Winter Park

On Saturday before heading to the resort, we spent the day in Winter Park.  I love this little alcove of Orlando.  I feel like you get a sense of what Orlando would be like without theme parks.  It was Mr. Rogers's home at one point and is now the home of Rollins College, a small liberal arts college. Located within Winter Park are a series of six interconnected lakes that you can tour daily. The lakes are Virginia, Osceola, Maitland, Mizell, Nina, and Minnehaha. It is a fun little tour where you get a close-up look at the luxurious homes on these lakes and learn the history that made them popular with some of the rich and famous in the United States. Following the tour, we headed to the sculpture museum housing Albin Polasek's (1879–1965) body of work. Polasek a prominent 20th-century American sculptor celebrated for his figurative works that embody the true structure of nature. His dedication to showcasing the essential unity of form and the beauty of movement influenced successors like Richmond Barthe, Sylvia Shaw Judson, and Ruth Sherwood. Born in 1879 in Frenštát pod Radhoštěm, Polasek immigrated to the United States in 1901. After initial years as a woodcarver in the Midwest, he formalized his art training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In 1910, he secured a three-year fellowship in Rome, winning the Prix de Rome competition. Polasek also studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and retired in Winter Park in 1950. Then it was on to the Black Bean Cafe and Kelly's Ice Cream. Yummy!  The day was perfection.  We were so grateful Harris could join us for the holiday weekend.