Mr. C's Big Adventure

This past weekend was the occasion of what has become my yearly journey to South Florida to meet up with my buddy Punch for the Mirror Lake Classic, a really nice car show in the pretty little town of Lakeland.  As the name implies, Lakeland lies in the middle of the thousand lakes region of the state and it so happens that one such lake, Mirror Lake, lies smack dab in the center of town.

On the way down I stopped at Colt Creek State Park in the Green Swamp region, an important floodplain area for some of Florida's most beautiful and threatened rivers.  This is the latest addition to the state's park system, added in 2006.  The place was alive with birds.  Just after this photo was taken and as I was walking away I looked over my shoulder and all the white dots you see took flight and the air was filled with beautiful white birds.  The shot that got away.

   

There is a beautiful promenade around Mirror Lake on which are parked hundreds of classic cars, but just as entertaining is what's going on uptown where center-city blocks have been roped off and where hundreds of local treasures, from Ferraris to hot rods, are on display.  It's the perfect excuse for an inexpensive (the show is free) get-away road trip.

Some folks get into the occasion by dressing in period costume to accompany their car.  I believe there is a contest for best costume as well as the typical car awards.  When she saw me taking the photo she immediately straitened up and took off her glasses.  I think the shades add little panache so I kept the original.

There is always the random celebrity sighting at these shows.  This car was really cool.  They guy who owns it wanted a hot rod more than a classic car so he completely replaced the interior seating with seating from a modern Caddy, along with jazzed up engine and pipes of course.

There is a small but nice classic boat feature to the show as well.  Something that should grow over the years as a classic auto and boat show would be pretty cool.

As I said, uptown was for the hoi polloi.  Whoever had the pumpkin concession made a killing as I saw people carrying them around all day.  Your typical Florida Gator.

A "must do" for me and Punch is a visit to the Florida Southern campus much of which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  It's a photographer's paradise and a stunning visual trip.  The man was truly a genius whose devotion to light and shadows and perspective is awe inspiring.  I'll do a post soon devoted entirely to photos of the campus.

For a little contrast, I stopped at the Florida Agricultural Museum on the way home where they had this perfectly preserved Cracker cabin.  The guide said that the original family maintained the place for years after the old folks had died and they used it for family reunions and as a hunting cabin.  It was then donated to the museum where the family still gathers for their yearly reunion.  A nice touch.

The cabin had lots of photo opportunities.  I will have to go back for the early morning light.

 I noticed this morning that Pixel Peeper was also at the show and she posted some photos if you would like to see more.