The Orange Dome

In 1964 construction was started on a very unique building in Winter Haven. It was round topped and was being built where the Florida Citrus Festival would make it's home. Construction was completed within a year and in 1965 the Citrus Dome was opened. A time capsule was buried on the grounds at that time, to be opened 100 years later.

The capsule is acutally built into the wall right outside the main entrance to the dome. As you are facing the entrance the capsule would be on the right side. The window in the middle was a ticket window. In recent years it became a showcase window. I know I would never fit in that space....it's teeny tiny.

This is a photo of the front of the building. It was originally designed for parking on the main road, Cypress Gardens Boulevard. Today that is not possible because the Boulevard is now a 4 lane highway.
This is a picture of the back of the bulding. This is the door that actually leads from the building to the fairgrounds. The Citrus Festival was last held in 2007 I believe. There was not enough funding to keep it going and the popularity decreased over the years. My husband and I used to volunteer at the Festival and it was a sad day when they made the announcement that the Festival would not be returning.
The roof of the bulding is not actually attached to the building. It sets on top of some brick columns. It is probably the most sturdy building in the state. It is a very unique building and I am hoping to be able to get inside soon to take some photos.
And I am planning on researching more of the history and how and why it was built the way it was. I am also going to try to find some photos taken in the late 1990's when it was painted like a baseball with backwards stitching (long story). I wanted to share some of the Orange Dome with you because within the next 18 months they are going to be tearing it down. I just don't understand how we can destroy history like it was never there. The Dome has been many things over the years...it has not been sitting empty. It has been used by Walmart for layaways, it's been an ice skating rink, volleyball court, it's held parties, car shows, boat shows, rv shows, holiday events, the Festival of Trees. Lots and lots of fun and good times in that one small building.

Bikers

Layla got a new bike for Christmas. Since her Grammy babysits and doesn' t live too far from Wade & Diana's, Wade decided the bring Layla's bike to her Grammy's and then when he went to pick up her and Rossi, he rode his bike with a trailer.

Layla riding her new bike. We noticed she needed her seat raised and hopefully Daddy took care of it.

The crew getting ready for the ride home. You can barely see Rossi in the trailer.

Rossi is ready to go.

Rossi is such a character. You can tell she's ready to ride!

And off they go....heading into the sunset towards the ole homestead.

Wild Parrots

About 25 years ago someparrots escaped from Cypress Gardens. I believe a bad storm had blown through and damaged cages. Some of those escaped birds have survived and thrived in the wild for all those years. They actually have a next built between some power transformers out on Lake Howard right near the trail where I walk. With my new camera that Santa brought me for Christmas I was actually able to capture some really good shots of some of them.

Here is a photo of the nest between the transformers. I was concerned because I know transformers can blow and start fires. Evidently they have new tranformers that won't do that anymore, so I was assured that this wouldn't happen to the parrots.

A little closer shot of them at the nest. I saw 4 of them the day I took pictures. But you could tell there were more with all the squawking going on.

It's hard to see but on the bottom of the nest there is an opening where the birds crawl in and out of the nest. This is the closest shot I could get. Arent' the parrots just beautiful?

I saw this squirrel and thought it would make a great shot. I love this new camera I got. I just love how this picture came out. Pea and Susie Q....I may be able to give you a run for your money photowise now, lol.

I loved the way the Spanish Moss looked against the other trees.

Another shot of some Spanish Moss hanging in the trees.

Here is a shot of the sunset over the trees at the Lake Howard Nature Park. The pinks and purples were beautiful.

Bok Tower and Pinewood Estate Part II

Okay, now that I've given you a small teaser for the Pinewood Estate, I'll share some more pictures. And I have to tell you that my pictures don't do the Estate justice and most of my pictures are of the many trees that are decorated there.

I ended the last blog with the Christmas Tree in the kitchen. As you walk out of the kitchen you walk into the dining area. We caught Santa and his elves getting ready to dine.

This tree is in the dining area. If you look closely you will notice the top of the tree is bent over. There is an elf on top that is trying to jump from the tree to one of the balloons hanging from the ceiling.

Santa greeted us as we left the dining room and headed towards the living rooms.

This nativity was set up in front of the fireplace in the loggia. I call it a living room. For some reason I didn't get any pictures of the huge wreath hanging from the ceiling or the tree in the corner. Gives me an excuse to go back (giggle).

On ourway to the next living room areas we passed this snowman. I was told the glass room he is in is called a box window. There were 3 of those windows on the ground floor of the house. To me they were more like Florida rooms.

This was part of a scene decorated by a member of the Trans Siberian Orchestra. It was the music room. Gorgeous! I am thinking that I definitely need to go back and take more photos....I'm realizing that I really didn't take enough.

This is a sitting room by the music room. The lifesize doll on the couch? I thought she was real, lol.

This is the opposite side of the sitting room. I just love the rocking horse in front of the fireplace. From here we headed up a small spiral staircase to the second floor where all the bedrooms are. The main bedroom had all the furniture removed so they could make it a room of just Christmas trees.

There were probably 6 or 7 trees in the room. This is the blue tree.

And a pink and red one.

A small country style table top tree.

And a very Patriotic tree.

They even put a tree in the bathroom!

This bedroom has a tree between the two twin beds.

This Santa greeted us on the staircase leading back downstairs. He's covered in leaved and pine cones. I don't know what Santa he is but I call him Santa Nature.

This bedroom was off the landing between the second floor and the first floor. This was my favorite room. It was the brightest room in the house. It just seemed so cozy and friendly.

Santa and I did an event at Bok Tower around Thanksgiving and we were in a patio area. I had a picture posted on FB for awhile of me and Santa on the patio. This is the same patio. They have filled it in with beautiful pointsettias. See the fountain? This house sat abandoned for many years before BOK Tower bought it. Limbs, leaves and moss covered this area. As it was being cleaned and the debris removed, they discovered this gorgeous fountain made out of Italian tile. There seemed to be no damage. They found the handle that would turn on the water for the fountain and much to the suprise of everyone, the fountain worked!

On the way back down the hill to the Visitor's Center, the boys decided to play. Wade was chasing Layla and then jumped on Scott's back for a piggy back ride.

In the Visitor's Center there is a cut out in the wall that is as big as the biggest bell in the tower. Here is Layla standing the the bell. About a year ago I think I posted pictures of Hut and Scott standng in the same bell. It is HUGE!

Also in the Visitor's Center is the original sketch of the Tower. This is what they drew before they built it. The Visitor's Center has alot of amazing articles and items from the tower. I promise I will take more photos next time. I am going to try to go out there one more time for the Christmas Display and after the holiday, when flowers are in bloom, go out and take some actual photos of the gardens. I just happen to know that Santa is giving me a new camera for Christmas. SSSHHHHH don't tell him I know or he may just give me coal, lol.

Bok Tower and Pinewood Estate Part I

We have this beautiful tower in our neck of the woods. It is called Bok Tower after the man who built it...Edward Bok. This tower took 2 years to build and it was built during the height of the depression. The tower itself is not open to the public but the beautiful gardens surround it and the Pinewood Estate, which was purchased by the Bok Foundation in 1970 are. It's a beautiful, serene place to spend a day.

During the course of the year they also have concerts at the base of the tower and many take place in the evenings. Bok Tower is built on the highest ground in the State of Florida.

I am fortunate enough to have a friend who works at Bok Tower and myself and my family were fortunate enough to get a private tour of the Tower.

This is the front door to the Tower. It is made out of solid brass and weighs about 1000 pounds. The outside of the door is polished twice a year. The inside of the door is polished once every 2 years. If you look closely at the 3rd row down on the left...there is a tree. This is actually a peep hole door so you can see who is at the door before you open it. My kids call it the Wizard of Oz door,lol. The door depicts different biblical scenes.

The whole family in front of the door. Front row is Liz holding Layla and Diana holding Rossi. Back row is me, Scott, Hut and Wade.

Edward Bok is buried right at the front door. He did not want to be buried at the Tower but his wife insisted he be buried there after his death. So he is right at the foot of the stairs between the Koi/Swan pond and the front steps.

When you walk in the front door you are in an amazing hall. This is the fireplace. It has alot of hand carved ornamentation that my camera just could not pick up (Thank goodness Santa's bringing me a new camera for Christmas). It has an outline of the state of Florida, some scenes and some sayings. I'm not sure any camera's could do it justice.Here is some of the carved decoration on top of the fireplace. Men playing bells. I guess I should have mentioned that BOK Tower is actually a carillion with about 60 bells. They have a carillioneur that plays everyday during the holiday season and for special concerts they hold throughout the year.

This is the ceiling in the hall. It's peaked. Look at beautiful the bricks are inlayed.

This is a balcony in the hall that leads to the second floor. We only got to tour the first floor and the bell tower. The other floors are now used for storage and offices.The railings and stairs are made out of ornate wraought iron. The staircase was a spiral staircase. We all wanted to climb them but they were off limits. Notice how beautiful the bricks and marble are. How boring our building are nowadays that are being built.

This is the tile floor. Stunning! The star in the middle is the Star of Life. I really wish I had posted more pictures of the floor. The floor depicts ocean life, progressing to lakes and rivers and then land. All the tiles depict different types of animals.

These are our gracious hosts....on the right is Martin...he works at Bok Tower and granted us this tour. On the left is his beautiful bride Amneris. We can't thank them enough for giving our whole family the opportunity to do what very few can.

Up to the bell tower. We actually took an elevator up to the top of the tower. The elevator was built originally with the tower in the late 1920's, early 1930's. Very small elevator. We had to make it in two trips. The bell tower holds I believe 60 bells of various sizes. There is a room right under the bell that has a keyboard that the carillioneur plays. It was too dark to get any pictures through the windows.

A little dark but this is the largest bell in the tower.

The bell tower has 4 balconies (one on each side) that we could go out on and see the view. There is ornamentation going alot further up the building from the top floor that we were on. This is tile work going up the side from the balconey. This was all just cleaned and the workers actually climbed the sides of the tower to clean them. Not a job I would want.

Also at the top and on all four corners are these hand-carved Griffins. At least I think they are Griffins. Martin called them monsters. Can you imagine carving these by hand at the VERY TOP of the building? And back almost 100 years ago.

Here is a view from one of the balconies. I love this view because it shows that there are still some orange and other citrus groves in Florida. As a matter of fact...BOK Tower has working groves on their property.

A view from another angle. We believe this is Mountain Lake. Mountain Lake is one of the places that the Millionaires of the day would stay. And some still do. The Rockefellers stayed ehre and I believe they still do. Also one of the members of the Trans Syberian Orchestra has an estate there.

And yet another view from one of the balconies. As you can see Polk County is still very rural. And I hope it stays that way.

A view of the Koi/Swan pond from the top of the tower. I'm so glad my son Scott was taking these photos, lol, as I have a terrible fear of heights.

A not so clear shot of Edward Boks tomb from the top of the tower.This is a shot looking up from the entranceway to the tower. We were way up there. Now it's on to the Pinewood Estate for their Christmas displays.

We actually stopped on the other side of the Koi/Swan pond for some photo ops. This is Diana, Rossi, Wade and Layla in the front.

Liz and Scott. Notice the tower in the background in both photos. It's so beautiful.Right outside of the Pinewood Estate there was a huge picture frame for photo ops. So you know we took advantage of that. Here is Liz and Scott.

And Diana, Rossi, Wade and Layla.

The Pinewood Estate was built by C. Austin Buck around the same time as Bok Tower. Mr. Buck was a very wealthy man. He was vice-president of Bethlemhem Steel in Pennsylvania. His family only used the house 6 weeks out of the year. It is a 20 room Meditearanian Style house. My favorite part is it has 5 bedrooms all with their own bathrooms. I would love to have my own bathroom. And of course I have no picture of the house itself, just the Christmas decorations.

This is the Christmas tree in the kitchen. It is set in front of an elevator. It it believed Mr. Buck's mother was in a wheelchair and they used this lift to get her to the upstairs rooms. The staircase next to the tree comes off the main entrance and was not built for fluffy people like me.

I have decided to make this a two-parter so you wouldn't have to continue to wait until I finished with the rest of the pictures. Hopefully I will be able to post Part II tomorrow, but now promises. :)