An Update--Finally!

So the last time we talked, I was in Florida, biding my time until I could get back to sweet home Chicago. And I promised pictures from the trip. Well, time and tide--in the form of our cable TV connection being on the blink--have finally allowed me to make good.

The photo above is from the Harry P. Leu Gardens, a lovely local landmark, and one that I'll bet few visitors to Orlando ever bother to see. It was private land until the early 1960s, when it was bequeathed to the city by its owner, whose name it still bears. The centerpiece of the gardens is the Leu home, which was built in the latter half of the 19th century and added onto by subsequent owners over the years. It was a fairly modest house as the houses of the affluent go. The gardens and land are the real showstoppers. But it had been nicely restored with botanical wallpapers, period details, and many of the Leus' personal effects. I was amused by this framed advert in the kitchen (which was quite small by today's standards):



The Dionne Quintuplets! Now, who even remembers why they were so famous?

Of course, the things that interested me were the odd details. The master bedroom sported this rather creepy lamp:



and this mannequin head, with its feathery chapeau.



I sense a theme...

The real attraction, though, was the garden itself. It boasted the nation's (maybe the world's) largest collection of camellias, and they were not kidding. Just look:



Camellia bushes. Camellia TREES! Gorgeous!



And, of course, the ubiquitous Spanish-moss-draped oaks.



And some more tropical plants, such as this one with eyes on the trunk:



Ooohh!

There was also a rose garden--supposedly a famous one--but it was too early in the season to appreciate.

The garden visit was on Saturday, and it was the perfect day for it. Warm, sunny, just a lilt of a breeze.

Sunday, though, dawned rainy and windy, so my colleague Margo and I decided to do some flea marketing. At what turned out to be a huge market that had the market cornered on tacky! Joy!


It doesn't look like much (and by the time I snapped this, on our way out, the rain had cleared), but this low-slung building is like a warren--nay, a labyrinth--of cheesy and/or tawdry commodities. Don't believe me? Just look!


These little piggies went to market, for sure!



Bagged geishas and pre-9/11 NYC skyline motion lamps. Sigh.



A dreamcatcher, an Our Lady, or a frou-frou asymmetrical clock for everyone!



Less than two months 'til Easter! Get your bonnet here!



Have refrigerator, will decorate!



What's with the foot thing? Yikes!


Margo got into the spirit, haggling with the woman at this jewelry booth. The proprietor kept trying to interest Margo in necklaces to go with the bracelets she was admiring. I tell you, I've never heard "I'm not interested in necklaces, thank you!" repeated so emphatically so many times in such a short time span.

Margo knows how to haggle!

All in all, it was an entertaining way to spend a rainy afternoon, but I wish there had been more funky old stuff--vintage stuff--there. Oh well... if I had wanted the Rose Bowl Swap Meet, I should have been assigned a two-week gig in Pasadena, huh?