15 Jul 12
Crossing Lakeland's Memorial Blvd Planned in 1926 & appeared in 1927 and current route completed 1953. Route runs 177 miles within Florida from St. Petersburg to Daytona Beach.
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15 Jul 12
Traveling on Lakeland's S. Florida Ave The 35-mile state road runs north from Keentown in Manatee County, briefly thru Hillsborough County to Lakeland in Polk County. Most of its length south of Mulberry, SR 37 is a lonely stretch of road with oak hammocks & occasional phosphate mines.
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15 Jul 12
Stop near Florida Southern College A private college located along the north shore of Lake Hollingsworth in central Lakeland. Campus is world renowned for the exclusive collection Frank Lloyd Wright architecture. Several building of his design is on campus and in the nearby community.
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15 Jul 12
Traveled road to state trail 29-mile paved rail-trail is one of Florida’s most rural. Named for Polk County, FL native that served as an Army general. Runs through Polk, Lake & Sumter Counties. Landscapes include the Green Swamp, wildlife, former citrus lands & cattle ranches.
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15 Jul 12
Stop along US Route-98 Established in 1933 between Pensacola & Apalachicola, Florida. The current 964-mile route runs from Palm Beach, FL thru Alabama to the Mississippi River in the town of Washington, Mississippi.
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15 Jul 12
Passed by Disney's custom utility pole This unique structure is seen at exit 62, "World Drive," the main entry to Disney World from Interstate-4. Mickey's ears are even lit up after dark! When the kids see this they know Mickey is not far away... no more "are we there yet?"
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15 Jul 12
Passing Water Ski Experience Attraction maintains permanent exhibits depicting the past & present of the sport. Vast collection includes memorabilia from the 1920's to the present. Has the most complete audiovisual library & resource center devoted exclusively to water skiing.
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15 Jul 12
Passed road to Safari Wilderness ranch After five years of raising exotic wildlife from Africa & Asia on a 260-acre ranch, is now open for guided safari tours. Guided tours by vehicle, camel, or horse-drawn carriage. See the small animal/bird interactive area or 2-story viewing platform.
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15 Jul 12
Visiting Polk Couty, Florida Became Florida's 39th county in 1861, when the State divided Hillsborough County in to halves. The eastern half was named Polk, in honor of the 11th President of the United States, James Knox Polk. 4th largest FL county & is larger than Rhode Island.
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15 Jul 12
Visiting downtown Orlando, Florida 79th largest US city, over 238,000 people, is a 110 sq-mi. city that is the county seat for Orange County. Originally named Jernigan after a settler & militia commander. Today’s name derived from a Shakespeare character or a fallen sentry is unclear.
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15 Jul 12
Traveling road to Orlando Science Center In 1957, known as the Central Florida Museum & Planetarium in Orlando’s Loch Haven Park. Today occupies an architecturally distinctive facility with four floors of exhibits, habitats, classrooms, a theatre, an observatory, a science store and cafe.
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15 Jul 12
Exiting on to Orlando's Princeton Ave The 22-mile road starts in Orlando known as Princeton Ave at US-17&92 (near Orlando Science Center). Proceeds west across Interstate-4 (exit 85) through Orange into Lake County and ends near Montverde at Lake County Road 455.
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15 Jul 12
Stop in Orlando's College Park A distinct neighborhood within Orlando deriving its name from the many streets within its bounds that were named for institutions of higher learning like Princeton, Harvard, & Yale. Citrus grower John Ericsson built the first known home in 1800s.
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15 Jul 12
Cruising on the Beachline expressway Opened 1967 as “Bee Line” & now is the Martin B. Anderson (former Orlando Sentinel publisher) “Beachline” expressway. 41-mile toll road moves east from Interstate-4 exit 72 in Orange County to US Route-1 in Brevard County at Cocoa.
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15 Jul 12
Traveling on Florida's Interstate-4 From the day President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, the Interstate System has been a part of our culture. The 1st I-4 segment opened 1959. Current route completed in 1971, 132 miles - Tampa to Daytona Beach.
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15 Jul 12
Visiting Lakeland, Florida Founded by Abraham Munn, who purchased 80 acres of land in what is now downtown in 1882. Baseball’s Detroit Tigers have been spring training here since 1934. Sun-n-Fun Fly-In & air show each April. Largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings.
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15 Jul 12
War veteran memorial Honors the late WWII army veteran, James Mills, who received the Medal of Honor for gallantry for his actions in Italy. Mills, who died in 1973 at age 50, is the only Floridian to be awarded this medal by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
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14 Jul 12
Visiting Orange County, Florida Established in 1824 as Mosquito County & took up much of Central Florida. In 1845 renamed Orange County for the fruit that constituted it’s main product, & most of the area created new counties. Nowadays citrus has been replaced by land development.
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14 Jul 12
A Florida art souvenir Between the famously sunny climate, tremendous coastline, world’s largest cruise ship port, and a variety of amusement parks, it is no wonder that tourism is the largest part of the "Sunshine State’s" economy. Alligator is the official state reptile.
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14 Jul 12
Visiting Florida Did you know… Florida has the most coastline of any of the contiguous states & the lowest highpoint of any of the states. 663-miles of beaches. In 1565, Spain created the first permanent settlement in St. Augustine. Became the 27th US state in 1845.
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