Week Nineteen and Twenty
Polk City, FL
We traveled to
Polk City to meet up with our friends, Carole and George. They had called us a couple weeks before and
said they needed a break from the cold and snow in Massachusetts and wanted to
see us before we headed west. They came
for a week and stayed for ten days. . .
Little did we
all know when we pulled into Mount Olive Shores North that a week later we
would be neighbors in Florida! MOSN is
a 500-home, gated RV community. All of
the home elevations have an RV port in addition to car garages incorporated
into the design. And, even better,
George and Carol bought the lot next door.
The community is built along the shores of Lake Margaret and is located
just about mid-way between Orlando and Tampa just off I-4. Polk City is out in the country but we’re
only 15 minutes from Lakeland and a ½ hour from Disney.
Our Lot –
Roughly ¼ acre with several acres of “Florida green space” abutting along the
back property line.
Florida green
space is land within the community that cannot be built on and must be
preserved for wildlife. As a matter of
fact, there are Egrets, Heron and Eagles in that space. When completed there will be 500 homes, two
community centers with all the usual amenities – swimming pools, shuffle board
courts, tennis, horseshoes and a party boat on the lake. There is also a 9-hole Executive golf course
on the master plan. We felt so at home
in this community – every house has a motor home; there are 40+ motorcycles
with “breakfast rides” on Sunday; and, numerous collector cars that rumble down
the street from time to time tucked away in the garages. Oh. . .by the way. . .the address will be
Motorcoach Drive South.
Community Center
Pool
Front Gate
These are examples of what the houses
look like. The developer offers
several basic floor
plans but every house is then custom
designed.
Our New Neighbors
We explored the
entire area for restaurants, shopping, Harley dealers. . .all the essential
stuff. Lakeland is a quaint Florida
town. The Detroit Tigers baseball
franchise holds Winter Camp here. There
are several city parks built around a series of lakes. The wildlife is beautiful and unbelievably
tame. We saw folks walking up to the
geese to pet them.
Wildlife on Lake Martin
Lake Martin – Swan
The first night
we were at MOSN we heard a racetrack off in the distance and discovered the
next day that USA International Speedway is a mere four miles away. This track is the Home of the Hooters Pro
Cup series and DriveTech Racing School.
The track is the largest and most modern special events short track in
the southeastern United States. It
features a ¾ mile, high-banked oval that supports racing speeds in excess of
160 mph. Nextel (Winston) Cup drivers use
this track for practice and Mark Martin was there the day we checked out the
facilities.
Oval and drag racing. . .looks like we
might have season tickets!
The more we
explored, the more we liked Central Florida.
Across Lake Margaret from MOSN, we found Fantasy of Flight. This is an aviation-themed attraction that
takes visitors back to Early Flight, World War I (aviation’s Golden Era during
the 1920’s-1930’s), World War II and beyond - including some of the very
airplanes that made aviation history. Featured is the world’s largest private
collection of vintage aircraft. The
restaurant serves breakfast and lunch and offers homemade salads and soups.
Rides are available
Museum Building
This area of
the Florida Highlands just feels like home.
We are definitely looking forward to coming back at the end of our
adventure to build our next house and make new friends.
Next Stop: Pensacola, FL
We couldn’t
leave Florida without spending a few days on the Gulf of Mexico and making
every effort to find some Blue Crabs.
So, one out of two isn’t bad! We
had a great weekend in Pensacola. The
beaches are beautiful; the water is very green which is why this area of the
Gulf is referred to as “the Emerald Coast.”
We drove the
entire length of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. Fort Pickens is situated within the National Seashore and is best
known as a Civil War fort.
Fort Pickens, Pensacola, FL
Our first Armadillo sighting. . .This
guy is a resident at Fort Pickens
Beach Residents
Sunset on the Gulf
Manned Motorized Kites