Tag: Avon Park

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Blogging Commerce Driving Food Geography History Home Shopping Travel

Welcome To Highlands County Florida

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.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Geography Home Travel

Home Is Where The Heartland Is

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. It’s an anniversary week for me. It was exactly one year ago that I bought my current home here in the Heartland of Florida near Sebring. I bought my dream home in my dream neighborhood in my dream part of Florida. It’s my forever home. I expect to live here and enjoy retirement life here for the rest of my physical life here on Earth.

This is the place that I drove through many times and eventually spent vacation time in for about 8 years – including several Presidents’ Day Weekends here in the U.S.A. I fell in love with the region. I decided that I wanted to move here after I retire. I narrowed it down from Lake Wales to Lake Placid (about 55 miles apart). I eventually settled on Sebring (right in the middle). I had my eyes on my current 55+ neighborhood when I was still 54. I waited until 2 days after my 55TH birthday to physically tour my likely new neighborhood with my Real Estate Agent. I bought my new home last Presidents’ Day Weekend.

I still love everything about my new neighborhood and home county that I loved a year ago and during those 8 years of vacations. I’ve also become actively involved in my new neighborhood and community – something I never really did during my 36 years in South Florida. My footprint is all over Sebring, Avon Park, and the surrounding Highlands County region. I’m looking forward to contributing more time to make this an even greater place to live and visit and enjoy.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll reveal the first 2 stops on my upcoming retirement road-trip. One is in the Florida Panhandle, and the other is now the second-largest city in “The Yellowhammer State”. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Home Travel

Avon Park Depot Museum

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote all about my recent 2-day visit to my future retirement area – Highlands County Florida – located about 3 hours from my current home of nearly 35 years.

I plan to visit the area on a fairly-regular and increasingly-frequent basis going forth, and every time I visit I’ll think about my upcoming purchase in my future gated neighborhood less than 3 miles south of Avon Park, (but with a Sebring address). I’ll also visit some of my favorite places that I’d like to volunteer at during my retirement life.

One such place is the historic Avon Park Depot Museum – operated by the Avon Park Historical Society. It’s located about 4½ miles from my future neighborhood. I actually visited the museum on a previous trip to the area in February 2021. I arrived at the museum. I took a couple of exterior photos. I walked-up to the front door, and it was locked shut. #COVID

What a disappointment. I immediately returned southward to Sebring. That disappointment actually led me to a big “reveal” with the Sebring Historical Society that will lead to additional volunteer opportunities. I’ll write about that experience next week.

So I finally entered the main door of the Avon Park Depot Museum. I and 2 other guests who arrived just before me were greeted together by a friendly volunteer docent. She stopped everything she was doing, and she went out of her way to give the 3 of us an extensive tour of all of the rooms of the museum. She knew her material, and I was eager to absorb it all as she was telling the history of the once-bustling Avon Park train station from the late-1920s through the mid-1970s. (It’s been operating as a museum since 1981.)

She even gave us a bonus exclusive behind-the-scenes tour inside this railroad dining car (acquired in 1986) that last saw action as part of Amtrak’s Auto Train. It’s now used for special catered dining events by groups of 16 to 36 (by reservation only).

After the tour, and after the other 2 guests went on their way I stayed behind just to talk with our docent – Elaine. (She’s the Museum Curator.) I thanked her for the wonderful job that she’s doing. She made history come alive inside that historic building. She was a model docent that I’ll use as an example in my future docent opportunities. I told her that I’m interested in serving at the museum once I move up to the local area next year. I believe that I can help the museum out and contribute in many different ways. I’ll definitely visit again the next time (and probably every time) I visit the area. I told her that I’m a blogger (which she didn’t really understand), and that I’d be writing about the museum (and her) on a future blog post. Next time I visit I’ll share this blog post with her.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll share my unexpected experiences with the Sebring Historical Society – both in February 2021 as well as this most recent visit to the area. Looks like I’ll be very busy working inside Historical Society museums during my upcoming retirement life. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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Blogging Driving Home Travel

Highlands County Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last Thursday morning I actually returned home from a quick 2-day road-trip to and from Highlands County Florida – located about 3 hours from home.

A little over 101,000 residents call Highlands County home. Less than 23,000 live within the established limits of the 3 incorporated cities / towns of Avon Park, Sebring, and Lake Placid. (More than 78,000 residents live in adjacent unincorporated communities and rural areas of the county.)

U.S. 27 runs in a mostly NNW / SSE direction for about 48 miles through the county. U.S. 98 runs concurrent with U.S. 27 through the northern-half of the county.

So a little over 101,000 residents live within an 1,106-square mile county. By comparison – more people live within about 5 miles of me right now.

Highlands County is my future home, and on the first day I was there last week I met my Real Estate Agent for the first time at her office in Lake Placid. I followed her to 1 of her 2 Sebring offices, and then from there I got in her vehicle. We drove up the road (U.S. 27) to my future neighborhood (between Sebring and Avon Park). It was awesome to finally pass-through the front gate of that secure entrance. I got to check-out 3 separate condos currently for sale – a 2/2, a 3/2, and a 2/1 – in that order. The 2/2 was nice, but the 3/2 was wonderful. All 3 condos were fully or partially-furnished. I wasn’t sure I would like that. I loved it. They all had better furniture than I do right now !

I got to experience my future neighborhood for about an hour on that Tuesday. Before the experience I was about 98% sure that it was where I want to live (based on online research). Now I’m at 100%. We drove 1.2 miles clockwise around the neighborhood that surrounds a 10½-acre manmade oval-shaped lake. I loved everything about it. I’m looking forward to working with my Real Estate Agent early next year in the purchase of my future forever home.

My plan is to initially live (and work remotely) up there on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and live (and work on-site) my final year here in Homestead on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.

So I would do a 3½-hour commute early on Sunday mornings and late on Wednesday afternoons. That’s my plan for now (subject to change).

I had a fun (less than) 48 hours up in my future retirement area of Highlands County. I enjoyed Breakfast with my only known friend in the area – a former resident of Homestead who moved to the area nearly 15 years ago. I also met lots of new friends at different places that I plan to serve with during my retirement era.

Next #TravelThursday we’ll visit one of those places up in Avon Park. Let’s keep traveling together.

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