Welcome back to #TravelThursday. A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to introduce my little brother to my new home county – and my new dream home in my dream neighborhood in my dream part of Florida.
After spending 4 days and 4 nights at Walt Disney World with his wife and two daughters – I met them on a Tuesday afternoon at the Disney resort that they stayed at. As my sister-in-law and nieces prepared to head to Orlando International Airport to fly back to North Texas – my brother packed his bags in my car, and we headed out for a week of fun.
Our first stop was a comic book / sports card store in Kissimmee off U.S. 192. (My brother is a collector of both.) After that – we made our way southward onto U.S. 17 / U.S. 92 (South John Young Parkway / South Orange Blossom Trail) through northwestern Osceola County and into Polk County – through Davenport and over to U.S. 27. We stopped for dinner at a favorite place of mine in Lake Wales – Sizzling Grill – and then we arrived in Highlands County and my neighborhood and home.
I got to show off my home county to my brother over the next 5 days (from Wednesday to Sunday). That’s stores, restaurants, downtowns, attractions, and highways.
On Thursday I gave him a tour of downtown Sebring – the Lake Jackson shoreline and parks, the Charles Frederick Weigle House Museum (where I’m a docent), and the Circle with all of the HGTV workers wrapping-up their projects for an upcoming season of “Home Town Takeover“.
Friday was Avon Park day. We tried to visit the Depot Museum, but it was unexpectedly closed. We did enjoy lunch at the historic Hotel Jacaranda – as well as orange ice cream at Maxwell Groves. #IYKYK
Saturday was Lake Placid day. We checked out the Depot Museum on International Museum Day (every May 18TH). I got to chat with some of the docents on-duty there about – well – life as a docent. My brother found it both amusing and intriguing that museum docents visit each other to talk about being a docent at a museum. YES – it’s a thing. We tried to visit the clown museum, but they were unexpectedly closed.
During our 5 days in Highlands County – we visited our local (dead) mall twice (to see movies), we shopped at both of our Walmart stores, we went to Publix twice (my brother discovered the #PubSub), and we enjoyed meals at some of my favorite family-owned restaurants in the local area. He also got a detailed geological and geographical education of the region.
It was fun to show him my home county. He only saw a tiny portion of the local area. I’m hoping that it’s the start of a new tradition every year so that I can show him new places. I’m still exploring new places myself. I’m proud to show off my new neighborhood, Highlands County, and the Heartland of Florida to anyone who visits.
On the final day – me and my brother headed back to the Orlando area (2 hours away). We spent a few hours at the thriving / exceptionally busy Florida Mall. There’s nothing dead at that mall – well – except for one of the last remaining Sears in the U.S.
I dropped-off my brother at the airport, and I returned home – ready to return to my regularly scheduled retirement routine – like blogging !
Next #TravelThursday – Let’s take a slow cruise on the St. Johns River out of Sanford Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.
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