by Doug will probably disagree, but I found the Florida Citrus Tower in Clermont to be completely underwhelming. It was $11 per person to ride up to the top and look out where Citrus trees used to be. In spite of multiple laps around the top, we were done in 15 minutes. Fortunately, it was right next to the Presidents Hall of Fame, so we did not go out of our way for this.
The tower is 226 feet tall and was built as a roadside attraction back in 1956. During its heyday, it drew 500,000 visitors a year who wanted a few of the miles of citrus trees that could be seen in all directions. Unfortunately, three harsh freezes in the 1980s killed most of the groves in the area.
We felt it was important to stop at the Pulse Nightclub while we were in Orlando. This is the place where a gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 others on June 12, 2016. Forty-nine people. It’s hard to wrap your head around.
Pulse was known as a “gay nightclub”, and they were celebrating a Latin night. It’s easy to think that the attack was an attack on the LGBT or Latinx communities, but it does seem the club was chosen for its lack of security versus the patrons it had. However, that distinction is of little comfort to community of people that already struggles for acceptance (especially in Florida).
The shooter seemed to be attempting to make a statement about U.S. killings in Iraq. About 320 people were inside the club when the shooting began around 2 am. The loud music and dark lighting inside the club created a chaotic and confusing scene. The police response seems to have been incredibly fast, beginning a three-hour hostage situation.
Today there is a very sobering temporary memorial at the site, with plans to build something more permanent in the future.
On a brighter note, step right up for this next roadside attraction, the Monument of States in Kissimmee.
Built in 1943, it was conceived as a “symbol of American unity after the attack on Pearl Harbor” in 1941.
It was built with donations of stones from around the world, even though its name may indicate it represents only states. Counties, countries, and individual names can are engraved in cement alongside rocks that are representative of the donor’s home. The 50-foot tall tower/sculpture/marker/whatever weighs around 600,000 pounds, and required more than 500 bags of cement to glue it all together.
The Wells’Built Museum of African American History and Culture in Orlando, is not the flashiest museum, but like the culture it seeks to preserve is chronically overlooked and underfunded.
The museum is housed in the former hotel built by Dr. William Monroe Wells in the 1920s. The hotel was a safe haven for African Americans, who still had a very difficult time traveling, not knowing where they would be welcomed for eating, sleeping, or even using the restroom or buying gas. The hotel was listed in The Negro Motorist Green Book.
Next to the hotel Wells built an entertainment venue, which hosted many famous acts over the years, including B.B. King, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong. But by 1970, both were sitting vacant, and the entertainment complex burned down in the 1980s. The hotel was looking to be the victim of urban renewal when a group purchased and relocated it, and turned it into the museum it is today.
The museum is an unstructured collection of African American-related displays, with paintings, records, magazines, models, and other ephemera tucked into every corner. Many exhibits honored local community members who were hometown heroes but would never be known to a broader audience except for the memories recorded in this museum.
I just cannot get over the casual nature of alligators and snakes in Florida. As you approach any type of water there will be a sign warning you not to get too close because there are alligators and snakes. And sure enough, you come around a bend, and there’s an alligator relaxing there. For example, see the cover photo, which did not require much zoom, and was in the middle of a golfing area on the grounds of a resort.
We scooted down to Lakeland to see our friends Brian and Lori, who’ve we not seen in a few years. They used to live much closer to us, and over the years we’ve done a lot of adventuring together. It was great to catch up with them, though somehow we managed not to take one picture together. We did go on a lovely walk in an awesome park near their house where I took – surprise – some flower pictures!
And while we were in Lakeland, we met up with another friend, who drove over from Tampa to meet us for dinner. This was my former co-worker, Melissa, who I had worked with for 2.5 years (before I quit to go live in a van), but whom I had never met in person! She trained me and was an invaluable resource to me — we spent so much time on video calls! It was great to finally meet her in person.
