We departed our home in Zephyrhills, just 10 days
after arriving home from our 114 day "Go West Young Man” Two Lane Adventure. We enjoyed our short time at home by
sitting on our back patio and talking to our friend, Randy Fitzsimmons, best
friend in Florida … Mr Ali Gator! We traveled east on SR 54 to SR 39 into Plant
City.
On the north and south side of Plant City, we saw
them planting the early season Strawberries. Researchers developed three new
varieties of strawberries that are able to withstand the early fall heat. Farmers
are planting a strawberry variety known as Sweet Sensation or Sweet Charlies. To
stay competitive with California and Mexican strawberry growers, local strawberry
growers must produce more fruit in November and December. Historically, going
back for generations, Florida’s market window has been winter production,
Thanksgiving to Easter. Strawberry farmers are changing that season by planting
and harvesting earlier. Now you know how, the name Winter Strawberry Capital of
the World was given years ago to Plant City.
We turned east onto SR 60 and our eyes were blinded
by the hot pink house! State Road 60 is an east–west route crisscrossing
Florida from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. Along the portion of SR
60, we traveled on has several different names, including Hopewell Road in
Plant City, Canal Street in Mulberry, West Main Street west of Bartow city
limits, Baker Street in Bartow and Hesperides Road in Lake Wales.
The City of Mulberry values art and is committed to
making art accessible to all. With all the current art offerings happening here.
The addition of the Mulberry Murals initiative was the natural next step. Prior
to this initiative, the City already had two murals installed. One at City Hall
and the other at the Mulberry Public Library.
The Mulberry Murals are a gateway into imagination
and creativity featuring the work of established and up-and-coming artists
within Central Florida. For the City of Mulberry, a mural is defined as a
large-scale artwork, painting, mosaic, applied to an exterior surface of a
building, construction fence or other structure and that is visible from the
public right-of-way. Its primary intent is to be artistic in nature, rather
than purely information, creative signage or commercial signage. Two more were
completed in the summer of 2018, in Spence Park, marking the start of The
Mulberry Murals.
The Peace River originates at the juncture of Saddle
Creek and Peace Creek northeast of Bartow and flows south through Fort Meade, to
Arcadia and then southwest into the Charlotte Harbor. It is 106 miles long and
has a drainage basin of 1,367 square miles. US Hwy 17 runs near and somewhat
parallel to the river for much of its course. The river was called Rio de la
Paz (River of Peace) on 16th century Spanish charts. It appeared as Peas Creek
or Pease Creek on later maps. The Creek (and later, Seminole) Indians call it
Talakchopcohatchee, River of Long Peas.
Fresh water from the Peace River is
vital to maintain the delicate salinity of Charlotte Harbor that hosts several
endangered species, as well as commercial and recreational harvests of shrimp,
crabs, and fish. There were many Pleistocene and Miocene fossils found
throughout the Peace River area, eventually leading to the discovery of
phosphate deposits. Most of the northern watershed of the Peace River comprises
an area known as the Bone Valley. The Peace River is a popular destination for
fossil hunters who dig and sift the river gravel for fossilized shark teeth and
prehistoric mammal bones. Several campgrounds and canoe rental operations cater
to fossil hunters, with Wauchula, Zolfo Springs, and Arcadia being the main
points of entry.
We had a “patrol” helicopter circling around, but
when we looked for what they might be looking at, we just saw open fields.
Yes, we were still on FL 27, we passed of thing most
would not even know it was there, the Avon Park Air Force Range. It is a 352
square mile bombing and gunnery range. Avon Park Air Force Range (APAFR)
consists of an 8,000 foot main runway, an operational control tower, an aircraft
rescue and firefighting facility, and limited ramp and hangar facilities. There
are no published instrument approach procedures and the airfield is limited to
Visual Flight Rule (VFR) operations only. It's the primary training range for
Homestead Air Reserve Base, Patrick, MacDill, and Moody Air Force Bases.
Sebring is home to the 12 Hours Grand Prix. It is an
annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International
Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air
base. The track opened in 1950 on an airfield and is a road racing course
styled after those used in European Grand Prix motor racing. The first race was
a six-hour race on New Year's Eve 1950, with the next race held 14 months later
as the first 12 Hours of Sebring. The race is famous for the "once around
the clock" action, starting during the day and finishing at night. The
race in 2019 is its 67th annual event!
Continuing down US 27, we came to Lake Placid is the
Caladium Capital of the World, holding an annual Caladium Festival, every July.
The caladium is the crown jewel of the jack-in-the
pulpit family (Araceae). With all of its colors and leaf shapes, it is the bird
of paradise in the drab crow family of arums. In South Florida, caladium
cultivars can provide color and brighten dark, shady corners for 9 months or
maybe longer.
As one goes north, they tend to have a dormant period
with cooler weather and less moisture. To see 1500 acres of glowing caladium
foliage ranks up there with seeing the flowering tulip fields in Holland
(almost!).
Lake Placid is also known as “The City of Murals.” Founded
by Bob & Harriet Porter in 1992, the Lake Placid Mural Society formed to
beautify the town and tell its history. As you walk through the town, internationally
known historic outdoor art gallery, with over 47 beautiful larger than life
murals. Some of these murals have sound,
while most of them have hidden items.
Also, you will find 17 unique one-of-a-kind trash containers, all are companion
pieces to the murals.
In 1992, Lake Placid had 15 empty stores and black mold
and mildew was evident on many of the walls in town. The Porters knew several
artists and selected Thomas Freeman for the first mural, which he painted on
the side of the Caladium Arts and Crafts Cooperative, also a new business and
the brain child of Bob and Harriet. Tea at Southwinds is Lake Placid’s first
mural. It’s an impression lifted from a postcard found at the Lake Placid
Historical Society. But it was enough to get the mural project started in 1993.
Not long after Dr. Melvil Dewey passed away, his resort, Litl Loj, became known
as Southwinds. By the standards of those times, Dewey’s southern resort rivaled
his northern resort at Lake Placid, NY. These stylish ladies might have been a
lot like Dewey’s guests—pretty, proper and primped. They were having tea on the
luxurious patio of handmade Italian tiles. Their view from the patio was a long
sweeping slope to the Lake Placid shoreline. It must have reminded them a
little bit of home.
Since its beginning, the mural society placed 142
pieces of artwork in town, which includes over 33,000 square feet of murals.
There are over 140 towns and cities across the US and Canada that have
requested information to start their own mural project to help revitalize their
towns. All the money for the murals is earned solely by fundraisers,
sponsorships, and donations. During these years, tourism increased, which has
had a positive economic impact. Lake Placid became known as the Town of Murals,
and Florida’s Outstanding Rural Community.
In 2013, Lake Placid Florida won the coveted title of
“America’s Most Interesting Town,” in a nation-wide search by Reader’s Digest.
Ten towns were finalists in this contest, and in the end, Lake Placid stood out
among the rest. It is truly a jewel in the crown of Highlands County. Lake
Placid has the distinction of being known by many titles. Lake Placid is known
as the Town of Murals, with 47 larger than life historic murals forming an
outdoor art gallery and the Caladium Capital of the World, where 95% of the
world’s caladiums are grown and shipped all over the world. The 27 beautiful
pristine lakes that surround the town within seven miles give Lake Placid the
title of Florida’s Lake Country. Lake Placid is also know for the Clown Museum
and School, which graduated over 2500 clowns since its beginning in 1993.
The Lost Bear Club - Lake Placid was once one of the
best bear hunting grounds in Southern Florida. The territory around Lake
Istokpoga and south along the western edge of the sand hills was almost too
thick to penetrate by man or dog. This presented a perfect haven for bears to
raise their young. When settlers moved into the area they brought cattle and
razorback hogs. Unfortunately, the bears liked fresh pork and beef, and, out of
necessity the pioneers became bear hunters. During the first hunt 34 bear were
killed: and some of the old timers boasted of killing over 200 bears during
their lifetime.
The Cracker Trail Mural displays Cowmen drive a herd
of cattle through the Lake Placid area on their way to market. It was a two to
three week trip and full of danger. Only the strongest would survive. The life
of the Florida cowmen was not easy as they battled the heat, insects and
storms. The name “cracker” comes from the cracking of the whips the cowmen
carried to keep the herd together. The registered brands you see all belong to
Highlands County cattlemen.
Sandy also took me to the American Clown Museum and
School. It was Monday and almost everything is closed on Monday in Lake Placid,
according to Sandy. Since 1993, Toby's clowns have been bringing smiles to life in Lake Placid. Keith "Toby" Stokes began spending time in Lake Placid, but missed being a Shrine clown when he was down south. He organized the first class of clowns and graduated 6 clowns. Now we are proud to say more than 1500 clowns have graduated from the American Clown School.
His mission is to teach the art of clowning and to spread Smiles, Love and Laughter, but there's more to see at the clown house. First of all, on the exterior walls, you will discover two of Lake Placid's famous murals. One is "Toby's First Clown Class", by Keith Goodson. The other is "The Art of Clowning", by Monica Turner. But, I was able to snap some pictures and think of my Dad
and smile. He was a clown, no … more than just the kind of guy
that tells funny jokes. He was a Shrine Clown, too. It was a facet of his life
that made him very happy … he loved to bring a smile to every face!
The jack-n-the-box, is a great example of the unique
trash receptacles in Lake Placid.
We enjoyed a quiet night at our friend’s, Paul &
Sandy’s, house. They were kind enough to share their cement pad with us! Plus,
she fixed one of Charlie’s favorite meals … baked ziti and garlic bread!
Delicious!
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