Laid Back in Orlando
With the exception of family trips to California as a kid, I’ve vacationed in Orlando more than anywhere else. If there’s a place where we can just take it easy and enjoy the resort – this is it. Where this post gets interesting, is on moving day when we visit Winter Park.
To start at the beginning of this series, visit Southeast to Sunshine
One Regret
After three nights with my brothers in Fort Lauderdale, we made our way to Orlando. Since our timeshare points are not unlimited (dammit), this time around we used RCI to book the Sheraton Vistana Resort. Although our unit was huge and the amenities were fantastic, it just wasn’t our home resort.
Yes, we’ve been to Orlando a lot. I think we keep coming back because of its proximity to Fort Lauderdale and its central location, but mostly because we love The Fountains and its beautiful Lake Eve and fantastic swimming pools. Check out my posts from 2023 and 2020 for a few more reasons. I don’t think we’ll be using RCI here ever again – unless it’s to book the Fountains!
When we have an entire week or more in any one city – especially one we’ve been to this much – it seems like we don’t face our stay with as much urgency. We save most of our fun-budget for places we’ve never been, or at least have only been once or twice. With two of those only-one-timers coming up next on our itinerary, that’s our excuse for being lazy this time around. Although there is one Disney property we seem to hit up every time – because it’s free to get in with free music!
A Very Fun Evening
Our favorite part of Disney Springs is the House of Blues. We come here on most visits to Orlando for a great night out. We’ve never actually gone inside to one of the paid concerts, because it’s “general admission standing” and we’re old and like to sit, have a few beers and enjoy the sounds. We like the Live Music in the Courtyard to enjoy the fresh air in February, which we rarely get to do in Wisconsin. On weekends the music starts a little earlier so we’re able to enjoy fabulous music with great barbecue, City Beautiful beers, and be home by 8 – our kind of evening.
Although we met with some friends and went out to dinner several times, there’s really nothing too exciting about the rest of our stay. Except that we are enjoying at least 20, but usually 40-50 more degrees on the thermometer than the folks back home. No snow shovels came out this week, and that’s definitely something!
Mead Botanical Garden
The most blog-worthy stuff of this post happens on our repositioning day. Since we only had a two-hour drive with a six-hour window between checkout and checkin in St. Augustine, we saved our day trips to Winter Park for the day we were heading that way anyway.
Mead Botanical Garden was first on our list, and although I did find some flowers for the photo up top, visiting a little later in spring would definitely have been better. Even on this soon-to-be-massive-bank of azaleas, I had to zoom way in to get a nice clump amongst the scattered blooms. Several gardeners were sprucing up areas, replanting and weeding so I’m sure another couple of weeks, or a month would give this place a whole different look and feel.
Coming from Wisconsin in February we were just excited to see some green, enjoy the sun, and you know how we love a good walk in the woods. At almost 50 acres, the garden is listed on the Great Florida Birding Trail, but all we saw was a couple of squirrels and a chubby bunny.
“Mead Botanical Garden is a 47.6-acre park that offers a variety of facilities including an amphitheater, butterfly garden, boardwalk, and a bike trail. The park is large enough to encompass several different ecosystems and is an ideal place for nature lovers.”
The Albin Polasek Museum
As our moving day-trip in Winter Park continues, we made a stop at the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens. We lucked out and caught our docent in between tours, so she took (just us) around for an excellent tour of the house and museum, and then sent us out to wander the gardens and see the wedding venue just next door.
I have to admit that I hadn’t heard of Albin Polasek until today, but because of excellent reviews, we gave it a try and had a wonderful time learning about this fascinating man and some of his enormous sculptures.
I added captions to some of the photos. Some have an original date when the sculpture was created followed by “this casting”. In some cases the originals are held at The Art Institute of Chicago, where Polasek served nearly 30 years as head of the sculpture department.
While working on this post, I found this Polasek Museum Educational Video which is a great inspiration to visit on your next stay in Orlando.
“Regarded as one of the foremost American sculptors of the 20th Century, Czech-born Albin Polasek… retired in Winter Park, Florida in 1949. Polasek spent the last years of his life at a home and studio he designed and built at age 70 on Winter Park’s Lake Osceola, where despite a debilitating stroke, he completed 18 major works before dying in 1965 at age 86.” ~ READ MORE
The Museum
There are so many wonderful things to look at here, but I’m reluctant to write a snippet about everything. Some have captions but if you’re interested, please download the Audio Tour here – or even better yet – go for a visit!
One of particular interest to me during the current assault on our democracy is the photo of the 72-foot tall bronze equestrian. Since Polášek couldn’t use a portrait of either man, he turned to the imaginary Medieval Blaník knight. This bronze portrays the medieval warrior Jan Žižka, who in 1420 had risen to defend the Czech Reformation. The knight is “a monumental symbol of Thomas G. Masaryk’s eternally valid ideals of freedom, democracy, and humanity.” ~ READ MORE
A full-size version of this amazing sculpture can be seen at Midway Plaisance Park in Chicago and its inscription is below – because the battle for democracy is never over – not even now.
DEDICATED TO THOMAS GARRIGUE MASARYK
CRUSADER FOR TRUTH • TEACHER • LIBERATOR • STATESMAN
“JESUS NOT CAESAR” • “TRUTH WILL PREVAIL”
The Sculpture Gardens
Again, we’re kind of early for the gardens to be in their prime, but the lack of flowers helped me concentrate on the sculptures, and after all – that’s why we’re here!
That gorgeous house next door is the Capen House and looks to be a wonderful venue for a wedding or other very special occasion. It is the third oldest home in Winter Park and “stands as one of the few remaining homes of Winter Park’s founding decade.” Below is part of a very interesting story about this gorgeous house and how it was moved to this location.
“Rejoined. Restored. Remarkable. Preservation Capen and the Winter Park community raised the necessary funds to save the home from imminent demolition. Rescuing the home meant moving it from its original location to this one – all the way across Lake Osceola. To accomplish this tremendous feat, the home was cut in half and the pieces floated by barge across the lake and rejoined at the Albin Polasek Museum. From a painstaking (and award-winning) two-year restoration process emerged a truly remarkable Winter Park historical treasure.” ~ READ MORE
The Morse Museum of American Art
The stops on our moving day keep getting better and better. Today was an Open House at The Charles Morse Museum, so we got in free, and all I can say is WOW! This place was fantastic! If you’re a fan of Tiffany Glass, there is a feast for the eyes around every corner with lovely displays bringing out the exceptional beauty of each and every piece.
“The Morse Museum houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933), including the artist and designer’s jewelry, pottery, paintings, art glass, leaded-glass lamps and windows; his chapel interior from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago; and art and architectural objects from his Long Island country estate, Laurelton Hall.
The Museum’s holdings also include American art pottery, late 19th- and early 20th-century American paintings, graphics, and decorative art.” ~ READ MORE
Tiffany’s Chapel
This absolutely gorgeous section of the Morse Museum houses some of the most intricate mosaics I have ever seen. With a very complicated past, countless hours of restoration have returned this display to its original glory!
Please watch this excellent video that tells of the history of Tiffany’s Chapel – After the Fair – “Tracing the Louis Comfort Tiffany’s 1893 chapel interior’s extraordinary journey from Chicago to the Morse Museum, with stops in New York City and on Long Island.”
Wow, What a Finale!
When we left the Morse Museum, we veered east a bit so we could grab lunch at Red Frog & McToad’s Grub-n-Pub, just southeast of St. Augustine. The first time we passed this way, we hadn’t had breakfast, so we quickly ordered as the deadline for breakfast was approaching. After looking at the menu further (after we put in our order), we realized we could have gotten a fried tenderloin instead! Both of us grew up in Iowa where tenderloins were a staple, but since moving to Wisconsin – not so much. Our review? Delicious!!
Next up: Return to St. Augustine
Happy trails,
Barb
