Travelog for: Orange

Today we go to Lake Worth for the street painting festival.  It's the largest of its kind in the U.S.



They close off a few streets and the artists paint on them.  The beginning section is drawn by students.  They may be young but they paint very well.





The event goes from Saturday to Sunday.  It takes a lot of hours to paint.

This one is very colorful!



Hey look!  Here's a painting of Nemo and his friends!  I am so happy!



Looks like sea turtles is a popular theme.



This is a manatee, an endangered sea mammal found in Florida.



And a Florida beach!



The painter paints his own dog in this one.  The dog model is sitting right next to the picture, enjoying his fame.



And this man paints his wife.  It's very beautiful.  We debate whether she will be very moved by this or she will complain that he makes her look too fat. : D



The artist draws grid on her copy, so she can reproduce it accurately on the street.



This is so beautiful.  It's a shame to remember that when the festival is over, the art will not remain.



Besides street painting there are other arts on display too.  This stall sells palm frond art.  Frond is the base of a palm leaf.



This man is pretending to be a bronze statue.



There are a lot of reproduction of classics, all nicely done. 











Here's a picasso!



Not a classic, but rather an impressionist painting of Darth Vader!



There are some food booths too in case you get hungry.





I guess cigar and fine arts kind of go together...



Oh look!  Harry Potter!



Pussy in Boots!



Some artists complete their work already while some are still hard at work.



So many paintings, and they are all simply amazing!  It's hard to imagine how they can accomplish this kneeling or lying on the street! 

This week we go with our host to Tarpon Springs, which is on the west coast of central Florida.  The city has the highest percentage of Greek-Americans of any city in the US, beginning back when the first Greek immigrants arrived to this city during the 1880s, hired to work as divers in the growing sponge harvesting industry.

The farmers market is open today, so we go to take a look.

There are lots of vegetables, including local tomatoes and strawberries.



This stall sells home made jams and peanut butter.  We get some kumquat jam that is excellent.



The bread looks delicious too!



That looks yummy... not... yuck!  That's dog biscuit!!



Now this is sounds better - cheese!!





And the local honey sounds delicious too.



There are some plants for sale.



The soap and sachets smells really good.  We pick a jasmine soap and a verbena sachet for the car.



As for food - needless to say you can go Greek here!

My friends Genoveva and Sissi are from Germany, and they start to have craving for some some good beer.  Our host has been very nice to scout out some breweries.

Today, we go to a Saint Somewhere Brewery, for a Happy Ending Brunch!





Looks like they get some good stuff here!



This tank is used for boiling the grain.



This is the fermentation tank.



Hey look where the bottles come from!!



These beers are ready to be shipped to bars for use on the tap.



Now time to sit down for a gulp!  They specialize in saison.    The one on the left is orange juice mixed with saison. 



We also enjoy some scrambled egg, potato, empanada and pancake.  What a nice Sunday brunch!

Today we go around downtown Tarpon Springs.

We go to the Greek Heritage Museum, which unfortunately is closed.



We take a stroll around the park next to the museum.  It is nice weather.  The trees have Spanish moss hanging from them, giving them a romantic aura, or a ghastly look, depends on your take.





Look there is a little squirrel friend!



We have a good time at the park.  Wish we packed some picnic!



This is a monument for His Holiness Bartholomew, arch bishop of Constantinople, who visited in 2006.



The park is right by the bayou. 



Some days you can see manatee swimming here. We see two, but it's hard to catch them on the camera though, as you don't know when or where they will peek out from the water. 



The bayou leads out to the Gulf of Mexico.  There are several spots for people to unload their motor or man-powered boats, like these outrigger canoes, to go out to the gulf.  Or they can just paddle around inside the bayou and along the waterways leading out to the sea.





This house here looks very pretty!



We walk up to the main street.  This is the St. Nicholas Cathedral.  It is modeled after Hagia Sophia.



The statue is a memorial for those residents who fought in the wars.



You can see the Greek flag flying.



We spot a Greek bakery across the street.  We are not hungry so we will visit another time.

This is the room we are staying at.



The house has a beautiful patio where we can see the sea.  We like to read, use our computer or have our meals here.  The light sea breeze makes it very comfortable.



What a beautiful place this is! 



We enjoy watching the sun setting into the sea.

Boy, we are getting thirsty again!  LOL.  Today we go visit Dunedin Brewery, the oldest microbrewery in Florida.



The outside looks pretty good, almost like a German beer garden.  Let's see what's inside!



The brewing tanks here are much bigger than the other one we went to.



The inside has a cosy, funky atmosphere which we like immediately.



Oh, looks like we just missed the performing band.  : (



We have an apricot peach Ale and a gold ale.  They are both very delicious.  Also ordered some fried cheese curd, chicken wings, and more.  Yummy!

Today we go visit the Sponge Docks, which is the popular tourist destination in Tarpon Springs.



We walk along Dodecanese Avenue (named after the Dodecanese Islands of Greece).  There are a lot of Greek restaurants and shops selling sponges and Greek souvenirs.



This is how a sponge boat looks like.  While a 1894 newspaper article reported that Tarpon Springs did over a million dollars of business a year in the sponge industry, today there is hardly any sponge harvesting done here, due to costs and other factors.



This statue is a memorial to the divers. 



Look at all the sponges!  Most of them are imported from where costs are lower.



Hmm... I feel very at home sitting in this sponge here.



We find this friendly sea turtle.



Oh Mommy!  Help!  I am going to be shark dinner!!!



What a scare!! Now we need some food!



Gyros is a Greek specialty.  You can see the stacks of pita bread and the roasting meat.


 
Yum!  It's so delicious.  The bread is soft and warm, and the tzaziki sauce creamy.



We also have a Spanakopita, spinach pie, which is very flaky.



Dessert time!  We go a few doors down to a bakery.



Look at all the baklava, flans, cookies and more!  My mouth is watering!



Our host gets some of her favorite, the diples.  It's a thin waffle rolled up like a tube, with honey drizzled over it. 



What a fun trip but sadly it's time to go home. 



We pass the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.  The Travel TV Channel rated the Sunshine Skyway #3 in its special on the "Top 10 Bridges" in the World.

Today we visit a place called Cauley Square.  This is originally a railroad depot from 1903.  Now, much of that downtown area, with its dozen of buildings, are preserved. 



The railroad is long gone, except for this little train here.



We walk around the village.



Most of the little houses are converted to either shops or restaurants. 





This weekend there is a Renaissance Festival going on.  Let's check it out!



What are these colorful things?



It's a society of glass blowers showing their work.



There is a booth for pan flute.



This lady is playing some lovely music on the harp.



There are many volunteers and workers dressed up in medieval clothings.



All these clothes look very interesting!



If you want to, you can go ahead and buy an outfit to join them!





Reward offered for my head!



I guess this rocking horse is like what our roller roaster is now!



These people are educating people about birds of prey.



Looks like we stumble into the camp of a crusader?



The sign looks medieval but the food definitely is not!  Ceviche?  Chili cheese fries?  And pray tell what is Peruvian donut?



Methink'st the medieval lords and knights will be stumped by the drink menu of pina colada and mojito too! 

Today we go get some bubble tea.  Hey we can't survive on beer ; )



The empanadas look very appertizing.



Look, they have some interesting goods on the shelf too!



We get the bubble tea with lychee tea.  Bubbles are tapioca balls that are chewy in texture. 



We want to take more pictures but the owner is not very nice and tell us we can't take pictures.... so we leave.

Today we go visit the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.  It is a designated National Historic Landmark.

Biltmore was opened in  January 1926, after a ten-month construction and a $10 million dollars expense.  In its heyday, The Biltmore played host to royalty, both Europe's and Hollywood's. The hotel counted the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Al Capone and assorted Roosevelts and Vanderbilts as frequent guests. Franklin D. Roosevelt had a temporary White House office set up at the Hotel for when he vacationed on his fishing trips from Miami.  It served as a hospital during World War II and as a VA Hospital and campus of the University of Miami medical school until 1968. It became a hotel again in 1987.



The lobby looks very beautiful indeed.





Look, what an exquisite bird cage!



Hi birdie!



The architecture borrows heavily from the Granada style in Spain.





What a beautiful courtyard!





At one time the swimming pool was the largest pool in the world. 



It does feel like Spain, doesn't it?



While the palm trees make it feel very Floridian.

Today we learn to make Vietnamese style spring roll. 

First, we chop up the ingredients.  As Charles is the biggest and strongest, he gets to do all the chopping.



We cut up the carrot, then the mushrooms and wood ears (it is a type of fungi that grows on wood).



Next we cook the ingredients in the wok.



I have to stir fry them so they cook evenly and won't get burnt.



We continue to add more ingredients as we cook.  Now I add the bamboo and rice vermicilli noodles too.  We also season with soy sauce, cooking wine and sugar.



Now we prepare the wrapper.  We add a little water to the rice paper to soften it, and place a bit of cooked ingredients on it.



We roll them up nicely. 



Now we fry them in the pan.  Usually it's deep fried, but as we do not want to use too much oil, we have to fry one side then the other. 



Next we prepare the sauce.  We chop up the garlic, then add vinegar, chili sauce and sugar to it.



Now lunch is ready!!  We put a spring roll on a leaf of lettuce, add a little sauce and enjoy!  It's very delicious!

Today it's cloudy but at least it stop raining.  We decide to go visit a park.

I almost thought we went to the zoo!



There is some fitness equipment for people to work out.





This one you can sit or stand and twist, to strengthen your ab and improve your flexibility.



It's not easy for a little fish to do chin up, but I did it!!



Look, there is a bench.  Let's rest a bit.  We are all tired after the work out!



Let's go to the dock and take a look!



There is a boat which can take you around the bay, for a day or evening cruise. 



A lot of boats are anchored in the bay.  I wish one day I can get on one of them and sail the world! 

Today we go to try out some food trucks.  It is really popular now.  We visit some a few months back when we did a release for the BookCrossing monopoly.



Let's check them out!  This one sells burgers.



Look, this one has a fish kite flying on the top of the truck, and it looks like me!  Oh, they sell fish tacos. 



This one has arepa (corn pancakes) with cheeses.



Ah we find what we are looking for, Ben and Jerry ice cream!!  It's our host's famous ice cream.  Their truck goes around different cities to give out free ice cream.  Today is its last day in Miami, so we make sure to seek it out and find out where it goes today.



This year they are promoting frozen yogurt, which is very popular now.  Oh I am feeling hungry already!!



Hmm what flavor should I pick?



We get a cup of raspberry frozen yogurt.



Yumm!



There are some tables under the shade there!



We enjoy our fish taco at the table.  The tacos are made with corn tortilla.  We squeeze on a little lime juice and hot sauce. 

Today we decide to go visit the zoo.

Look at the pretty bird!



This is a different kind of pretty bird! A very colorful peacock.



There are some pelicans by the pond.



They are kind of far away, but can you see a patch of pink back there?  They are a flock of flamingos.  They are very beautiful birds.



Look at the beautiful lotuses!



These ibises are around the picnic area trying to find food.  Sorry but we don't have anything to share.



It gets a bit rainy, let's check out the gift shop instead.



Let's doing a little drumming and dancing to pray for the rain to stop!



I say hi to some other toys.  Hopefully they will find a new owner soon and maybe get to travel like we do!



Sadly the rain gets heavier, so we cannot continue our visit.  Hopefully we can return another day.

Today we receive a package.  It doesn't look like books, which is what we get most of the time.  Hello?  Is anybody there?  We hear some noise! 



Oh wow!  A toyvoyager!  And he is a rat too!  From Germany! Hallo Guten Tag!



He introduces himself.  His name is Big Foot.  He sure has very big feet, and hands too... And hey why is Genoveva acting so shy and demure all of a sudden?  The two are talking in German.  I wonder what they are up to?