Outdoors Archives
Posted by Meredith Spresser on May 10, 2008 at 02:44 PM
Whew! It is hot out there, but let me tell you, Volvo Mayfaire is EXCELLENT this year.
People of all ages are coming out and enjoying the great art and the great food to be found around the lake. And a lot of people are wandering into Polk Museum of Art for a few minutes of AC and to see even more wonderful artwork.
So far, the MayFerries have been a big hit. Every time I see one, it's full! And when I was driving one this morning, the people I picked up were really pleased to be able to catch a lift.
We're looking forward to finishing off a great day, and celebrating some more at Mayfaire Saturday Night tonight. Be sure to come on down to Lake Morton in Downtown Lakeland before 5pm to see the art, and then mosey over to Lake Mirror for music by The Rogues and fireworks at 9pm. I'll see you there!
Posted by Josh Hallett on April 23, 2008 at 07:02 AM
A few more favorite shots from my London trip (Part 1 here):
Posted by Josh Hallett on April 21, 2008 at 11:18 AM
While in Casper, WY for work I finally finished processing and uploading all my photos from my London trip. The photoset has 417 shots, but here are some of my favorites, Part 2 coming tomorrow:
Posted by Josh Hallett on November 26, 2007 at 11:37 AM
Polk County Sports Marketing has begun work on their new cycling guide/map and they need your help. How? If you're an avid cyclist they want to know your favorite rides/routes.
Here's a note from Kris Keprios at PCTSM:
Do you have a favorite ride in Polk County? Do you know the safest places (and not so safe places) to ride? If you do, share it with the visitors and Polk County citizens that will be viewing this guide. You can submit your route or suggestions by email to Kris Keprios at kris@centralfloridasports.com. PCTSM is accepting the route directions as turn-by-turn, or if you have a map highlighting the route, that is even better. The Polk County Cycling Guide is one of the most requested guides that PCTSM produces, as Polk County is a favorite among visitors to Florida who cycle.
I'll be sending in a few, how about you?
Posted by Adam Weeks on September 18, 2007 at 03:50 PM
As if you didn't have enough to be weary about swimming in our lakes, alligators, drunk boaters, water moccasins, now we have an unseen danger, amoebas (or is it amoebae? my apologies to my Latin teacher). Since June, three small children have died from amoebic encephalitis, a rare brain infection caused by amoeba that breed in water over 82 degrees. All of these deaths have occurred in our sister county, Orange County.
Many recreational boaters and swimmers have been steering clear of the lakes in fear of these amoeba. With the chances of catching the disease being lower than being struck by lightning, is it really necessary to completely restrict all water activities? I know Orange County has put up warning signs around their lakes (link), but has Polk County done anything? Have you seen anything proactive in any of our 522 local lakes? Has this done anything to keep you away from our lakes? Post your responses in the comments.
Posted by Josh Hallett on September 11, 2007 at 08:14 AM
Tom & Nancy are taking a trip 'Down the Coast' and blogging along the way. This past Sunday they posted an entry about their trip to Bok Sanctuary:
We always try to find interesting and lesser known "gems" along the way. As luck would have it, we hit the jackpot! A bit South of Winter Haven is a little place called Lake Wales. Just to its north, on a forgotten road, is a pretty-well signed place called "Historic Bok Sanctuary". What a jewel!
They post some photos and a recap of their visit.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 24, 2007 at 10:25 PM
Do you know of a good place to launch model rockets in Polk County? The large field by Polk Community College in Winter Haven is where we have launched in the past, but with any wind at all your rocket is due to drift into a street/yard, etc.
I welcome any suggestions.
Posted by Josh Hallett on June 5, 2007 at 11:16 AM
The Sun-Sentinel has an article about the connection between sea-planes and the Central Florida region. Winter Haven is mentioned in the article.
McManus says that seaplane pilots overall "have a tremendous safety record." More than 15,000 of them, including singer Jimmy Buffett, have earned their water wings at the world-renowned Jack Brown's Seaplane Base in Winter Haven, which draws clients from around the globe.
Here is Jack's web page.
Posted by Josh Hallett on May 24, 2007 at 09:24 PM
Alan Snel recently visited Polk County for a cycling trip along State Road 17. His trip was for an article in the Sun-Sentinel.
This morning at 7 a.m., I met cyclist Andrew Young from Winter Haven in Dundee on State Road 17 -- a Florida scenic highway that runs along the state's famed "Ridge." The ridge is Florida's hilly backbone, running north-south from Haines City to Frostproof through Polk County. Lots of orange groves, trailer/RV parks, new residential subdivisions and small towns like Dundee, Lake Wales and Babson Park are along the route.
There are a number of photos from the ride in Alan's post.
Posted by Josh Hallett on May 21, 2007 at 09:15 AM
Bok Tower inspires a number of people to write, photograph and paint. Not a week goes by that I don't discover a number of blogs talking about the Lake Wales landmark. In the past two days it's received:
- One recommendation from Vickie
- One painting from Lori
Do you want to know what people are blogging/photographing about Bok? Check out these links:
- Flickr Photos
- Blog Posts
Posted by Josh Hallett on May 10, 2007 at 03:22 PM
Lucy Jones from Tampa blogs about the National Park Service's recent photo contest. The 2007 National Historic Landmarks Photo Contest asks everyday people to take photos of historic landmarks and submit them online. Lucy lists some Florida landmarks, one of which is Bok Tower.
I'm thinking of submitting one of my shots of Bok Tower. The question is, which one.
Posted by Josh Hallett on May 7, 2007 at 07:10 AM
This past Saturday I attended the Concert Under the Stars at Historic Bok Sanctuary. The Imperial Symphony Orchestra performed a number of classics along including the 1812 Overture to conclude their concert season. There was a little bit of rain before the concert started, but by the time the music started the weather was perfect.
MySpace user Beka writes:
There is nothing I love more than live, lovely classical music with a cool breeze blowing in my hair, sitting below a blanket of stars peeking through the branches of the huge oak trees.
I've uploaded a photoset from the evening.
Posted by Josh Hallett on April 15, 2007 at 11:38 PM
I attended the Winter Haven Sunset Celebration this past Saturday. Needless to say I took a few sunset photos. The complete set can be found here.
Posted by Josh Hallett on March 31, 2007 at 01:05 PM
The Orlando Sentinel has an interactive feature on the Ridge Scenic Highway. Sentinel reporter Lisa Roberts spent some time traveling on US 17 from Haines City to south of Frostproof and recaps her trip.
Stops include: Haines City, Dundee, Lake Wales, Babson Park, Frostproof and Hickory Lake Scrub. The Flash presentation has text, pictures and audio from the trip.
Posted by Josh Hallett on February 19, 2007 at 11:10 AM
Florida Hikes is a web site run by Sandra Friend. The site features...you guessed it, information about hiking in Florida. Sandra just recently completed a trip through Polk County which included some hiking. One of the more recent updates to the Florida Hikes site is a profile of the Jenkins Trail:
Starting at a small trailhead off a side road off Wakeford Rd, the Jenkins Trail leads you to a cool tannic stream slicing through the desert-like scrub of the Lake Wales Ridge: Tiger Creek, for which this preserve managed by The Nature Conservancy is named. This is the northernmost trail in the preserve....
You can read the entire recap here. Sandra promises some more posts on Polk County hikes. For all you geeks out there, Sandra has you covered:
All hikes on the site now have UTM coordinates for your GPS and links to the coordinates on Google Maps, so you can print out directions and find your way. It sure wasn’t this easy when I was trying to find places to hike!
Posted by Josh Hallett on February 14, 2007 at 10:04 AM
It's that time of year again, sculpture time. A new series of sculptures have been chosen for the Seventh Annual Florida Outdoor Sculpture Competition. The sculptures will be installed in Lakeland and Winter Haven during the weeks of March 5th – 16th and will remain on display till February 2008. Listed below are the selected sculptures by city. If the artist's name is linked it will go to a bio, if the name of the sculpture is linked it will display a picture of that sculpture.
Lakeland
- Michael Cotrell (Jacksonville, FL), Rorschach, 2003, Steel, 13’ x 8’ x 2’
- William W. Donnan (Franklinville, NC), Two by Two, 1998, Reinforced cement, 9’8” x 6’ x 8’
- Jeff Downing (San Rafael, CA), Guides of Passage, 2006, Ceramic stoneware with bronze hands, 6’3” x 2’1” x 1’11” and 6’5” x 2’ x 2’
- Dwight Duke (Eastsound, WA), Double Dragon, 2004, Bronze, 80” x 31” x 39”
- Stephen Janesko (Tonganoxie, KS), Splitting Spheres, 2006, Welded and painted metal, 7’ x 8’ x 4’
- Rob Lorenson (Middleboro, MA), Pulsar, 2006, Stainless steel, 96” x 96” x 72”
- Gretchen Lothrop (Pittsboro, NC), A Subtle Miracle, 2004, Stainless steel, 10’3” x 6’1” x 2’6”
- Shawn Phillip Morin (Bowling Green, OH), Unidentified Icon #3, 2005, Granite and Marble, 8’ x 2’ x 1’
- James Oleson, Jr. (Brooksville, FL), The Mustang, 2006, Stainless steel, 75” x 20” x 72”
- Clifford W. Tresner (Monroe, LA), Tower of Babel, 2005, Carbon Steel, 12’ x 3’ x 5’
Winter Haven
- Michael Chiarello (Bridgehampton, NY), Columns, 2006, 10’ x 16” x 16”
- Albert Gilewicz (Amherst, NY), Out of Water, 2006, Painted and sealed wood, steel, and mixed hardware, size varies
- Mark Guilbeau (Denver, CO), Janine, 1987, Mild steel and paint, 16’ x 10’ x 6’
- Jodi Hollnagel-Jubran (Grimesland, NC), Continuum, 2005, Stainless steel and glass, 7’ x 5’ x 8”
- Dennis Howland (Tallahassee, FL), Upwelling, 2006-2007, Cast aluminum and brass, wood, and painted steel base, 124” x 8” x 8”
- Claudia Jane Klein (Lake Worth, FL), Bharata, 2006, Aluminum with epoxy patina, 117” x 40” x 24”
- Doug Makemson (Commerce, GA), Guarding, 2001-2006, Steel, cast iron, cast iron and stainless steel, 10.5’ x 4.5’ x 18’ and 4’ x 2.5’ x 7’
- Henry Richardson (New York, NY), Untitled, 2006, Chiseled glass orb, 46” dia.
- Michael Shewmaker (Hilo, HI), Volute, 2006, Welded, forged, and brushed aluminum, 6’ x 7; x 4’
- Glenn Zweygardt (Alfred Station, NY), High Planes Drifter, 2006, Cast bronze, enameled cast iron, black and mahogany granite, 91” x 44” x 28”
You can check out photo galleries of last year's sculptures here: Lakeland, Winter Haven.
Update: The Winter Haven Chamber blog has a photo gallery of all the pieces.
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 19, 2006 at 09:42 AM
Local photography enthusiast Andy Glogower has started a blog and recently features some shots from around Polk County. Most recently, he posted some sunrise/sunset shots from Lake Howard and Lake Hamilton.
Posted by Josh Hallett on October 5, 2006 at 12:42 PM
There is some great weather out there today. You can walk around downtown (Winter Haven or Lakeland) and not sweat to death. So go outside and enjoy yourself.
If you're stuck inside you can read over Robert's thoughts on the PCOC-affair. When will somebody just put them out of their misery. Or how about canning the entire board in bringing in a group of responsible folks?
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A hyperlocal blog about Imperial Polk County, Florida. It is written by local residents that wish to provide an alternative to traditional media sources. The focus is commentary and open discussion of the issues that face Polk County, FL.
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