My friend came and went last week and although some time was spent locally in Southwest Florida, most was spent in Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort. Okay, I know Disney really isn’t in Orlando but if I said in Lake Buena Vista, would you know where that is? (more…)
LEGO Store, Downtown Disney, Fla.
Central Florida brings the kid out in me and when visiting Downtown Disney Sunday, HAD to visit the LEGO store to see how far the plastic toy has come. My, my, how LEGO’s grown up. This photo is of the store’s back wall and the million little pieces LEGO fans can purchase – even pink bricks!
Five years ago the local Rotary district (6960) sent me and four others to Japan on the Group Study Exchange program and a year later I submitted essays to be considered for a travel anthology/travel guidebook called To Japan with Love: A Travel Guide for the Connoisseur 
Samurai in Training at the Shimada Obi Festival, Oct. 2004
Five years ago this month I returned from a month-long trip to Japan and feeling sentimental about the journey, I’m sharing this snapshot from a visit to the Shimada Obi Festival, an unusual event which happens every three years. The children in this photo were adorable and friendly, as were most everyone we met along the way.
I realize the primary topic of my blog is solo travel because I’m a single gal and end up traveling solo because if I waited around for someone to do what I want to do, I wouldn’t travel anywhere. This week I’m going on a little girlfriends getaway within the Sunshine State. Not my first choice to use vacation time but a friend from high school who’s never been to Florida will be visiting. I asked her what she wanted to do and got the response, “I don’t care, everything’s new.” (more…)
“Well, you have the kayaks until 5 o’clock …to get out of here turn left at the exit…have fun!” These were the departing words of Lewis, a guide with Tarpon Bay Explorers as he paddled away leaving our small group somewhere in the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge. That somewhere was the end of the Commodore Creek Canoe Trail which is Mother Nature’s version of a watery cul-de-sac surrounded by crawling mangrove trees yet sans houses with basketball hoops and other tokens of civilization. The Commodore Creek Trail is a 2.5 mile non-loop and it was only 10:30 a.m. (more…)
Last year I ventured out to Fort Myers Beach for the American Sandsculpting Championship and was truly wowed by the sandy masterpieces sculpted by sand artists. Somewhere I have video (but guess I didn’t get around to making a flick out of it!) but check out some of last year’s sand sculptures. (more…)
