Showing 1-15 of 15 results
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Punta Gorda – Florida’s Gulf Coast Painted Lady
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 14 November 2009
When Dr. Robert Andrews first proposed that a series of historically accurate, educational murals be painted on downtown buildings in Punta Gorda, Florida, some residents opposed the idea, insisting the murals would be nothing more than "graffiti." Business leaders, on the other hand, loved the idea. They formed the Punta ...
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Lady in Miami
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
For as much of the world as I've seen in my life, I'm embarrassed to admit that there are some major American cities that I've never been to. From Nashville to New Orleans, Austin to Anchorage, my experience with U.S. cities is wholly inferior to that of my experience with European ones.
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Seeing Double at the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 7 November 2009
Although I don't pretend to understand the surreal images of distorted females and melting clocks that pervade the art of Salvador Dali, his work had always intrigued me. I simply assumed the symbolism was an unknowable product of a demented mind. So I was surprised when the docent at the ...
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Peace River Wildlife Center – Rescuing Animals and Educating Humans
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 3 November 2009
When John Audubon first visited the Punta Gorda area on Florida's Gulf coast in the early 19th century, he wrote that wading birds were so numerous that thousands flying overhead transformed daylight into darkness. Yet less than 100 years later the profligate population had been decimated. In small part, the ...
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Florida’s Babcock Wilderness Proves Man and Nature Can Live in Harmony
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 17 October 2009
Trinkets and souvenirs rarely interest me when I travel, but I find it almost impossible to pass by a farm stand selling local honey. Each of the half dozen varieties lining my kitchen shelves has a particular use: a thick, full-bodied Blackberry honey from the Virginia hills is best drizzled ...
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Beauty, Beasts, and Bells in Central Florida
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 13 October 2009
I was so mesmerized by the carillon bells that I did not notice the snake. In suffocating heat, I stood motionless at the edge of a long pond that reflected a mirror image of Bok Tower, thrilled by the ethereal music. Fading as quickly as the concert's final note, I ...
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Muscle Car City in Punta Gorda, Florida Takes The Adage “One Man’s Junk Is Another Man’s Treasure” To A New Level
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 6 October 2009
Just six of the 720 parking spaces were occupied when I pulled into the lot of Muscle Car City. I surveyed the squat building before me. Despite a fancy black and white checkerboard paint job, it still looked every inch a converted Wal-Mart. Inside the only sound was a hushed ...
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Living Beneath the Herbert Hoover Dike at Lake Okeechobee
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 26 September 2009
With growing anticipation I approached the town of Moore Haven in central Florida, where I expected to catch my first glimpse of Lake Okeechobee, the second largest freshwater lake lying completely within the United States. I negotiated a long curve into town, watching for the lake to emerge on my ...
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Sarasota’s Lovely Bayfront Park
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 15 September 2009
I've lived in downtown Sarasota for nearly three years and thought I'd seen everything the city center had to offer until the other day, when I took a walk along Sarasota Bay. Just two blocks from the heart of downtown I discovered an arched entryway leading to Bayfront Park, a ...
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USS Vandenburg Sunk Off Key West For Artificial Reef
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 21 July 2009
In early May I wrote about plans to scuttle the USS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a WWII troop carrier and Cold War era spy ship, seven miles off the coast of Key West in order to create the world's second largest artificial reef for divers. The sinking occurred on May ...
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Sarasota’s Mable and John Ringling Museum – An Unlikely Melding of Fine Art and Circus Memorabilia
Blog: Hole In The Donut - 19 July 2009
In the world of museums it would seem unlikely if not downright preposterous to find circus artifacts mingled with fine art, yet that is precisely what visitors find at the John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida. With a name like Ringling, the circus connection is not ...
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Art Deco Miami
Blog: Itinerant Londoner - 2 July 2009
Miami was never somewhere I was desperate to go to, but with my round the world ticket it was the easiest way to get from Central America down to South America. Once the ticket was booked I figured it would be nice to spend a weekend relaxing on the beach, and enjoying the benefits of [...]
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Walt Disney World With A Toddler In Tow…
Blog: Have Internet Will Travel - 10 March 2009
We were going to be in Florida anyway. That was why we decided to “do” Disney with our not-quite-three-year-old when I always said I’d wait. Truth be told, I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to go too! Foolishly I believed that a day at Walt Disney World would be like a day at any other [...]
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Tarpon Springs, Florida
Blog: Have Internet Will Travel - 11 December 2008
Tarpon Springs is about 10 miles north of Clearwater, on the Gulf Coast. If you’re in the Clearwater/St. Pete’s area for a while and feel the need for a little half-day trip, this might just be the place. The sponge docks are the main focus, and the main drag is a Greek community reminiscent of Greektown [...]
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Tips For Walt Disney World With Toddlers…
Blog: Have Internet Will Travel - 20 November 2008
Our daughter will be three in a couple of weeks, and is an absolute Cinderella nut. This is why we decided to make the effort to include Walt Disney World during our trip to Florida. We all had a great time, in no short part due to the fact that I had an ace up [...]
Showing 1-15 of 15 results
