Weekend Reflections

A late afternoon shot of the 19 story Florida Department of Education Building headquarters downtown. The two buildings reflected in the windows are the 22 story Florida Capitol on the right and another state office building housing offices of the Florida Legislature on the left. Linking to Weekend Reflections.

SkyWatch Friday

What better way to spend a sunny, but chilly January afternoon than to snuggle up in a hammock tied between a couple of palm trees up on a hill in Cascades Park? Linking to SkyWatch Friday.

Good Fences

This fence is relatively new, as is everything in Cascades Park. It was a windy day, as you can see from the palm tree to the left in the first picture. I took the second picture looking down while standing next to the fence in the middle of the bridge. That water below is storm water runoff, so it's not advisable to go wading there! Linking to Good Fences.

"Before I die", A Global Art Project

This is Tallahassee's contribution to the Before I Die global art project that invites people to reflect on their lives and share their personal aspirations in a public space. It is located in Doug Burnette Park near downtown and you can write on all four sides. The first wall was created by Candy Chang on an abandoned house in New Orleans, Louisiana after she lost someone she loved. Her wall was so successful that more than 550 Before I die walls have been created in over 70 countries and over 35 languages around the world. To find out more about this project, go to this link. To see more walls from around the world, go here. To read about Tallahassee's wall, you can go here. Do you have a wall in your city?

Linking to WEDNESDAY AROUND THE WORLD and signs, signs.

Monday Mural

I posted half of this mural last Monday and, as promised, here is the other half. It is located outside at Jacob's on the Plaza Restaurant at the Doubletree Hotel downtown. Linking to Monday Mural.

Weekend Reflections

You can sit on the bench in the living room and gaze through the two story windows at this pretty little birdbath sitting in the yard on the east side of Spring House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the house I have been showing pictures of all this week on my blog. Linking to Weekend Reflections.

Second Floor Interior of Spring House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

After showing exterior photos of Spring House on Wednesday, yesterday I showed photos of the first floor. Today I am showing you what the second floor looks like.

View of the woods through the windows and door of the balcony on the north end of the house.

Turning around after taking the first shot, here is a photo of the upstairs walkway overlooking the first floor. Entrances to the bedrooms and bathrooms are on the right.

The first room off the walkway is a bathroom. As you can see, it needs quite a bit of work. It is also very small and hard to photograph. There is a "bubble" skylight over the tub which is shared with the other bathroom on the other side of the wall next door.

Here is the other smaller bathroom which shares the same "bubble" skylight with first bathroom. It also needs a lot of work.

The first bedroom off the walkway is the master bedroom and has a fireplace like the one downstairs.

Another view of the master bedroom. You can see part of the fireplace to the right in the photo.

Next is a second smaller bedroom.

This third large bedroom at the south end of the house was originally meant to be shared by the children of the family. The house was not air conditioned, so those windows open to allow for plenty of ventilation.

View of the woods through the large bedroom window on the south end of the house. It was not recommended that we go out on the balcony because it needs work. This is the end of the house that I showed in my first exterior photo from my post on Wednesday here.

I hope you have enjoyed my tour of Spring House. If you haven't visited their website, here is the link again. Hopefully I can go back one day when it is fully restored and get some more pictures. Tomorrow I will go back to showing one photo a day again!

First floor interior of Spring House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

Yesterday I showed pictures of the exterior of Spring House. I took a lot more pictures of the interior than I remembered, so I am splitting them up and will be showing the downstairs today and the upstairs tomorrow.

Fireplace in the main room downstairs. You can see the entrance to the kitchen behind the back wall of the fireplace to the right.

This bench and a series of identical half moon windows and overhead lights run the length of the wall from the south end of the main room downstairs all the way to the fireplace. You can sit on the bench and gaze out into the woods through the two story windows on the east side of the house.

Split level stairs at the front door as you enter the house.

The kitchen entrance is just to the right of and behind the fireplace. This room is small and hard to photograph. The kitchen is in need of restoration, but it is in much better shape than the bathrooms upstairs which I will show you tomorrow.

Looking up from the main room downstairs. You can see the how the half moon windows line up over the bench on the wall at the bottom right in the photo. The second floor walkway can be seen above the windows.

Looking down from the second floor walkway at the main floor and where I was standing when I took the previous photo.

Stairs leading down to the basement. Homes in Florida usually do not have basements, so this is a very unusual feature for this area.

For more information and pictures of Spring House, please visit their website here. It's pretty fascinating! If you missed my photos of the exterior of the house, be sure to look at my post from yesterday.

Spring House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

Last month I had the opportunity to tour the only private residence in Florida designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built during his lifetime. This house is located just about a mile from where I live. Mr. Wright completed the plans in 1952 for George and Clifton Lewis and their family and construction of the house was finished in 1954. Frank Lloyd Wright died in 1959, having never visited the property. The house is in the process of being restored to its former glory after falling into disrepair and they are doing a wonderful job. You can read more about the history of this beautiful house and fundraising efforts to restore it by visiting the Spring House Institute website here. I will show pictures of the inside tomorrow.

Linking up with WEDNESDAY AROUND THE WORLD.

Rubbish Tuesday

Public phones used to be a common sight, but not so much anymore. This one has certainly seen better days! I took this picture through the windshield of my car while waiting at a traffic light. It is located across the street from the current homeless shelter, so that could explain why the phone is still there. A new shelter is currently under construction and you can find out more about it here. Linking to Rubbish Tuesday.

Monday Mural

This is just half of a mural located outside at Jacob's on the Plaza Restaurant at the Doubletree Hotel downtown. I will show the other half next week. Linking to Monday Mural.

Exchange Bank

Here is a closer view of the top floor of the Exchange Bank Building I showed in the reflection photo from yesterday. This 6 story building was built in 1927 and was the first modern private office building in Tallahassee. It is one of the few downtown buildings to have maintained its architectural integrity. It is constructed of buff brick with limestone trim. I love the terra-cotta wall ornamentation at the top especially against the blue sky.

Weekend Reflections

The Exchange Bank Building can be seen in this window reflection across Monroe Street in downtown Tallahassee. Built in 1927, the Exchange Building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Linking to Weekend Reflections.

SkyWatch Friday

Our skies have been gray and rainy all week, so I decided to cheat a little and post a picture I took a few weeks ago when I was in Orlando. Look closely and you will see a tiny little moon up there over the palms. I think I took this picture while I was waiting for my grandkids while they were inside one of the attractions at Walt Disney World. Linking to SkyWatch Friday.

Downtown Bike Rack and Bench

I took this picture late on a cold Saturday afternoon, which might explain why they are not being used. The orange silhouette of the old Florida capitol building (which I have shown in a previous post here) on the bike rack caught my eye. It is located on Adams Street just a few blocks away from the capitol complex.

Good to know, I guess.

Not sure what to say about this, except that I'm linking this post to signs, signs.

Reporting for duty

I took this picture yesterday morning as I arrived for jury duty at the Leon County Courthouse. All of those people are in line to check in with the court clerk. I didn't get picked to serve, but it was an all day affair as I watched the process the judge and attorneys went through in order to seat a jury for a first degree murder trial. It was quite time consuming, but very interesting. I have now been dismissed and don't have to go back!

Monday Mural

This mural was completed last month and is entitled "Postcard of the Capital City". It is located on College Avenue downtown on the side of the old Child Building. Inspired by a vintage 1950's postcard, the mural features historic aspects of Tallahassee. The painting of the mural was open to the community and people were asked to help out even if they just happened to be walking by. Click here to see a video about how this mural was created. It's really interesting!
Linking with Monday Mural.

Note: I have been summoned for jury duty this week, so please forgive me for not visiting and commenting. Just doing my part for my community!

SkyWatch Friday

Standing by the Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and looking straight up. It was a gorgeous winter day in central Florida, especially because I was sharing it with my daughter and two oldest grandkids. This castle was inspired by a number of real and fictional palaces, and I'm planning a visit to one of them, Neuschwanstein Castle, this summer. Linking to SkyWatch Friday.

Wishful Thinking

Unfortunately this is not Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, but it was still fun to watch these make believe pirates outside of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Walt Disney World. This is definitely my favorite ride in the Magic Kingdom Park. My favorite park is Animal Kingdom though, but I'll have to save that one for another visit with my two oldest grandkids in Orlando. I have to say that it is nice to be able to go home with them after a day at Disney instead of going to a hotel (not to mention a lot less expensive). I'll show one more picture from my trip tomorrow and then I promise we'll be back in Tallahassee!

Not shy at all.

Here are two more shots from my visit to Orlando over the holidays. I took these pictures right after I took the one I posted yesterday. I don't think I have ever been able to get this close to a Great Egret or a White Ibis before. They don't seem to mind the tourists at Walt Disney World one bit, especially when food gets dropped on the ground. Even though these birds don't seem as wild as they should, I'm going to link this post to Wild Bird Wednesday.

Seagull, Ibis, and Great Egret

This is another picture from my trip to Orlando over the holidays. These three characters were watching the crowds of tourists walking by in Frontierland at Walt Disney World from their perch on top of the Trading Post. After a few minutes the egret flew down to the sidewalk to grab a snack. I'll show you a picture of that tomorrow.

Monday Mural

I'm back today and ready for a new year of blogging! I visited my daughter and grandkids in Orlando over the holidays and we spent a day at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. I rarely get to participate in the Monday Mural meme, but when I saw this multi-story mosaic adorning the concourse walls inside the main hall of the Contemporary Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort, I just had to take a picture. I have seen it many times before, since this hotel is one of the original resorts built when the park opened in 1971, and I have always admired it. It was designed by Mary Blair, a Disney artist and animator, who created the character designs for famous park attractions such as "It's a Small World" and concept art for many of Disney's films. It took 18 months to construct, is 90 feet tall and contains 1800 one square foot tiles. It depicts native American children, stylized flowers, birds, trees and other scenes from the American southwest. Linking to Monday Mural.