Roadside Finds, Travel

Florida Air Museum in Lakeland, Florida

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Stearman biplane at the Florida Air Museum at the Lakeland-Linder International Airport in Lakeland Florida

One of the spots we visited on our recent visit to Florida was the Florida Air Museum, located at the Lakeland-Linder International Airport in Lakeland.  Airplane buffs will recognize ‘LAL’ as the home of the annual Sun-N-Fun Aerospace Expo.

Florida Air Museum at the Lakeland-Linder International Airport in Lakeland Florida
“Woody Pusher” homebuilt airplane at the Florida Air Museum at the Lakeland-Linder International Airport in Lakeland Florida
“Woody Pusher” homebuilt airplane at the Florida Air Museum at the Lakeland-Linder International Airport in Lakeland Florida

I was a little disappointed in the museum given the status of Sun-N-Fun in the aviation world, but to be fair they are in the process of a major facilities upgrade which should provide a lot more exhibit space and room for more aircraft.  Plus, we have visited some awesome aviation museums over the last few years, in particular the Evergreen Aviation Museum in Oregon.  How can you compare seeing photographs of Howard Hughes to actually standing inside the Spruce Goose? 😉

Pitts Special displayed in a typical configuration. Florida Air Museum at the Lakeland-Linder International Airport in Lakeland Florida
Ford Flivver homebuilt airplane at the Florida Air Museum at the Lakeland-Linder International Airport in Lakeland Florida’
Florida Air Museum at the Lakeland-Linder International Airport in Lakeland Florida
Florida Air Museum at the Lakeland-Linder International Airport in Lakeland Florida
Florida Air Museum at the Lakeland-Linder International Airport in Lakeland Florida
Florida Air Museum at the Lakeland-Linder International Airport in Lakeland Florida

It was a nice day and a good place to spend a little time.  And there are definitely a few one-of-a-kind aircraft housed here, including the Lockheed XVF-1 which was designed to be a vertical takeoff and landing vehicle long before Space-X figured out how to re-land rockets.  I can only imagine trying to set that thing down on its tail!

Lockheed XVF-1 at Florida Air Museum at the Lakeland-Linder International Airport in Lakeland Florida
Lockheed XVF-1 at Florida Air Museum at the Lakeland-Linder International Airport in Lakeland Florida
Piedmont Airlines Boeing 727 on display at Florida Air Museum at the Lakeland-Linder International Airport in Lakeland Florida
F-14 Tomcat on display at Florida Air Museum at the Lakeland-Linder International Airport in Lakeland Florida
Random Thoughts

Food For Thought About Food

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Signals stored at a train station in Williston, Florida

Over the last year or so, Kathy & I have come to understand the impact of food choice on nutrition and overall health.  One of the arguments I hear a lot as to why people make poor choices regarding food is that not everyone has access to quality food.  My opinion is that people don’t know how to make good choices regarding food, because they don’t know what good food is, let alone what it tastes like.  Why?  Because the marketing messages we receive aren’t pushing healthy foods.  They’re too often promoting foods which are actually bad for us but are sold to an unsuspecting public as being good for us.  As I like to say, there is little profit in selling (for example) broccoli.

One of the food blogs I follow is Marion Nestle’s “Food Politics.”  A recent post titled “Feed The Truth: Draining The Swamp” outlines a study and paper by an organization called Feed The Truth titled “Draining The Big Food Swamp.”  This paper outlines the influence that “Big Food” has on national politics, which in turn affects the information people receive to make decisions about food.  I highly recommend reading Nestle’s post and then following the link to at least the Executive Summary of the report.

This is important stuff.  And this report only covers part of the problem, as it does not address the influence of pharmaceutical companies on the health care profession.  Drug companies don’t make money off of healthy people any more than food companies make money selling healthy foods.  We could solve a lot of the country’s health problems with a focus on quality food as an alternative to drugs and miracle cures.

Photography

Getting That First Shot

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Closed (possibly permanently) storefronts along US-129 near O’Brien, Florida

Whenever we’re traveling, especially by car, I often look for photographic opportunities on the way.  Sometimes I’ve pre-identified a place like a train station, other times I’m looking for something serendipitous along the side of the road.  If my camera is buried in the bag somewhere in the back of the car I have a hard time stopping.  But if the camera is out and ready, I’m a lot more likely to find a place to pull off or turn around in order to get that first shot.  I find that once I have stopped and taken a few photographs, it is easy to stop the next time something comes up.

Closed (possibly permanently) storefronts along US-129 near O’Brien, Florida
Closed (possibly permanently) storefronts along US-129 near O’Brien, Florida

For me, putting the camera bag on the back seat or on the floor behind my seat is a start.  That makes it easy to get to when I need it.  But the best approach has been to actually get the camera out and hang it over the headrest of the back seat.  I’ve driven hundreds and perhaps thousands of miles that way, and it works.  We had a 2-door car for a while and that made my method a bit more challenging, but we’ve gone back to 4 doors now and probably won’t change back.

Closed (possibly permanently) storefronts along US-129 near O’Brien, Florida
Closed (possibly permanently) storefronts along US-129 near O’Brien, Florida

If we’re staying in a town and walking around, I’ll carry my camera with me, lens cap off, ready to shoot.  I’m kind of a one lens guy anyway, so I have the camera around my neck or on my shoulder and a spare battery in my pocket.  I learned quickly with the EVF cameras to always have a spare!  I often chuckle at the people walking around with their brand new CaNikonUjiOny camera bag on their shoulder, securely zippered shut with the camera inside, probably with the lens off the camera.  Hardly a way to get a photograph! 😉

Closed (possibly permanently) storefronts along US-129 near O’Brien, Florida
Roadside Finds, Travel

A Little “Floridiana”

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Roadside stands along I-95 offering all kinds of Florida items

On our way into St. Augustine a few days ago, we exited I-95 at an interchange that contains what I like to call “Floridiana.”  It’s the oversize signs advertising all kinds of goodies to take back home and rot in the cupboard – Tropical Fruit Wine?  Probably not.  Gator Jerky?  Don’t think so.  Boiled peanuts?  Tried ’em – pass.  Also lots of things to tempt the kids and make them sick 20 miles up the road.  I thought I would like to know what “Honey Toasted Chocolate Covered Praline Pecans” taste like until Kathy assured me that it is three different kinds and not just one.  Oh, well.

Roadside stands along I-95 offering all kinds of Florida items

The story is that we didn’t stop there on the way in to town, and as often happens I kicked myself for not taking the time (it was late, we were tired and thirsty, etc.).  So today we went into town to the fort to get a stamp on Kathy’s National Park Passport, and on the way back took the scenic route by way of this exit.  Pretty interesting signage, although it didn’t tempt us enough to go inside.

Oh, and in case you wondered about all those oranges and grapefruits out roasting in the sun?  They’re little concrete spheres.  Wouldn’t make very good juice. 😉

Roadside stands along I-95 offering all kinds of Florida items
Roadside stands along I-95 offering all kinds of Florida items
Roadside stands along I-95 offering all kinds of Florida items
Roadside stands along I-95 offering all kinds of Florida items
Roadside stands along I-95 offering all kinds of Florida items
Roadside stands along I-95 offering all kinds of Florida items
Roadside stands along I-95 offering all kinds of Florida items
Roadside stands along I-95 offering all kinds of Florida items
Photography

Full Moon – Sort of a Bust?

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Full moon rising over the Atlantic Ocean at St. Augustine Beach, Florida

The full moon is technically today 2/27, although it was fuller at moonrise last night than it will be tonight.  The night that the moon rises just before sunset is what I have heard referred to as the “photographer’s moon” because it rises almost-full while there is still sufficient light on the landscape to show detail.

Last night’s moon rose through a band of thick haze on the horizon into a cloudless sky, so there wasn’t a lot to be excited about.  But it was still pretty, we had a nice place to watch from and it was cocktail time!  I may try again tonight but moonrise coincides with dinner time so I may need to make do with one night’s photos.

White balance may be a little wonky on this but I think it is pretty true to the scene as it was presented.

Postcards

Postcard From Nalcrest, Florida

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Nalcrest, Florida

What would it be like to be the letter carrier for a community full of retired letter carriers?  That’s a bit of a running joke in Nalcrest, that is a retirement community exclusively for retired mail carriers.  Nalcrest was designed by and continues to be operated by the Nalcrest Foundation, Inc., a branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers, the union representing United States Postal Service city letter carriers. It was the brainchild of William Doherty, the first United States Ambassador to Jamaica and NALC President from 1941–1962. 

The community consists of 253 acres, 153 acres of which are developed into 500 garden-style apartments. The remaining 100 acres (0.4 km2) are undeveloped and includes a manmade lake of 15 acres around which the community is developed, and that is connected to the 7,500 acre Lake Weohyakapka.

We have friends who spend the winter there, and this is the third year we have visited.  It’s an interesting place with many friendly people from all over the US and Canada.  But you won’t find any dogs or cats.  Evidently the story about dogs and mail carriers not getting along is true. 😉

Nalcrest, Florida
Postcards

Postcard From Lake Placid, Florida

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Mural depicting Melvil Dewey, creator of the Dewey Decimal System and instrumental in bringing the railroad to Lake Placid Florida, known as the Town of Murals

Known as the Town of Murals, Lake Placid has over 40 murals dedicated to scenes, important events and notable people from the town’s history.  More to follow later!

Mural depicting assistance by local mechanic Swain Bowers to three tourists who turned out to be Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone in Lake Placid Florida, known as the Town of Murals
Lake Placid Florida, known as the Town of Murals
Postcards

Postcard From O’Brien, Florida

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O’brien Feed Depot and Hardware store near O’Brien, Florida

Kathy & I were tired of the (relative) cold and decided to make a quick escape to warmer climes.  We have friends in central Florida who give us a good excuse to head that way, so we left home on Friday for about 10 days.  I had found this old feed store on some website or another and had it saved in my map folder.  Today we were close enough to make a slight detour and check it out.  I found a few other interesting scenes nearby that I’ll share over the next few days or when we get back home.

In the meantime it was a sunny and toasty 70 at one point during the day.  Yay for heat! 🙂

Rooster sculpture atop O’brien Feed Depot and Hardware store near O’Brien, Florida

Photographs and stuff!