Category: Television

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Blogging Driving Geography History Television Travel

Weeki Wachee Springs

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. You know I’ve written a lot about my new home near Sebring Florida over the past 7 months. This week I look elsewhere, and I write about a place that I actually have never been to before, but I’d like to visit.

There’s a local TV show that a couple of our Tampa Bay area PBS stations airs called “Central Florida Road Trip” (also just “Florida Road Trip“). I love these shows. I’m discovering them now for the first time. On a recent episode they did a segment on Weeki Wachee Springs. I’ve heard of it before, but I didn’t really know much of anything about it until they featured it on their show.

Weeki Wachee Springs is a historic roadside tourist attraction located right along U.S. 19 about 50 miles north of Tampa.

Fun Fact: U.S. 19 extends over 1,400 miles from near the shores of Lake Erie in Pennsylvania to near the shores of the Gulf Of Mexico in St. Petersburg Florida. It traverses West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia in-between. U.S. 19 between I-10 and Crystal River Florida is a frequent route for me to and from the Panhandle.

Weeki Wachee Springs has been open since 1947, and it was recently added to the U.S. National Register Of Historic Places. Various TV shows and movies have filmed on-location there attracting big stars. It was one of the most popular roadside tourist attractions in the region during the late-1950s and throughout the 1960s. Everyone wanted to drive there to see the mermaids in action. Its popularity began waning during the 1970s as nearby Walt Disney World arrived on the scene. It became a Florida State Park late in 2008. The mermaids are still performing there 2 or 3 times daily.

Check out the Weeki Wachee Springs Facebook page for the most current news and information.

I definitely want to visit this place in the months to come. It’s about 116 miles from my new home (less than 3 hours away). This may be part of my upcoming 3,000+ mile post-retirement road-trip.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll look back at my visit on Cedar Key Florida – a place that was recent devastated by Hurricane Idalia. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Food Geography Movies Music Sports Television Travel

Footloose

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last Saturday I went on my first day-trip with some of my friends at the Sebring Historical Society. We gathered on our chartered bus at around 9 AM, and 30 minutes later we left the parking lot of our downtown Sebring museum for Fort Myers – 2 hours away.

We arrived at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre just in time for the all-you-can-eat lunch buffet – or – as I like to pronounce it – boo/FAY. The salad bar, the main course bar, and the dessert bar – it was all wonderful. Lots of choices, and everything tasted great. Service was pretty good too. You get your own food, and the wait staff brings you your unlimited drinks (water, iced tea, soda, coffee, etc.).

As a large group of over 20 we had 4 tables assigned to us up near the front of the 400-seat dinner theatre. We all had an excellent view of the stage for the after-lunch show.

And that show was #Footloose. I saw the original movie with my family as a 16-year-old in Fairfax County Virginia. I also saw the late-2011 remake. Good story. Good music. The Broadway-style show held true to its origins. I forgot about the whole minister / church part of the plot. It was interesting watching that this past Saturday afternoon as a minister.

I actually want to see the original 1984 movie again. Next time I see it on my TV listings I’ll have to DVR it. (Oh wait a minute – I forgot – it’s 2023, and I mostly stream. I have MAX, and I can watch it anytime on there.)

Well our next trip with the Sebring Historical Society is next month to a Tampa Bay Rays / New York Yankees Major League Baseball game in St. Petersburg Florida. I won’t be blogging about that, as I won’t be going on that trip. I just don’t like baseball. But I’m sure that the trip will be popular with a lot of the guys in our organization.

I hear that our next trip after that is in December to a Christmas show at a theatre in Winter Haven – or is it Winter Garden ? I get those two cities mixed-up. (And then there’s nearby Winter Park and Winter Springs.)

Next #TravelThursday – ALL ABOARD ! Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Geography Home Humor Television Travel

Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about the main campus of South Florida State College (#SFSC) near Avon Park – home of the 1,460-seat Alan Jay Wildstein Center For The Performing Arts. I got to see my first 2 concerts there last month. It’s just 2 miles away from my new home.

This week I’m about 100 miles away at a longtime favorite – the 1,874-seat Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall at Florida SouthWestern State College (#FSW) in Fort Myers. I’ve seen 8 shows / concerts there since 2011 including Chicago (the legendary band), Jay Leno, Brian Regan, and Frank Caliendo. I would’ve seen more shows there if I lived nearby, as it’s 3 hours away from my Homestead home – and 2 hours away from my now Sebring home. It’s my favorite small performing arts venue to see shows. A show at the #BBMANNPAH means a stay at a local hotel for the night – because – frankly – I don’t like driving long distances late at night. Scary things happen on the road in the dark.

Last Thursday night – after final closing of my new home 100 miles away – I saw Michael Carbonaro: Lies On Stage there. It was a great show. I’m glad I attended and experienced it. (I had thought about skipping the show and staying in my new home, but I decided to continue with my plans.)

Michael put on a fun comedy and magic show with lots of audience interaction. I was a big fan of his 2014-2020 truTV show The Carbonaro Effect. I saw every episode of it over the course of its 5 seasons. He essentially brought that show to our LIVE audience, and it was fun to see.

The show was actually postponed from an earlier date in mid-October – 2½ weeks after the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian. (The venue suffered some roof damage, but shows resumed about a month after the storm.)

Next #TravelThursday I’ll write about some delicious fried chicken I found close to my new home. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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1990s Blogging Computers Geography Internet Music Radio Television Travel

Perth Australia

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This month I’m virtually visiting 5 continents in 5 weeks. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Luxembourg in Europe. Last week it was Yunnan China in Asia. This week it’s down under to Perth Australia.

I’m a big fan of Australia and New Zealand from afar. I’ve never been to either. (I’ve never been south of the Equator.) During my upcoming retirement chapter of my life – I definitely wish to somehow someway visit either or both nations for an organized 2-to-3-week tour. I actually want to see and experience Australia and New Zealand over any other destination in the world.

Every time “House Hunters International” (on HGTV) does an episode from either nation I’m glued intently to it – especially the scenery in the background. I get ecstatic when the house hunters are in Perth Australia.

About 25 years ago when I was discovering the Wild Wild World Wide Web (after I weaned myself off of AOL) I used RealAudio (remember that ?) to listen to pop music radio stations from around the world. I ran a pop music web site at the time that was gaining in popularity in Europe (particularly Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany) and Australia and New Zealand. I couldn’t believe that I was creating an electronic product, placing it on the Internet at my very own web site with its own domain name, and people from thousands of miles away and on the other side of the world were interested in it.

One of the many radio stations that I used to listen to from Australia was 96fm out of Perth. It was fun to hear tomorrow’s zany morning show at night here on the U.S. East Coast. Back then (in the late-1990s) pop music in Australia was like a hybrid of both U.S. and U.K. pop music. I remember hearing Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn” for many months, and thinking to myself that it should be played on the radio here stateside. Eventually it made it here, and it was a MASSIVESMASH. (That’s an ode to my old web site.)

I learned a lot about Perth listening to the radio, and I even catered my website somewhat to Perth and other cities in Australia and New Zealand, since my fanbase there outnumbered most everywhere else in the world.

Perth is located on the southwest coast of Australia near the 32ND parallel south. Summers are mostly sunny, warm, and dry. Winters are mostly cloudy, cool, and wet. Spring is on its way Perth, and so are many sunny days !

Perth’s skyline from the sea is beautiful. Its metro area is vast along the coast. Over 2 million residents call Perth home. It’s one of the most isolated major cities in the world !

#VisitPerth

From Australia to South America. Next #TravelThursday I’m visiting Santiago Chile. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp