This lake is where my brother and I took swimming lessons as kids from Fleet Peoples, the same man that taught my father to swim when he was a child. The beach looked a lot smaller than I remember. Afterward, we ate lunch at a deli on Park Avenue in downtown Winter Park and then went by the cemetery where my other grandmother is buried.
That afternoon we went to the Henry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando. This was another local attraction that had been there a very long time but that I had never been to. The Gardens and house were all part of the Leu Estate that was donated to the city of Orlando in 1961. Today, one can tour both the house and the extensive gardens. On the house tour, we learned the story of the three families that had occupied it, the first being the Mizell family in the 1880s. Mr. Mizell was sheriff of Orange County and ended his term in office when he was assassinated. In fact, many of the stories told to us about Orlando and Central Florida in the late 19th century sounded more like the wild west than the densely populated tourist mecca that Orlando is today. After taking the house tour we walked around the rose garden and I took pictures. There were a lot of other gardens to explore but we were all tired from being outside so we ended our day there. Later that night we went out for seafood, a great way to end a nice visit with my family.
I will probably soon post some pictures on Facebook and put a link here. The pictures of my grandmother's house that I posted on our family weblog took me two hours to post and arrange, confirming for me that blogspot is best for writing which is what I enjoy mostly anyway. So check back soon for a link to pictures.
I took some time off around Easter this year and went to see my parents and brother in Orlando for a few days. We saw several things that I thought would be interesting to write about.
I arrived in Orlando on Saturday morning, April 11th and my parents picked me up at the airport. After picking me up, we headed to rural Seminole County near Chuluota to see my Grandfather’s old ranch and house. Granddad sold the ranch in 1960 so that his children could go to college and he could retire. Much of the land is now a girl scout camp but the house that he built there is still standing. We had not called ahead so we just pulled in the front gate when we saw it was open. Although, we couldn’t walk in the house, I was allowed to walk around the grounds and take pictures. The house is a very plain one story rectangular building with a gravel roof and a screened-in porch around the back. The back yard slopes down to a lake with a dock. I noticed a large live oak tree in the back yard and asked my mom if she remembered it as a kid. She said that they used to have a rope swing on it and while they never climbed it, they did play around it a lot. I had heard about the ranch and this house many times growing up and I was thankful to have had a chance to finally see it.
On Sunday we went to Easter service at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church in Altamonte Springs, the church that I grew up in and that my parents still attend. It was good to see old friends and faces. After church, we went back home and had a nice Easter meal of ham, sweet potato casserole, and green beans. Later that afternoon, we went into Orlando and had the opportunity to go inside my grandparents’ old house in Colonial Town. The house was designed and built by my grandfather in 1937. My grandmother sold the house in 1995 when she moved into a retirement home. It has been owned since then by a Mr. Ellis. He recently put the house up for sale but has since taken it off the market. Nevertheless, he allowed us to walk around and take pictures. It was neat to be back in the house after so much time but it also felt strange for it to be decorated by someone else in a way that I was not used to. After seeing the house we went across the street to see my grandmother’s neighbor Amelia who has lived there since my mother was a little girl. We had a nice visit and it was hard for me to believe that Amelia is almost 100 years old! I have posted pictures of the inside of the house on our family blog at http://www.ryboltfamily.blogspot.com/ if you would like to see them.
Monday, my mom had a bunch of activities planned for us. We began with a morning boat tour of the Winter Park chain of lakes. Lakes Osceola, Virginia, and Maitland are connected by canals and the tour was of the three lakes and the canals. It was about 80 degrees and breezy and in my opinion, the perfect weather for a boat ride. We went past many mansions on the lakes as well as Rollins College. Although I had grown up in the area, I never really knew about the canals. The longest one, the Venetian, is about half a mile long. It is only wide enough for one boat and I’m not sure what happens when two meet going in opposite directions as the canal is not regulated. There were many large homes and gardens on the canal as well. Perhaps the best part for me of the whole tour was getting to see the Dinky Dock and beach on Lake Virginia. This lake is where my brother and I took swimming lessons as kids from Fleet Peoples, the same man that taught my father to swim when he was a child. The beach looked a lot smaller than I remember. Afterward, we ate lunch at a deli on Park Avenue in downtown Winter Park and then went by the cemetery where my other grandmother is buried.
That afternoon we went to the Henry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando. This was another local attraction that had been there a very long time but that I had never been to. The Gardens and house were all part of the Leu Estate that was donated to the city of Orlando in 1961. Today, one can tour both the house and the extensive gardens. On the house tour, we learned the story of the three families that had occupied it, the first being the Mizell family in the 1880s. Mr. Mizell was sheriff of Orange County and ended his term in office when he was assassinated. In fact, many of the stories told to us about Orlando and Central Florida in the late 19th century sounded more like the wild west than the densely populated tourist mecca that Orlando is today. After taking the house tour we walked around the rose garden and I took pictures. There were a lot of other gardens to explore but we were all tired from being outside so we ended our day there. Later that night we went out for seafood, a great way to end a nice visit with my family.
I will probably soon post some pictures on Facebook and put a link here. The pictures of my grandmother's house that I posted on our family weblog took me two hours to post and arrange, confirming for me that blogspot is best for writing which is what I enjoy mostly anyway. So check back soon for a link to pictures.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Yellowstone Part Three
I know it's been almost a week since the trip but I forgot to mention a few things in my last post. As Todd and I drove over the continental divide last Sunday, at 8,000 plus feet, it began to snow. It snowed rather heavily for a while but none seemed to stick to the pavement. Once we were at lower elevations and out of the park the snow stopped and the sky cleared up a bit. We went back through Grand Teton National Park and stayed overnight in Jackson, Wyoming.
Jackson, Wyoming can best be described as a posh old fashioned western town. The sidewalks are wooden, there are saloons and cowboy bars, and the town square is surrounded by arches made of antlers. But there are also art galleries and high end clothing stores. We had drinks at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar where we sat on saddles at the main bar and later that now, went to a steakhouse for my birthday.
So we had a fun trip and now for the moment everyone has been waiting for--pictures. I have found it easier to post an album on Facebook and instead of posting them here a second time I will just give this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=6482&l=aa201&id=1410030498
For those of you afraid of a facebook link, this link is to the album only and you do not have to be a facebook member to view these pics. So enjoy and stay tuned for more trips next year.
Jackson, Wyoming can best be described as a posh old fashioned western town. The sidewalks are wooden, there are saloons and cowboy bars, and the town square is surrounded by arches made of antlers. But there are also art galleries and high end clothing stores. We had drinks at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar where we sat on saddles at the main bar and later that now, went to a steakhouse for my birthday.
So we had a fun trip and now for the moment everyone has been waiting for--pictures. I have found it easier to post an album on Facebook and instead of posting them here a second time I will just give this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=6482&l=aa201&id=1410030498
For those of you afraid of a facebook link, this link is to the album only and you do not have to be a facebook member to view these pics. So enjoy and stay tuned for more trips next year.
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