Winter Park, Florida

The original Winter Park train station was built in 1890. This is the 2013 version. As a pedestrian, not needing to ride the rails, I can only attest to the spiffy bathrooms. The train station is located in the heart of Winter Park and when nature calls, it is a nice place to stop. 

For those of you unfamiliar with Winter Park, it is a posh retreat near Orlando, Florida. I like it because of the stately homes and moss covered trees. But mostly because of these...

Tarts from the Croissant Gourmet! My favorite one is the blueberry tart in the middle. 

My least favorite thing is this...

A 320 foot sinkhole! I'm terrified of sinkholes. My husband always teases me about it. If there is a new sinkhole report on the news, I stop in my tracks, glued to the tube. We do spend quite a bit of time in Florida after all. We could be devoured by the earth in our sleep someday. Gulp. Luckily, the above sinkhole happened in the 1980's.

Peacocks are a theme at the train station.

But I only saw an osprey outside the station, enjoying a filet o' fish.

Twisty!

Here's an even better osprey shot at a Friday fish fry, on Lover's Key, Florida. 

Besides ospreys, there are lots of restaurants that serve fish on a plate, instead of a tree branch. There are fancy shops, which I avoid. But there's also a nice home tour... 

Casa Feliz

Casa Feliz had a visiting crane.

Two of them in fact. Plus tourists. 

The home was designed by Architect James Gamble Rodgers. And on Fridays in Winter Park, you can gaze at Tiffany Glass for free at the Morse Museum

To peruse a previous blog post about Winter Park and its lakes and canals, click here. 

Winter Park. It's for when you are sick of theme parks!

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Casco Veijo Architecture

This was my favorite church in Casco Veijo. The old town and most interesting region of Panama City. Any stroll in Casco will be memorable. Especially if you're a photographer. Old and new, crumbling and revived, swanky and gritty all collide here. It's just so alive. New things are always happening here. We passed models on photo shoots and also witnessed the filming of what appeared to be a major commercial. But even with all the new, the past is always bubbling at the surface. You see it everywhere...

These weathered wooden statues really caught my eye. 

The statues peek out of all these nooks and crannies. 

Meanwhile, at another church, you can sit and bask in the glow of the Golden Alter. Read about the luminous majesty below...

Yet another church.

Aches abound in Casco Veijo. But this one has a story.

I stated in a previous Panama post that some crumbling courtyards, intriguing holes that are still waiting for a modern day spruce up, are now being utilized by food trucks. This one was some kind of cat sanctuary. There were lots of cats and just as many food bowls. Food trucks for cats I guess!

I hope you enjoyed this mini structural tour of old town. I'll be back visiting blogs next week. See you soon. 

The Awesome Links:

Wild Bird Wednesday

Wednesdays around the World!

Tanama Tales

Our World Tuesday

Budget Travel on Thursday

Sky Watch Friday!

The Oak Creek Canyon Trail

The Oak Creek Canyon Trail is one of the most popular hikes near Sedona, Arizona. As you zig-zag into the canyon, the Mongollon rim of white kabab limestone and red sand stone form an undulating fortress on both sides of the creek. It was simply beautiful. The only negative for me, was all of the stream crossings. Hopping rocks is not my favorite thing. Towards the end, I just gave up and trudged right through with soggy shoes. The ten million year old cliffs were never far away...

The towering rocks kissed the sky. They hovered between 800-2000 feet.

The trees were pretty darn tall too. 

Mayhew Lodge

The ruins of Mayhew lodge. 1925-1968. Celebrities like Clark Gable, Walt Disney and Jimmy Stewart stayed here. 

This robin has soggy shoes too.

This slug doesn't need shoes. 

Oak Creek Canyon is often called a cousin of the Grand Canyon. Even though it was gorgeous, I'd only call it a 3rd cousin once removed. 

"In the empire of the desert, water is the king and shadow is the queen."

Mehmet Murat lldan

Now, for a walk on the wild side of the street, head over to The Chorus of the Crows  I'm ranting (my first rant) about a certain un-natural and vexing phenomenon...

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Seaworld

I finally returned to Seaworld after visiting the park once as a kid. Soon the killer whales will be a thing of the past too. Seaworld is phasing them out. This move will undoubtedly bring change to the park. A lot of people will be happy. Although, probably not the trainers. They might be out of work. 

All of the animal shows at Seaworld are designed to thrill and entertain the audience. They do a really good job. My favorite though, was simply the hilarious dog and cat show. I laughed and laughed. All of the parks in Orlando, from Universal to Disney, have one of these shows.  They usually involve birds that swoop over the audience. There might also be a few trap doors, a bell and a whistle, a few surprise guests, a duck on the lam or a pig in the poke. You never really know who or what will turn up. 

An injured beak left this little owl unable to fend for himself. Now, he's doomed to entertain guests. Things could be worse in the unforgiving animal world. 

The penguin enclosure was freezing! And the ride wasn't working. But we still enjoyed seeing the feathered critters at the end. But not smelling them. 

There were lots of less than perfect turtles.

What a face!

Seaworld really is a good time. There's even a few thrill rides. This one was only marginally thrilling. But that's O.K. with me. The ones that are extremely thrilling, like the Hulk Coaster at Universal,  or Cheetah Run at Busch Gardens are almost more than I can handle. Is it fun if you can't even open your eyes?

This post was devoted to life under the sea. But what about life in the other direction? Do you believe in birds? Scratch that and look higher. Do you believe in aliens? If you do I have a great book for you. Over on my other blog, The Chorus of the Crows

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