Non Touristy Central Florida Towns - Forgotten Hollywood History in FL / Americas Oldest Man & MORE
Non Touristy Towns Around Central Florida
Transcript
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welcome everyone adam the woo here to
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a very nice central florida day 59
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degrees only gonna reach a high of
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65. i have procured a piping hot
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beverage
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from a local convenience store just over
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here on the corner
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davenport is where i am beginning this
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i'm
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currently 20 miles from kissimmee
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36 miles from orlando according to that
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side you can see a little bit of traffic
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cruising down that highway there i'm
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going to try to stay
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off of major thoroughfares today and
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just
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show some of the small areas away from
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the theme parks
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away from the metropolises that florida
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has to offer
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this water tower is one said item but
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there will be others i'm just gonna
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commute around you know drive a hundred
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miles or so
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in different directions maybe do a
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circle and just showcase
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what some of the stuff there is that you
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might not know about
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sometimes i'll do this on occasion i
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like the back roads
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the nooks and crannies of areas
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i'm inviting you to join me shall you
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now this place
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over here this building known as the
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brenner
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block used to house a thrift store
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i used to be quite the aficionado of
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used merchandise i would purchase things
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collect things i still do to some degree
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but nothing
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nothing like how i used to this place
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here however
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i did spend a little money in they used
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to have quite the collection
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of horror film vhs
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out of print movies
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now this has probably been 20 years ago
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or so it has hence closed it was a
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treasure trove of video cassettes
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use video store you know
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things that never were put out on dvd at
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the time
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there are some dvds and blu-rays that
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have never been put out and you have to
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only get those movies on
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video cassette and that place had a lot
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of them this is matador
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florida oranges and grapefruits it still
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states
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thrift store and some other lettering
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you can see
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the you know some of the word of the
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thrift has decomposed
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there's some other lettering some other
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writings there
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etched into the wall which are very
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difficult
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to make out can't really tell what that
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says so much
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and this brings back memories of my vhs
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collecting days none of which i have
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anymore in fact if you kind of peek in
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there you can see
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there are still some items that are left
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over there's some signage here saying
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that this
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is not safe to be rooting around then
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yeah look at that renter block
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and not not a lot of stores around but
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there is this sunoco on the corner
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this is where i picked up this this
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coffee and
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the downtown section has this grouping
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of
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of local businesses a hardware store
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quality service
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great prices that's what the sign says
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on the other side of this structure is a
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light
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sometimes the traffic will backed up you
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know a few cars maybe a dozen
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at most this antique store
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has some some plants out front where
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there's this gnome down here
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but it says free weeds pull your own
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we oh look at this this is the the
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wicked witch
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right here that's very clever if it was
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pushed up against the door
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it would be very similar to the wizard
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of oz
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this is the hardware store around the
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opposite direction and there is an
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embroidery shop
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and a party shop now i do love
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old architecture and the way things were
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built back in the day
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like this tile work well two different
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types of
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tile work here i just love this kind of
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stuff oh over here in the window
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hidden mickey
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we are not far either the barber shop
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get a regular haircut for 11
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yeah look how this is just right on the
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thoroughfare here
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i love it walk-ins welcome
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it says open but i don't believe they're
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currently open as the recording of this
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this is a
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sunday a lot of small towns
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things are not open on sundays there's
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also a hair center
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right next door so you have oh look at
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this
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that is good yeah
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love it there's another building up here
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that's pretty historical i'll show
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over here on this other corner there we
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go there's the current time
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10 23 am church bells in the distance
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are ringing
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this is part of the blue star memorial
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highway
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street sign up there says haynes city
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four miles
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i will head over that direction
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momentarily this is called the point
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you see the inscription there on the
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side i believe this was a flagpole
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which at the moment is not occupied
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by that item yeah this is very very cool
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this is a throwback the point
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mike and joe's
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a place called the meninger corporation
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oh look down here on the very end
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this appears to be a mechanic shop with
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that
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that little truck out front well that's
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not a truck i think it's a bronco out
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front
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yeah i love that
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1943 serving the sports industry since
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1943
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and didn't realize that city hall is
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just adjacent to that property
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it says 1927 on that one
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probably at one point there were gas
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pumps
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right out here i gotta squeeze through
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these these poles there are probably gas
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maybe maybe not
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it goes along the side here down the
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corner of this road
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pretty cool looking building right all
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right haynes city is next four miles
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ahead we'll go back to the car
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it's a long walk i'm gonna drive it
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noticing from this angle too it's called
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the mart
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see the tower working in the middle of
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that tile work on the corner it says the
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march
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that's the name of this little this
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little section of shops
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now this is very interesting looking as
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well oh you can hear the train in the
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distance
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i believe this is not being utilized at
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the moment
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yeah take a look at this pretty neat
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hit the bell up there
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i like that there is a moose
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right there this is the hanes city moose
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lodge
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just on the outskirts of town the
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fascinating thing about this
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is that it sits right on the corner of
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this road which might be
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tough to make out the sign from here as
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i drive through the
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little dirt parking lot right on the
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threshold of haynes city and davenport
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is mystery house road where there used
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to sit
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many many years ago a mystery house one
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of those unusual buildings that would
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kind of throw off your equilibrium a
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little bit and you wouldn't know which
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way you were kind of walking it appeared
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as if you were walking
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down but you're really walking up and
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sideways and the gravity was all
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kind of confusing it was right here on
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this corner
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which is now orange grove across from
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the moose lodge
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nothing left but a street sign
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long gone this tire shop utilized uh
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this metal building metal circular
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building
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kind of reminds me of what was what was
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drawn in
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pixar's cars there's a building similar
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to this
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and just about a block away is bob's
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this is bob here
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the mascot of bob's auto and
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muffler shop which
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doesn't even not even 10 digit dialing
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still seven digit
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dialing shows how long this place has
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been in business
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is this supposed to be a reindeer of
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some sort or
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a deer well i guess a reindeer is a deer
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yeah look at that it's made up of engine
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parts well muffler part
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it's a muffler it's kind of
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zipping through lake hamilton area kind
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of hilly well hilly for central florida
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pulled over here at the corner of state
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road 17 and
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kokomo road this little store
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around the side has a pretty neat mural
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with some citrus trees but i just drove
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through
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a lot of orange groves the road went
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directly through them
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and also fascinating next to this
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western union
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sign is a little coca-cola
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advertisement spray painted right there
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on
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the brick yeah look over there all
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orange groves
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lots of them just off broadway
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west main street and north broadway
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is the lake hamilton post office
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over there making this the downtown
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section
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the fire department down on that other
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corner
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oh that's great that's the bank with the
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pillars
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yeah that building has seen some years
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still standing
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most likely not used as the bank well
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maybe it is uses the bank
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if it's still operational that would be
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amazing
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oh nice is that the relics of an old
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shell sign right there kind of the
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skeleton of it
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i think it might be yeah
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the sign's gone but the metal framing is
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still there
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historic dundee depot often the distance
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is the water tower
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which has it's spelled d-u-n-d
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part of the citrus association
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kind of a clever way to spell it for
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for that company there is a
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train depot here you can still see it
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has the atlantic coastline
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one of the cars right here on the rails
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yes sitting right here they have moved
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it
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back to one of its original spots
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meaning that this is a historic building
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used back in the day no longer
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operational
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this particular depot is not being
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utilized at the moment but they have
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the lights here around the side
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there's a little placard over here oh
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check it out the sidewalk
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also represents train tracks
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already or this could have been where
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the original tracks were
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corner of first street yeah you know it
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might have gone along where those
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sidewalks are
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now i'm just i'm just speculating
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but possibly because the sidewalk kind
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of goes on the same
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the same type of perimeter there's the
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the bay door
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there's a little cart there used for
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luggage
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the ticket windows
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the here depot built in 1912
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the first depot on the hanes city to
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sebring line
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of the atlantic coastline railroad most
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of dundee's early growth can be
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attributed
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to that railroad
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it says open but they are not open today
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this is dated 2002 has the train numbers
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32
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32 northbound southbound
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here are the hours as of the recording
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of this it is sunday
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they are open on thursdays and saturdays
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oh look up here look at the drapes there
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they have little trains on them
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i must to admit over the years i've done
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a lot of exploring around central
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florida i have
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never been in the town of dundee before
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this is the first time
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i have stood on the soil of dundee
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i don't know how i miss it for some
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reason i just take roads around
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i've been in this general vicinity but
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never have i been to dundee
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i like this railroad this railroad
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station
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well dang this is a place i always
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wanted to stay way back in the day i
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would pass by here
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and think one day later in life i will
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i will book a room but it is
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looks as if it's closed the famous
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chalet suzanne you see the lettering
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there
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very very faded it was a very unique
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place
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did not realize that it had closed
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now the road leading in is still
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accessible however
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there is a sign stating do not enter
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it's closed letting everyone know is a
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private drive the owners might still
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live back there
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and they are requesting no one no one
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head down it
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wow did not realize
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that this had gone gone away
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a little light up there is blowing in
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the wind
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the chalet suzanne it's probably been
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about half a decade since i've even
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stopped by here maybe even longer maybe
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gosh maybe even closer to seven or eight
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years
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private drive please stay out closed
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it was a neat place kind of tucked away
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back over that tree line made it over to
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downtown lake wales this is a
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rather large painting of some citrus
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with a butterfly
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perched on one of those oranges there
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the state bank represented
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on the side of this one as well
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this is very detailed you can even see
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the
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clock here in the middle
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non-working clock it's part of the
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painting
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and i'm going to walk over to the grand
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hotel maybe it's the hotel grand
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but this building which is not open has
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an interesting history
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it's it's a very impressive
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skyscraper you could call it one of the
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first skyscrapers
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in central florida
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this bunny communicating with this bird
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so cute at the end of this road is the
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building that i'm
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walking up to oh look at that bird going
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by
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hello bird there's a lot of history
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around here the
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the bullard building circuit 1919
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and the grand hotel down there at the
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far
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end well this place over here looks like
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a castle
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with the brickwork
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there's another another painting here
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of a lake and a river
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opened in 1927 also known as the dixie
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whales built hotel
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it had a few very famous owners
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including mary pickford
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and gloria swanson that's right norma
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desmond herself
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was one of the owners of this and the
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governor
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well the then governor at the time i
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have to say it is
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it's a real bummer that the restoration
17:20
has not moved on a little faster it is
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on the national register
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of historic places and there was a a
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strong
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rumor that it was going to reopen and
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you know been fixed up this has been
17:32
going on for
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quite a while in fact it's been years
17:38
since i've stopped by here and there
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hasn't been any progress from what
17:43
i see they still have the fence up this
17:46
magnificent piece of history in lakewood
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downtown lake wales the center point
17:52
if you will water tower stating city of
17:55
lake wales
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just in view that's another very unique
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building right next
18:00
to it
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skyscrapers still in existence this is
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one of the few
18:12
it has been said that it was at the time
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the tallest the tallest skyscraper if
18:17
you will
18:18
in florida or central florida
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nonetheless
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it was a tall one it would have been
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very noticeable from anyone from that
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era
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it would have been the talk of the town
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here on the corner of park ave
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what's the other road this is on first
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street and park ave
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i'm gonna walk around to the the other
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side
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take a look oh here we go at the time
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these famous hollywood actors shared
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stock
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in the whales built hotel left to right
18:58
gloria swanson
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lila lee mary pickford thomas megan and
19:04
john w martin right there
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take a look at that it sneaks they have
19:10
this little information placard
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as well
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in its early years the hotel brought
19:18
central florida not just a touch of
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hollywood
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but a bit of intrigue and even scandal
19:30
sounds pretty dramatic
19:40
it does appear as if some sort of window
19:40
woodworking has
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transpired it looks in a little better
19:43
shape than i recall
19:45
but still not open now i would like to
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at some point this is kind of one of
19:49
those things that i've always wanted
19:51
to get inside of you'll have to have
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legitimate
19:54
permission maybe one day i will be
19:56
allowed to wander around
19:58
in the halls and in the rooms of this
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historical
20:02
lake wales skyscraper
20:06
but as of right now i must be patient
20:09
but
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i don't know if patience is going to be
20:12
a virtue in this case because it might
20:14
never open
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nonetheless it is still i'm glad it's
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here i'm glad it's on the national
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register of historic places because this
20:21
is something
20:22
that all should behold even from a
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wow just look at the look at the arched
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windows all the way up top there
20:35
pretty nice right magnificent
20:38
majestic if you will never in my past
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visits or if i did notice it i had
20:44
forgotten
20:45
the pool is still back here
20:53
some of the silent film stars that own
20:55
probably could have been caught catching
20:58
a little dip right there
21:00
in the pool that is awesome
21:04
so has the tile work and everything
21:17
best known for her role at sunset
21:17
boulevard
21:19
i would say that this building even
21:22
modern day over 100 years old is still
21:26
ready
21:27
for its close-up mr demille is it not
21:32
yeah i love the fact that this pool is
21:34
still back here
21:36
that's so good
21:42
and just so you know this is
21:47
you don't want to go trouncing around in
21:50
that's something you don't want to you
21:52
don't want to mess around with
21:53
they were cones just look at the
21:58
the carvings there
22:08
yeah i want to go up to i want to go up
22:08
top there
22:10
maybe one day one day all those windows
22:13
are open
22:14
all the windows are open up there
22:17
huh it is right across from the post
22:22
office
22:22
and cliffs which has a mural there with
22:26
some of the
22:27
florida wildlife on it very nice
22:31
also noticing you turn down this road
22:35
there's another relic of the past
22:37
written up there
22:39
kind of painted on those bricks
22:42
it's another hotel tough to make out but
22:45
i believe it says something about
22:46
private rooms
22:47
with something maybe a kitchen restrooms
22:54
yeah there's also some accommodations in
22:56
that building also
23:16
as i start driving away noticing that
23:18
this is an american legion legion at 43
23:22
west park ave is very
23:24
hollywood in style as well
23:28
it's just next door well about a block
23:30
away
23:31
okay heading out of lake wales
23:38
there's a bunch of cows way over there
23:38
hello cows probably can't hear me all
23:41
the way from here and
23:42
you know the road boys just want to say
23:45
hi
23:46
though have a good day cows oh they're
23:50
way over there in those trees those pine
23:52
trees
23:54
okay see you later cows
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while i was out and about i thought you
24:06
know what i should
24:07
go by bartow to the my girl house well
24:12
one of the homes that was used in the
24:15
film my girl
24:16
right here on the corner stanford street
24:20
and hendry ave a scene
24:25
scene there
24:32
the sultan fuss home and parlor
24:39
still looks the same all these years
24:39
later it's gone through a few different
24:46
owners
24:46
i believe last time i was here which has
24:48
been a heck of a long time ago
24:50
it was a bed and breakfast i don't
24:52
believe it is anymore
24:58
i was lucky enough to get inside
24:58
a while back to the filming locations
25:01
are very
25:01
detailed of all the spots went to the
25:03
tree
25:15
and this was one of the many spots but
25:15
probably the most noticeable
25:28
you can just picture her sitting right
25:28
up there on those very stairs
25:31
same ones
25:42
not got to go any further as
25:42
with some of the other spots that i have
25:45
visited
25:47
today there is this signage here
25:56
i'm gonna abide by that yeah this is
25:56
awesome
25:58
always makes me happy coming by here
26:00
even though it's been
26:01
gosh probably six seven years
26:05
maybe maybe more maybe less give or take
26:07
a year
26:08
i can almost picture veda running out of
26:12
you know that iconic moment you can't
26:15
see without his glasses you can't see
26:16
without his glasses
26:19
very sad runs out into the yard
26:22
right over there they use quite a bit of
26:24
this including
26:26
around the back which looks like there's
26:28
a little demolition and cleanup back
26:30
here
26:30
and they're doing a little painting
26:37
i'm glad this is still standing i'm glad
26:37
this is still here the sidewalk ends
26:40
right up here that's interesting the
26:42
sidewalk is going to end
26:44
right here this tree is in the way
26:51
there you can see around the back i
26:51
believe there was a tuba
26:53
scene back here i remember correctly
26:55
it's been a few years
26:57
and there's a little moss and grass
26:59
growing on top of that roof a little
27:01
guest house
27:02
in the back all right
27:06
moving on bartow florida the my girl
27:10
house right here
27:24
we're stopping off at if you're in the
27:24
area
27:26
and if you like the movie if you've seen
27:28
the movie
27:31
some haven't some haven't seen it i'm
27:33
standing directly under this moss and
27:35
the wind is blowing
27:37
the moss is kind of like starting to i
27:40
think it's not good to be standing
27:41
underneath this there might be some
27:43
some insects little inch itchy
27:46
insects that might plop down into my
27:50
in my eyes or under my skin okay moving
27:53
behind this housing development next to
27:55
this tree
27:57
right over here you can find
28:09
charles smith who was born
28:09
on july 4th that's interesting
28:14
on july 4th of 1842 and look at the date
28:19
of his passing october 5th
28:22
1979 making him well over
28:26
130 years old
28:33
now that seems
28:33
kind of unheard of does it not
28:37
but that's what it states charlie smith
28:54
as the story goes he never had the money
28:54
to purchase this headstone
28:56
so the town designated it
28:59
shortly after a few years after he
29:02
passed
29:12
so would this tombstone be
29:12
almost that old as well or
29:19
it looks like a new it looks like a
29:19
newer newer piece
29:21
could be wrong
29:29
yeah 137 years old
29:29
i'm doing the math correctly
29:55
charlie smith america's oldest man
29:55
that's true big the foot covering a lot
29:57
of ground today
29:58
yeah i just felt like it just felt like
30:00
driving around so that's what i'm doing
30:02
i don't think i've ever seen a hungry
30:04
howie's that looks like that
30:06
yeah that's the first would be a hungry
30:08
howie's looking like that
30:10
here's a good one this car wash guy
30:13
waving everyone in performance
30:17
car wash touch free
30:22
this kind of pulled me in like a tractor
30:24
beam off the side of the road i'm not
30:25
going to get a car wash
30:27
but i didn't want to document the
30:40
in fact i don't even know if it's open
30:40
that's it right there
30:48
that's the car wash now in lakeland yeah
30:48
i made it about 15
30:50
miles or so decided just to kind of head
30:52
over to lakeland no why not just on a
30:55
vast
30:55
circle tour with no real rhyme or reason
30:58
however
31:00
it is always nice to to say hello to the
31:03
southgate
31:05
shopping center here at the publix plaza
31:09
best known i was gonna say best remote
31:12
i'm not gonna remove myself from the
31:14
edward scissorhands
31:16
filming locations which is how i and
31:18
probably
31:19
many others recognize this
31:23
this place here which i've been here
31:25
many many many times it's been it's been
31:27
a while it's been a few years
31:29
but i kind of want to go back to this
31:30
back corner and see if anything has
31:32
changed since my last visit
31:33
and from what i can tell it looks as if
31:36
it has
31:37
changed anthony michael hall winona
31:40
ryder were right here
31:41
giving giving some themselves some hugs
31:45
and johnny depp edward scissorhands was
31:48
seen right here he was
31:50
kind of sad kind of jealous of their
31:53
affection
31:54
yeah down here this has changed
31:58
this was all glass windows
32:06
that's where edward ran out oh yeah
32:06
completely different
32:07
than it was well gosh it's probably been
32:11
four or five years since i've been here
32:12
too seeing some new things today but
32:15
also
32:16
visiting some spots that i've been to in
32:18
the past yeah this was all glass
32:20
glass here here's a kind of an iconic
32:24
angle where tim burton got we come very
32:27
shattered out
32:28
tim burton got the camera very very low
32:31
down
32:32
for an angle here where two of the
32:34
characters were walking
32:36
right along there yeah i've i've
32:39
in the past myself and friends have
32:42
documented
32:44
these spots in very very you know much
32:47
more
32:47
detail than what i'm showing right now
32:48
but you definitely want to if you're in
32:50
lakeland and near the shopping center
32:53
it's always neat to see
32:54
you know a little nostalgia here even
32:56
without the filming location aspect of
33:01
this is a great piece of architecture
33:08
okay moving on i don't really know where
33:08
i'm going i'm just gonna
33:09
i'm just roaming i gotta start heading
33:10
back to celebration at some point
33:12
get out of the i'm lurking in the
33:14
shadows right now
33:26
glad to see this this impressive signage
33:26
still here
33:34
yeah there's another very fascinating
33:34
hungry howie's pizza and subs
33:36
look at that relic this building right
33:40
off of i-4 is so
33:42
futuristic looking didn't it
33:45
where they were building this a while
33:47
back looks like it's completed now
33:50
it's like a dope very interesting
33:53
looking doe
33:54
style over there
34:05
made it back to celebration covered some
34:05
miles today that
34:06
is for sure i always like this section
34:10
buildings over in this area that's gonna
34:12
do it for today if you're new here
34:13
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34:21
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34:21
i'll see you in the next video there's
34:23
some new construction up here
34:25
new apartments are are happening
34:28
the vlog is over