Wednesday, May 18, 2016

A Summary of My Last Three Days in Florida

For the past few months, I have been doing a weekly travel post about my last vacation in Florida during the month of February.  I was there two full weeks, so we did a lot!  But now I leave for a nine day road trip out west on Saturday and I will be closing my blog down during that time so I can just relax and enjoy the trip.   When I return in June, I'll have new adventures to share, but in the mean time, I wanted to wrap up my last three days in Florida.

By this point in my vacation, I think we saw just about everything within an hour or two drive from my daughter's home in Winter Park.  And to tell you the truth, I was getting exhausted from all the sight seeing.  So we decided to keep my last few days in Florida more low-key.

On the first low key day, we stayed in Winter Park.  We heard wonderful things about the Tiffany Glass museum and decided to check it out.  I love Tiffany Glass and own one large piece myself that I have displayed in my sun room window of my home.  So I was excited to see more beautiful pieces in this museum.

This is the outside of the museum.  It is located in downtown Winter Park, and costs $6.00 to enter.  Photographs are only allowed in the atrium of the museum;   you are not allowed to take pictures of the art work.  So I can't show you any pictures of the gorgeous Tiffany pieces, but you can check out the photographs on their website HERE.



The museum houses the world's most comprehensive collection of the works of Louis Comfort Tiffany.  It is filled with the lamps that you and I are most familiar with, but also stained glass pieces, jewelry, pottery, and paintings.  There is also a gorgeous chapel that was reconstructed inside the museum that is not be missed.

The stained glass is beautifully lit with artificial lighting.  Seeing all this amazing glass artwork is a beautiful feast for the eyes.


The Daffodil Terrance is the only spot you are allowed to take pictures.  It is a glass enclosed gallery with a view of a garden courtyard.  There are eight eleven foot marble columns that are topped with bouquets of glass daffodils.

The terrace has a coffered ceiling composed of hundreds of stenciled wood elements and molded tiles in three bays.


The central bay features a skylight covered by six large panels of iridescent  glass panels in a pear  tree motif.



It only took a few hours to walk through this museum, so after wards we decided to venture outside and walk around downtown Winter Park a bit.  I had been there before during a previous visit, but it's so pretty, I was happy to go again.

This is a beautiful church right across the street from the museum.


Ashley needed some photographs for her new website and musical endeavor, so we also used this time for a photography shoot.


Winter Park is a photographers dream!  There are so many beautiful spots to take great pictures.


Ashley brought several changes of clothing with her to create many different looks.



The next day, I decided I wanted to do some shopping.  I know a lot of people don't like to shop when they travel, but I don't live in an area that has a lot of great stores that are available in other parts of the country, so I always do a lot of shopping when on vacation.  I do live less than two hours from the Mall of America, but we only go there about once a year.

I kept seeing a large outlet mall off the freeway near Disney World that I wanted to go to, but then we met a local at The Orlando Wetlands Festival who advised going to The Florida Mall instead.  So off we went!


I was glad she recommended this mall.  It was a very nice, large mall.  Of course, it was nothing like The Mall of America, but nothing is!  I thought it was interesting that they had a sushi bar right in the middle of the mall.

The food court had palm trees growing inside.


I bought a lot of cute clothes at this mall...most of which I haven't even shown you yet.  It was here that I found that cute midi skirt I wore for Easter.

We did stop in and check out this cute M&M shop though!  We didn't buy anything, as it's cheaper to buy M&M's at Walmart, but it was fun to look at.


My favorite part of this mall, and actually with almost everything in Florida...restaurants, bars, etc., is that it is open to the outside.  This was the view from the H&M store.  One door of the store opens to the interior of the mall, and a back door opens to this view.  The door was wide open, bringing the beautiful February weather right inside the store.  I have no idea how they prevent retail theft by doing that, but it sure was lovely.


My very last day in Florida was the most low-key of them all, as  I had to get up at three in the morning to catch my flight home.  I spent most of the day doing laundry and packing, although my daughter Ashley and I ran out to a couple of stores that were right across the street from where she lives.  I also forced myself to take a nap, because we wanted to see my son perform with his band that night.  They had a gig from 9:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m.  Since I normally go to bed at 9:00 or 10:00 p.m, I knew I'd have to take a nap if I was going to be able to stay awake for the event.

Jordan has had so many wonderful musical opportunities and experiences since moving to Florida.  He had his first audition the very first week he arrived and got into the band Cover Charge right away.  This is their band playing at one of their gigs.  Jordan is the drummer.


He then auditioned for another band and ended up not only playing for that band as well, but doing acoustic sets with the lead singer too.  He is busy every weekend playing somewhere and has really learned and grown a lot as a musician.  We are all so proud of him.

After a late night out hanging out in a bar (which I haven't been too since I was in my twenties) I headed home to get, oh about three hours of sleep, before my flight.  I was excited to see my husband again, but not about going back home to winter.  Thankfully, it was a rare, beautiful,  sixty plus degree day when I arrived back home.  God must have had mercy on me.  My husband was so happy to see me again.  He got the car washed before he picked me up, and was wearing cologne and looking good!  It was so funny!  Sometimes, spending time apart really makes a couple realize how much they really can't live with out each other.

Have a  Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE and Travel Tuesday!



12 comments:

  1. Sounds like such a fun trip! You got some great shots!
    xo, Whitney and Blaire
    Peaches In A Pod

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for sharing your trip! That museum looks great and how cool that your son is in a band. Your daughter is gorgeous!

    http://www.kathrineeldridge.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a great trip! Thanks for sharing Winter Park with us!

    Brooke
    Pumps and Push-Ups

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ive never been to the museum even though I live so close! I need to check it out!

    <3 Shannon
    Upbeat Soles

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks like it was a great time! Love the outdoor part of the mall with the restaurants, so fun!

    xo, Rachel
    A Blonde's Moment

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks like a great time! Now I want to go no vacay :)

    Shauna

    www.lipglossandlace.net

    ReplyDelete
  7. I always enjoy your travel posts! Ashley is gorgeous in these photos, she looks like a model!! It seems they have M&M stores everywhere these days and they really are cheaper in Walmart! lol! Looks like a fun time!

    Carrie
    curlycraftymom.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Looks like a fun time! The photos of Ashley are gorgeous! Enjoy your trip out west!

    Jill
    Doused In Pink

    ReplyDelete
  9. Looks like a fun museum to visit! Love Tiffany glass! And what a great looking mall, love seeing the palm trees in the courtyard!
    Your daughter looks gorgeous, such beautiful outfits and love the black and white photo, it looks like a picture from an old movie or vintage magazine. So pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Forgot to say, enjoy your trip to the west, can't wait to read all about it! We might be visiting the South Dakota region this summer.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great shots as always, Amy. Lovely place and you do a great fashion model pose :-)
    Many thanks for joining the Travel Tuesday meme, I look forward to your next contribution.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment. I love feedback from my readers. If you have a blog, I always return the love by visiting within a week whoever leaves a comment.