Lakeland Christmas Parade

Tonight was the 37th Annual Lakeland Christmas Parade. The theme this year was Night at the North Pole. We headed out around 4 pm as they were expecting around 40,000 people to attend. Better leave early to get a parking space. It's amazing how many people bring their chairs and set them up two or three days before the parade. 

The night started off with fireworks over Lake Mirror followed by the parade, which lasted about 90 minutes. Food trucks were everywhere so there was no need to leave hungry. Click on the link below to see the fireworks finale short.

Going to a Christmas parade in Florida is a lot different than up north. The temperature at parade time was nice--around 70. It's not too often you see a Christmas float from an air conditioning company, boats and even swans. 

There were over 90 floats and 9 marching bands in tonight's parade.

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To be continued...

The Florida Project at the Polk Theatre

Tonight, we headed to downtown Lakeland, Florida to the Polk Theatre to watch the new movie "The Florida Project".  After we parked, we took this picture of chairs lined up for the Christmas Parade---two days before the parade! 

We always look forward to going to the Polk Theatre, as it brings back a little history. An organ player plays for about 20 minutes before the show starts.

"The Florida Project" was filmed on US-192 in Kissimmee, Florida near the theme parks---an area well-known for families living in budget hotels. The film, which features Academy Award Nominee for Best Actor Willem Dafoe, has already won several awards. See the movie trailer below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwQ-NH1rRT4

After the film, producer Kevin Chinoy and actor Christopher Rivera from Lakeland, Florida came out for a Q&A session about the film. 

Here's are just a few the many Kissimmee landmarks you will see in the movie - all are located on 192 - Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway.

Magic Castle Inn & Suites

Giant Wizard Head Gift Shop, also featured on Roadside America's website.

The townhomes featured in the movie have been remodeled.

Then:

Now:

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To be continued...

Meeting Sandy for lunch at Cici's

Today, we met our friend, Sandy, for lunch at Cicis (officially, no apostrophe).  We try to do this at least once a year. "Why Cicis?"  you ask. We met Sandy in 2007, when we began working at Epcot. We worked a lot of shifts with her at 5 am. Since they offer a discount to Disney Cast, we would go to Cicis for lunch once in a while after work. A few years ago, Sandy moved back to Illinois. Every year when she comes to Florida to visit family we meet up at Cicis. It is always a fun time catching up with her!