Tonight, we attended the next to final performance of The Bodyguard: The Musical at Theatre Winter Haven.
The curtain call for the entire talented cast.
April 6, 2024
The Bodyguard at Theatre Winter Haven, Winter Haven, Florida
April 5, 2024
List of Most Recently Published Blog Entries
This is a list of our most recently published blog entries. As we are filling in prior years randomly, this list will be useful for locating new entries.
USS Alabama Memorial Park, Mobile, Alabama
The Bodyguard at Theatre Winter Haven, Winter Haven, Florida
2024 Krewe of Highlands Mardi Gras Parade
Screening of The Florida Project at Polk Theatre, December 2017 - UPDATED
2018 Eastern Idaho State Fair with Lizzy the Hypnotist
Florida Strawberry Festival - Plant City, Florida
Who's Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience @ House of Blues Orlando
Some Sights of Saint Augustine
Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom 12-09-23
2023 Lakeland, Florida Christmas Parade
Tucson, Arizona - Pima Air & Space Museum, Rincon West RV Resort
March 3, 2024
Florida Strawberry Festival - Plant City, Florida
Today was our first visit ever (having lived nearby since 2007!) to the Florida Strawberry, Festival held in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World, Plant City, Florida.
FUN FACT: Watsonville, California is considered THE Strawberry Capital of the World.
This event has been held annually (except during WWII) in Plant City since 1930.
Entertainment included talented dogs...
and swimming pigs, who also raced to the finish line.
Robinson's Racing Pigs have entertained at State Fairs and Festivals since 1985, when they first appeared at the Florida State Fair. They have since been featured on many talk shows nationwide, including those hosted by Mr. Carson and Mr. Leno.
The Strawberry Shortcake, and every other food you can imagine, is aplenty at the Festival.
Plant City is also home to the Robert W Willaford Railroad Musuem. Closed the day of our festival visit, it is located at Union Station Depot and features a two-story Train Viewing Platform.
Seemingly endless entertainment, included in the price of admission, was comprised of magicians, dancers, musicians and many other forms of entertainment.
Here's a taste of entertainer Dennis Lee
Here's a short video of magician Aaron Radatz
To see more pictures and videos, click HERE
To return to the blog home page, click HERE
To be continued...
February 16, 2024
Who's Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience @ House of Blues Orlando
Tonight we visited The House of Blues Orlando at Disney Springs for the first time ever for Who's Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience 20th Anniversary Tour.
The show start time was ambiguous - stated as differing times on differing sources - but the crowd had more energy as the wait time increased. The crowd was ready when the show started.
Taalib York, one of the founding members of Who's Bad, has been mimicking Michael Jackson most of his life.
Watch highlights of the show below.
Here's a short of Billie Jean.
Tickets on Groupon were $12 plus tax. The entertainment was well worth the money
We will probably visit The House of Blues Orlando, which opened in 1997, again.
To see more pictures and videos, click HERE
February 12, 2024
Krewe of Highlands Mardi Gras Parade, Shreveport, Louisiana
We spent the weekend in preparation for the Shreveport Mardi Gras celebration. We enjoyed good food out.
we enjoyed some good food at home,
we enjoyed the good company of friends,
Sunday was the Mardi Gras Parade for the Krewe of Highland. It is a tradition which has taken place in the Highland neighborhood for the last 30 years.
Luckily, the weekend rain stayed away for the parade.
After the parade, we enjoyed a little football...
December 18, 2023
Some Sights of Saint Augustine
Today we spent the day in St. Augustine, Florida. The oldest continually inhabited city in the United States, St. Augustine was discovered by Ponce De Leon in 1513 while searching for the Fountain of Youth and later founded as a city in 1565 by Florida's first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés.
This is Old City Gate. Built in 1808 as a line of defense again attacks, it is the north entrance to St. George Street, the multi-block long pedestrian-only shopping district in St. Augustine.
The oldest masonry fort in the continental United States, Castillo de San Marcos, is more than 320 years old and is now a national monument built, originally by the Spanish to defend Florida and the Atlantic trade route.
Admission is $15 for age 16 and over and free for those under 15.
With a National Park pass being $80 a year and allowing three adults in with the passholder, it is a no-brainer what a great deal the pass is. Bonus for those over 62 - the $80 fee gets you a lifetime pass.
Our St. Augustine Santa's Red Express Nights of Lights Tour by Ripley's (Believe it or Not) was preceded by a showing of The Polar Express. We watched the last half in English as they started it earlier than scheduled and then the first half in Spanish. Luckily, we were able to stream it on our phone in perfect synchrony to hear the dialogue in English.
It was now time to board the train.
It was one of the first chilly nights in Florida and we were about to embark on a Christmas Sing-A-Long train ride with our special magic glasses (not shown).
Watch a video of Santa's Red Express Nights of Lights Tour by Ripley's by clicking HERE
To see more pictures and videos, click HERE
And don't miss these blog entries from our visit to St. Augustine in 2008!
The Fountain of Youth, click HERE
Old Jail of St. Augustine, click HERE
Old St. Augustine Village, click HERE
More Sights of St. Augustine, click HERE
December 9, 2023
Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom with Alan and Susan
Hollywood Studios opened on May 1, 1989 as Disney-MGM Studios and was the third of four theme parks built at Walt Disney World.
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The Hollywood Tower of Terror rises in the background.
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, the Star Wars themed area at Disney's Hollywood Studios opened 08/29/2019. The area's main attraction, Rise of the Resistance opened shortly thereafter on 12/05/2019. The ride utilized the first-ever Virtual Queue at Walt Disney World and had no stand-by line for almost two years - the Virtual Queue ended 09/22/2021. The Virtual Queue is currently being used at Walt Disney World as a way of eliminating extremely long lines for popular new rides.
Watch a video of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance by clicking HERE
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December 7, 2023
2023 Lakeland, Florida Christmas Parade
Tonight was the 42nd annual Lakeland Christmas Parade. The first parade was held in 1981. This year's theme was Christmas in Candy Land.
What? An airboat Christmas float? Only in Florida.
Watch a two minute video of the parade below.
Rudolph leading Santa and Mrs. Clause at the end of the parade.
To see more pictures and videos, click HERE
November 14, 2023
Pima Air & Space Museum and Rincon West RV Resort, Tucson, Arizona
The Pima Air & Space Museum is one of the largest non-government funded aerospace museums in the world.
The Museum features six hangars comprising over 250,000 square feet of indoor display areas.
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Here's a video clip of Pima Air & Space Museum Tram Tour. To come.
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We enjoyed the sprawling Rincon West RV Resort for a decent $40 per night plus tax price.
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See a video of Rincon Country West RV Resort by clicking HERE.HEIC)
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To see more pictures and videos, click HERE
September 6, 2018
Eastern Idaho State Fair
Today we visited the Eastern Idaho State Fair located in Blackfoot, Idaho about 135 Miles from West Yellowstone, Montana.
There are a lot of animals at the fair, like this one.
Not so many of these...
And a few tired pigs.
Of course, there's a lot of food. Even The Prime Steer is here, courtesy of Doug's Meats.
Entertainment included The Penguin Olympic High Dive off of an 80 foot high platform.
Hypnotists are common entertainment at modern State Fairs. This year, Lizzy the Dream Girl was the star of the show.
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Every State Fair would not be complete without a whole host of rides.
December 7, 2017
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.
December 5, 2017
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.
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
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Giant Wizard Head Gift Shop, also featured on Roadside America's website.
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The townhomes featured in the movie have been remodeled.
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The Bodyguard at Theatre Winter Haven, Winter Haven, Florida
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