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

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To be continued...

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.

For an $8 fee, in addition to the approximately $20 admission, you can take a Public Tram Tour. If you like privacy, a Private Tram Tour is $350.

Here's a video clip of Pima Air & Space Museum Tram Tour. To come.

We enjoyed the sprawling Rincon West RV Resort for a decent $40 per night plus tax price.

See a video of Rincon Country West RV Resort by clicking HERE

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To be continued...

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.

Every State Fair would not be complete without a whole host of rides.

To see more pictures and videos, click HERE

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To be continued...

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.

To see more pictures and videos, click HERE

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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:

To see more pictures and videos, click HERE

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To be continued...