Another view of the floor in one area of the Millenium Mall. This shows some of the constellations marked on the floor.
I'm cheating by repeating the same place and theme but I'm away and hopefully will have some new photos tomorrow..

This is the floor in one section of the Millenium Mall. It has the constellations on the outside of the circle and these meridian lines in the circle. Beautifully polished floor reflects from so many angles. I enjoyed sitting and people watching while my friend was trying on clothes. There are fountains, fashion shows, projected images and many people to watch. I don't come here often but enjoy it when I do.

This is the Millenium Mall in Orlando. Very posh with many upscale pricey stores. A friend is heading back to Australia to visit family and wanted to shop so off we went. The only sign of a slowdown in the economy here is that most of the storefronts are advertising sales.
This is the glass roof and it reminds me of the enclosed galleries I visited in Paris. Much newer and larger but the same style of lighting.
I'll post a few more photos from here in the next few days. I am going to some concerts this weekend but will return on Monday.

Wow! This is my 200th post on this blog. I know I've missed a few days but life has just been hectic lately. These photos are of the new or newly renovated Southwest Airline terminal wing at Orlando International Airport. They have done a very nice job of improving the lighting and the floors appear to be real mosaic tile artwork. I like them a lot.

This is my grand-daughter, Jenny, and the dragon at Disney's Marketplace. The dragon is made of Legos. Lego has a large store and many large and small creatures on display around the area.
Monday evening I took her to the airport to catch her flight back to Kansas City and she is now home. She will be back again next summer for her annual visit, I hope. A good time was had by all this trip. I miss her already.
Photo by guest photographer: Vanessa Gordon, my inherited daughter.

This is my favorite airplane. The Stearman open cockpit bi-plane. What motivated me to take flying lessons was reading Antoine de Saint-Exupery and Richard Bach and a movie about a young girl learning to fly and do aerobatics in a biplane. It is a wonderful airplane that evokes images of the barnstormer and low and slow trips across the country.
It is usually hangared here and was moved out to make room for the party on Saturday. This one is privately owned and I don't think they give rides but if they did, I'd be in line for one. I've flown in a few of them and even wore the requisite leather helmet & goggles. It's very exciting.

Welcome Back parties are always fun. Four years ago I went to a farewell party for a special couple, Sid and KT, who were moving to Hawaii. Yesterday there was an even larger party to welcome them back to Kissimmee. It was good to see them and other friends from the airport that I hadn't seen in awhile. Lots of food and drinks and good conversation. The party was held at Warbird Adventures at the Kissimmee airport. If you have ever wanted to fly a warbird and do aerobatics, this is the place to do it. Two of my sons have been up and even though I haven't done the rolls and spins, I did get to ride in one of the T'6's when we went up to scatter my late husband's ashes.
I'll write more about Sid and KT one day. They have led interesting lives and worked with Mel Fisher to find and salvage the Atocha and her sister ship the Margarita.

This is the Medieval Times Castle at night. When we went there earlier this week to see the show, I left my camera in the car. This was taken as we were leaving. The inside has been remodeled in the last few years to make more room for displaying and selling souvenirs but the outside has remained the same. It didn't look any different twenty-two years ago when I moved here. The show changed a bit over the years and not always for the best but this performance was very well done and the horsemanship was excellent.

A really big truck. We had to take a photo of this truck when we were at an amusement park on highway 192 in Kissimmee. It's next to Old Town and has a rides, a race track, and an insane ride or two that pulls you up to a great height and then drops you so you can swing between poles. I'll post about this in another post but this monster truck caught my grand-daughter's attention so here she is dwarfed by the huge tire.

While we were at Disney's Marketplace we spotted this street performer. He was making members of the audience throw balls at a basketball hoop on a long pole that he either held up or after making both the ball and basket hoop smaller, he balanced on his head.
The young audience below was entranced and he received well deserved applause.

Yesterday I went up in the balloon at Downtown Disney. My grand-daughter and step-daughter and I were at Downtown Disney and decided it was time to try out the Balloon. It is tethered to a cable and filled with helium. It lifts itself to an altitude of 400 feet.
Photos below are my grand-daughter decending the ramp approaching the ballon, her and my inherited (step) daughter preparing for the lift. The round area where we stand is enclosed with netting to keep us from falling or jumping. The last photo is of our pilot, Jax, who is licensed to fly this type of balloon. I asked what would happen if the cable broke. She told me that it couldn't.. I had her reassure me that she could control and land it in the event that the impossible happened and it did break.
It was a fun ride.

Our Fire and Rescue squad was at the car show and letting visitors climb into the fire truck. In this photo there is a mother with her little boy enjoying the view from the driver's seat. The doors to the fireman's tools are open for inspection, too. It was nice to see them interacting with the public and I think having the Fire engines and Rescue vehicles drew more people to the car show.

Car show at the Moose Lodge caught our attention as we were driving so we turned at the corner and went back to walk around and see the souped up hot rods. Lots of 50's and 60's classic cars and this fancy Corvette was my grand-daughter's favorite. I wouldn't mind a spin around town in it either. I really like the doors.

Kissimmee, the heart of Florida! This truck was parked at the lakefront with a trailer behind it. I didn't see a boat but think it may have a similar paint scheme. I like it. We are just about smack dab in the middle of the state so perhaps we are the heart of Florida. Other stuff painted on this truck but nothing else familiar to me.

Summer has brought out the boaters. The lakefront yesterday was busy with trucks and cars with their boat trailers unloading their boats. The new docks put in by the city are full and it looks like there will be a demand for more.
I don't fish but understand that our Lake Toho is popular with Bass fishermen and that we have some high dollar fishing tournaments here. I should go photograph one the next time one is in progress. This photo is of just one of the docks and some sail boats.

Although summer doesn't officially start for another ten days, the temperatures have climbed into the 90's* and will rarely be much lower for the next few months. Time to find cool spots and to hibernate inside with a good book. Summer here in Florida reminds me of winter up north. We would hunker down, bundle up, and try not to venture out into the cold weather. Here it is the heat we try to avoid.
This photo is inside the entrance to the Mall shown in yesterday's photo. It is kept inviting, refreshing, and cool to lure us out of our homes and into the malls to shop.
*farenheit or 32-36 celsius

Late again with my post. My only excuse is that I have a teenager visiting. Yesterday we went to the Florida Mall to shop. It seems that all teens must have an Ipod and it must be the "hot" one of the moment which is the "Nano"! So she picked out her purple nano and then we found a kiosk that sells skins for the Nano. After wanting a purple nano she picked a girlie pink skin to cover it with. Even Ipods need a wardrobe it seems.
Actually it has been lots of fun. We called Apple to solve a small problem so we now need to figure out how she/we can afford to feed this tiny creature the Itunes it needs to survive.

Palm trees, both real and painted, are part of the atmosphere at Bongo's restaurant and cafe at Downtown Disney. Founded by Gloria Estafan and her husband, it is cuban themed evoking images of Havana in the 1940's. I've had coffee and drinks on the outside patio but have never eaten in the restaurant. After reading the menu I think I need to find an excuse to dine there.

Closer to home is Medieval Times. I'm trying to convince my grand-daughter to let me take her to see the show. She thinks it will be corny and of course it will be, but it's also fun and you get to eat with your fingers. This attraction has been here for over 20 years. It was here when we moved here and it is still going strong. My inherited grand-daughters loved it and always wanted to go on their birthdays. I'm going to work on this one to see if I can change her mind.

It looks like the tourists are here! My grand-daughter is visiting and we went to Downtown Disney to have lunch and see a movie. The economy doesn't seem to be pinching everyone. There were large crowds shopping, walking around, having lunch, and watching movies. It was very festive and I hadn't seen all those lights that are strung accross the walkway before. We'll have to visit at night to see how they look.
The sad part of our visit was seeing the Virgin Megastore closed and gone forever. I will miss it.

The street that was being redone is finally finished. The color was off in my photo so I converted it to black & white. It looks very nice with the brick street, new wide sidewalks, trees and even benches to sit on. I am liking the improvements being made downtown this year. I hope they keep up the good work.

It's green again. The little photo at the bottom is how my backyard looked about three weeks ago. All the rain that fell while I was in Chicago and since I've been back has changed the dust bowl that was my yard into a green oasis. I didn't think the grass would grown on all those barren brown patches of dirt and yet they have. Sprouts of little green shoots are everywhere. Mother Nature is amazing.

This was the price of gasoline yesterday when I filled my car. It seems the price has just been climbing rapidly the past few weeks. This is one of the lowest in the area and I'm sure if I check today it will be even higher. The only good side is that it seems to help the stock market when gas prices skyrocket.
I'm so late posting because I had to pick up a houseguest at the airport and her plane was hours late. We didn't get back home until after midnight so I didn't get to the computer. Sorry.

Funny fishing lure. Sunday we went to the ocean and walked to the end of a fishing pier. It's where I took the "Feet" photo. This was dangling from one of the fishing poles and I thought it was unusual. Most of the fishermen were using live bait and this was the only lure I noticed.
I think it is supposed to look like a squid or little octopus. Looks more like a little alien to me.

Morocco at Epcot . Morocco has a restaurant, the Marrakesh, tucked away in the back. Many times when we visited the park all of the restaurants would be full and and not taking reservations so we'd go to Morocco and they always found us a table. The food is good and they have a belly dancer. Lots of fun.
This front building used to be a store that sold merchandise but now is a coffee and fast food place. Good baclava and strong turkish coffee.

One of my favorite countries in Epcot is Norway. I used to love the restaurant and their Scandinavian buffet but now it is a Princess Dinner restaurant where all the Disney Princesses come and walk around while you dine. I do not imagine that they still serve ten different types of herring now.
This fellow stands outside the replica Stave Church. It is very small but I always enjoy going inside to see the exhibits and examine the construction and to escape the noise of the park.

Sorry this post is so late. I couuldn't access the net last night. Silly computer is acting up and it may be time to replace it. Ugh!

June 1st: Theme Day: FEET!

Ephemeral Footprints in the Sand.
I spent the weekend with a friend in North Palm Beach and we went to Juno Pier Sunday afternoon. This is a photo of a father and daughter walking below us. I thought it would fit with this month's theme of feet. The beach is marked with footprints of those who have walked there. The tide will come in and in a short while they will be gone.

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