Michael_D's VirtualTourist Home Page
| Page Views: 27,597 | ~Welcome to Sunny Florida~ by Michael_D - last update: Jun 23, 2009 |
When in doubt,,,try KINDNESS;-) | THE VILLAGES JANUARY 2009 |
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2009 GOOD STUFF
DECEMBER
-8 days at condo in Daytona
-dinner at Jeffs in Mt Dora
-Ponce Inlet, New Smyrna Beach
-Lake Helen, Lake Catherine
**HAPPY NEW YEAR Y'ALL**
FEB
EPCOT ..dinner in Japan LUNCH in Mexico
The Villages Florida
MARCH
EPCOT(AGAIN) DINNER in GERMANY lunch IN JAPAN
New Smyrna Beach
Ormond Beach
HOTEL Mct CLOSES
APRIL
DAYTONA CONDO(again) woo hoo
VOLUSIA county bus tour
PETER FROM UKRAINE VISITS
MAY
New Summer kitchen..BUMPED deck out 4ft...roof w/skylight..I now BBQ daily
Virtual Tour to Michigan via I75
MONSTER CARIBBEAN CRUISE!
York/Shambles/Three Penny Opera!
ORLANDO MAGIC win the NBA Eastern conference championship beating
Philadelphia 76ers
Boston Celtics
Cleveland Cavaliers
JUNE
Now its on to Los Angeles to play the Lakers for the NBA Championship!
6/9/09 down 0-2...;-(
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2008
-INTERNATIONAL BOWL TORONTO
Rutgers 52 Ball St 30
One great day.....solo....
-Then on to the warm weather to usher in the New Year...Orlando/Daytona/Villages..St Timothys...luvly weather,,heaven at 84F...I loves MY FLORIDA!
12/7
MT DORA XMAS PARADE
My friend Broadway actor and radio host Richard Ryan(we did PHANTOM together) was "grand marshall" called out "there is ONE incredible actor" as he drove by LOL(that would be>ME! LOL) Talk about "old home week"! DOZENS of old friends. What a GREAT DAY! I LOVES my Florida!
12/7
"Light Up Mt Dora" sang "ill Be Home For Xmas"etc ,, Felt like a Charles Dickens vignette. Mt Dora= New England town architecturally that reminds me more of up north than most places up north..I consider Mt Dora it my town..inasmuch as Iived there the 1st 20 years;-) Last night felt like it was out of Dickens story....twas a nice/nice time.
11/26
Peter from Russia visits with his Marriot Volvo truck enroute to Miami. Villages, Starbucks, Golden Corral, photo albums and laughing into the wee hours.
3/25
Jewish Art Week Celibration LOCH HAVEN PARK
sponsored by the Jewish Community Center in Maitland
A great time. Artwork, jewelry, ethnic food, Klesmer music, Israeli folk dancing & ooodles of great conversations,,a South African Charlize Theron look alike, to scads of New Yorkers, Israeli guy passing thru Orlando & Cornell grads who I LOVED sharing Ithaca NY memories with!
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|  | Sweet Sixteen |
I LOVES MY FLORIDA I live in the Greater Orlando Florida area Y'all!
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I grew up amidst bone chilling temperatures & mind numbing blizzards of (Rochester New York)7 month WINTERs. After my studies at Cornell & Rutgers~I raced to the warm embrace of my ORANGE BLOSSOM EMPIRE in Central Florida 24mi N of Orlando.
-YES! ...Florida IS wonderfull ...its FEB and 72F..hello!
-YES Southern folks are as friendly & hospitable as they say
Though I have had a Disney World yearly pass since 1985, you will find my Florida pages have very little about theme parks & alot on the REAL Florida>> nature, wildlife & charming INLAND small towns like Mt Dora, Eustis and Tavares....far from the devastation that hurricanes exact on those who choose to live in overcrowded beach communities along Floridas Coasts.
(Orlando Florida)
(Mount Dora Florida)
(Eustis Florida)
(Tavares Florida)
The picture is of Fort Matanzas beach, my favorite beach. It may not look like much...but its virtually the LAST beach on the east coast of Florida you can drive on and see absolutely NO high-rise condos;-)
-YES! ...Florida IS wonderfull ...its FEB and 72F..hello!
-YES Southern folks are as friendly & hospitable as they say
The REAL FLORIDA is more than the theme parks(though I am a seasons passholder at Walt Disney World) the REAL FLORIDA is so much more:
~DeLAND..Stetson Univ & a 16 sq mi historical district.
~NEW SMYRNA BEACH where locals go to avoid Daytona crowds
~St AUGUSTINE .. oldest city in America 5 different national flags have flown over it
~the clearwater springs & lofty trees of THE OCALA FOREST
~the Kentucky-like rolling HILLS & horsefarms of OCALA/Marion County
~Mt DORA...a city that was built to look like a New England town
~CROSS CREEK..home of author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlins
~WEKIVA FALLS...YES there are waterfalls in Florida!
~ROCK SPRINGS ..a river current strong enough for tubing comes out of a cave.
~the abrupt hills of CLERMONT(where WORLD CLASS triatheletes train and compete on HILLS) & a place most tourists bypass on their way to Disney World .
(Orlando Florida)
(Mount Dora Florida)
(Eustis Florida)
(Tavares Florida)
(click on any of the above) | | |
| | "Travel only with kindred spirits" REPORT CARD
-New York City..A+
..... St Pats, Battery Park,Staten Island Ferry, Central Park,ground zero,Union Square, Grand Central Station, B'klyn Bridge, Chinatown.
-Staten Island..A+
.....Yankees farmclub park,Russian churches,cheap eats,free place to stay,Gateway Bay Park, friendly NYers
-Rochester NY..A+ (if I ignore the downtown area LOL)
.....80 old friends, Drum Corps,Nick Tahou's, Swillburg, Cobbs Hill, Paetec Park, Clarion Hotel, Monroe Ave....childhood memories ..feel the love;-) Just dont stay downtown after dark;-(
-Ithaca NY........A+
... My Alma mater>Cornell campus, Cayuga Lake, Gorges, libraries, Taughannock Falls,Treman State Parks..I may be in Florida but my heart is in Ithaca.
-New Brunswick NJ..Rutgers A+...(NJ D+)
..Rutgers my other alma mater,Old Queens, Kirkpatrick Chapel, downside? its in NJ;-( but I survived!(NJ has some nice places but avoid Camden, Passaic, Hawthorne and RT1 at all costs!)
-Port Jervis NY..B+
.... tattered but quaint, 20mi r/t to NYC by train, Delaware River, High Point Park..I could live there
-Brockport NY...A
...uncrowded quaint Erie Canaltown, peacefull days, SUNY, friendly people,30mi from Rochester
-Albion NY.........B+
....even less crowded Canaltown, library/historical buildings, backroads, farms , the way life should be
-Buffalo NY........C-
...nice new subway but the Queen City(like a dowager in decline) has seen better days, 20% of the population has left, local GOV is asking for public donations to demolish 5,000 abandoned houses over the next 5 years...but Bocce Club Pizza is still king! I have nightmares of living there in winter
-Niagara Falls....D+
"Scarytown USA">cab driver shootings, boarded up main st and nasty cops(Niagara Falls NY) a slice of NJ in upstate NY. I was stranded here for 9 days (just sayin;-)
Toronto (INC)treated poorly
(Toronto)
Outstanding parks, great subway, Ontario Lakefront,Kensington/Chinatown/food, Pacific Mall, Vaughn(Israel or Russia ?)Scarborough Bluffs, U of Toronto, North York(my fav), Dempsey Park. Eaton Center,City Hall/Pakistani Independence Parade, $1 breakfasts at IKEA, bike rides. |
favorite sayings
"When in doubt...try Kindness"
-ME;-)
"I am a mirror, ill pretty much treat people how they treat me"
-me ..(AGAIN)..(again;-)
"Distance,,,solves many things"
Moisha-Stebbinsky
You get..what you "get".
-Werner Ehrhardt
"Hows that workin out forya?"
Dr Phil
| | | TOWER BRIDGE, LONDON(MY FAV CITY) |
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| NIAGARA FALLS & all that N Y State has to offer |
| | New York New York Like I said
I am originally from New York YO!
(Bayside Queens originally, then upstate Rochester NY)
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There is alot to be said for New York State
New York City
Long Island
Catskills
Finger Lakes
Lake George
Niagara Falls
Adirondack Mountains
Lake Placid
Hudson Valley
West Point Military Academy
2 of the eight Ivy League schools(Cornell and Columbia)
Lake Ontario
Cooperstown(baseball Hall of Fame)
Lake Champlaine
Erie Canal(200 mi waterway and footpath)
1,000 Islands |
ITHACA,CARL SAGAN, GORGES and WATERFALLS PICTURE on the right is on a quaint rural backroad near Ithaca in Upstate New York's Finger Lakes .
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"As hard as I have tried to,,I just dont understand people"
~Miguel Esteban del Lago Florida Garcia (y Lorca)~
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity"
~ Albert Einstein ~
"Dont complain, dont explain..your. real friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t listen or believe it anyway."
~(me)~ | | | NEAR ITHACA UPSTATE NEW YORK |
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 Comments for Michael_D | | | | |
Gillybob Wed Jul 1, 2009 19:39 UTC
I can't wait to come to Orlando in October for the VT Meet - I'm looking forward to seeing your city - first time to that part of USA! Gillybob greetings | Hexepatty Tue Jun 30, 2009 22:34 UTC
VT meet in Orlando skeduled: Oct 8-11... I am going to try hard to be there. If you are around, keep the dates handy! Hope all is well... | yumyum Mon May 18, 2009 17:37 UTC
Hi Michael, I wish you a happy BBQ time! Sounds great to be able to spend so much time outdoors :) | jrperoinc Thu May 7, 2009 12:47 UTC
Hello Mike; I have been trying to email you. Last email address I had gotten from Tom Peashey came back to me undelivered. If you get this, let me know, email me @ joepero@rochester.rr.com All my best to you ol friend. Joe Pero' aka OL JOE' |
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