View from our front entrance facing toward the Old Town of Winter Haven Fla.
We could walk a block and we were
in a redeveloped park – with benches and lots of shade!
This section has all been upgraded
pastel brick painted
bright colors
The old buildings made of brick painted and trimmed out full of different storesOne of four different streets with the coffee shop and library at the end of the street
In this picture – the park is at the left
and in total runs a good four blocks
At the end of the park in the direction left is a lake where every third Saturday is a ski show put on by Cypress Gardens!A ski jump in the lake for the showPart of the area for the ski show
And YES – there are gators in these lakes!
However – we never saw any here!
I would not go swimming or wading here they say go to the middle of the lakes to swim or water ski but I will pass!
However – the views are awesome!
And we walked here often!
The trees are green with flowers almost all of themThis was laying on the ground and was really soft
In the opposite direction
we often walked more
simply because all the stores
bars and restaurants
saloons and barber shops
a lot of either one
and the smells of lunch – dinner
and music!
The entrance to the library to the right and our favorite coffee shop to the left Where Ella would have a chocolate chip cookie!
We would stop every evening
for a small coffee and ice tea
and just sit and watch the sunset
One of the many fountains in the park
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After our daily walk back to the confines of our rental and looking forward to our next walk!
Our vacation rental in the historic district of Winter Haven Florida! The entrance gate – some 20 feet high and locked – each time we leave the entire structure is block and stucco painted white like a fortress!
We rented this place through VRBO sight unseen
except in pictures and reviews
That is the chance you take
But – we took it and are happy with it!
As you enter – you are greeted by a long narrow hallway and a set of stairs to the second floor bedrooms full bathrooms and a small laundry room
You turn left into the dining room
with another narrow hallway leading past the kitchen
straight to the living room
with a half bath off this hallway to the right
The dinning room where I set up my office
and when we had company – ate our meals!
Off the dining room a narrow hallway with a half bath on the right and a doorway on the left to the galley kitchen straight a head is the cozy living room and beyond that a entirely closed in patio with 20 plus foot high walls!
The galley kitchen is narrow but has everything we needed!
View back toward the dinning roomView of the galley kitchen from the dinning room toward the living room
Although it was narrow – and not really a place for more than one
to work unless you were at opposite ends
it functioned well and we just got use to it!
The living room – very cozy with a log burning fireplace to the right which we used – buying those burning logs from the store the ones you just light and it burned for a good four hours! Ella – our grand daughter laughed at it saying it was a fake log but it did put off heat! And beyond – a enclosed patio with walls going up past the window on the second floor!
We were very comfortable in this room.
The furniture was white leather and very comfortable You can see in the other picture the enclosed back patio the walls went up above the second story bedroom window! We never used either patio it was too cool when we first arrived or we would get back home too late and after darkThe living room fireplaceThe front patio again with walls that went above the second floorAt the top of the stairs on the second floor the laundry room to the right and straight a head the guest bedroom and bath where Ella and later Sherry’s sister Debbie stayed.The spare guest room very comfortable as were all the bedsHuge closets that ran the whole length of the wall with lots of storage!The guest bathroom with a over head sky light that you did not need lights on during daylight!
The whole guest area was very comfortable and was entirely away
from the master bedroom!
The doors in the place were solid and very thick!
Even the doors to the stacked washer and dryer were solid and very thick All the door casings were made out of 2 x 12’s with 2×6 and 2×4 trimmed pieces! I have never seen this done before and all seemed to be rough cut!The master bedroom was large with a king sized bed and two very large closetsAnd also its own wood burning fireplace
Our bedroom was the biggest room in the entire house!
With its own TV and when the door was shut
you could hardly hear anything!
Master bath
Well – this was our home away from home!
And they told us that the next rental would be the last
through VRBO!
They were going to lease it by the year!
It was in a great spot as we walked almost everywhere
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The stairway down to the front door notice the hand rail all the casings and trim were like this!
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Front door to the gate and then the car parked right in front!
To a state park where there was a almost three mile
nature walking path –
Named Panther Paw point park –
because they spotted a panther there
sometime in the past!
” LIONS – TIGERS and BEARS OH MY” !
The loop ran trough the woods and then around this lake and the trail around the lake in some spots got very narrow with brush and reeds on either side!We read this before starting out and notice the pictures of all we might observe while walking we did see a lot of areas dug up like giant moles had been there my thought “WILD BOARS”!Here is a picture map of the several loops you can make This also is a place where people come to ride horses there were a half dozen horse trailers in the lot!Debbie and Tom the path leading into the woodsAs you can see stay on the path its a jungle out there!After walking through the woods you break out and start following the lakeThe first GATOR we saw just over the bank and right near the water I would estimate 15 to 20 feet from me! He was big – but not as big as the next one we saw still I was nervous standing there!Just down from the gator about 30 feet away that gator would of been one half the distance
The path itself was 10 to 12 feet wide
with the lake and reeds and bushes and trees on one side
the other side sometimes a fence with pasture
other times just marsh and a lot of bushes
I keep my eyes on the lake side!
And I never saw the gators until I was maybe 25 feet away!
Now- I never saw this fellow Sherry was following and she said here is a snake I had walked right by it! It was maybe 6 to 8 feet away She saw it – it raised up and she backed away and then she took this picture when I went back it was slithering away I told her it looked like a black snake but still I never saw it! I would say it was 4 or 5 feet long!Avery big hawk sitting on a gate this was pasture land on the right side away from the lake however there were sections that you could not see through and the path narrowed down to maybe 6 or 7 feet wide making me very nervous!This guy was huge! I would say 10 to 12 feet long those are the hind legs and the tail was maybe another four foot long He was really big around and almost black! This one was maybe 15 feet over the side of the bank – out of the water and in the bushes and reeds there was a trail down to him and I assume that is where he went back and forth!
This gator was really big – never moved – I learned later
at that time of day – they are not that active – plus the water
is only around 60 degrees –
They are night hunters and during the day -they warm up in the sun
and heat of the day and digest their food
from the night before!
This one was maybe 200 yards from the other one
which makes me think this was his territory!
It was a beautiful walk nervous at times hot in the sun a half dozen horse riders passed us I WOULD NOT WALK THIS AT TWILIGHT!The birds and ducks huddle together in the middle of the lake we have been told several times that gators do not attack in deep water That is why people swim in the middle of the lakes and water skiers are in the water in these lakes BUT I DO NOT TRUST THAT! That’s like telling me BEARS don’t bite in the woods! LOL
I hope you liked this little adventure It was a spur of the moment lark that we went on! SAW TWO GATORS AND A BLACK SNAKE! along with birds horses – riders – and where Wild boars ( pigs) dug up the ground or some very GIANT MOLES!
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