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| Let's Go! My first foray into the countryside was with my friend Lori. She is a Carolina graduate (smart girl), but has lived in Florida since she was 15 years old---and from what I've seen so far, that qualifies her as a "native." Absolutely everybody is from someplace else---including me. Lori and I teach school together at Acclaim Academy in Kissimmee. She teaches science, biology, and chemistry---I teach middle school language arts. To say that we "teach" is a rather ambitious statement, but I will say that we give it our best shot. Anyway, at the present, Acclaim Academy is a small, prototype school in which all students are given computers where they access their textbooks and complete their lessons online. Our student population is somewhat unique (from my past teaching experiences, anyway) and we are still working on the "completing their lessons" part of the curriculum. It seems that this is a new concept for a good many of our population. We are also a JROTC-disciplined based school---which is another new idea we are still working on---we're not as crisp as we should be yet, but, to be fair, we're not as limp as we were in the beginning, either. We have about 235 students, 13 teachers, and 7 support staff on campus (another ambitious term). So, you can see, it's not hard to get to know everybody. Lori and I hit it off when we discovered our Carolina connection---plus, it turns out she lived in Willow Springs, NC, which is where my daughter and her family live now. And, let me tell ya, if you've lived in Willow Springs for any length of time, you have been embedded in eastern North Carolina farming country and have an understanding and are conversant in an earthy, down-home, metaphorical lingo that I find delightful. I love talking that country-talk! Our first roadtrip was out to THE BARN in Lake Alfred, which is about 30 miles from my house. The trip out was so neat because, if you want to see the real Florida, you have to get off the main highways---away from the noise of traffic, strip malls, chain restaurants, and theme parks. When you do, you will find a countryside that is much slower-paced, quietly beautiful, and peaceful. Leaving Solivita, where I live in Polk County, you take Co. Rd. 580 South or West (whichever it is) through about 6 miles of rural Florida where the wilderness gives way to expansive tracts of pastureland. Here contented cattle lounge in the sun, blissfully unaware that there is a McDonald's less than 20 miles away. These vast ranchlands are followed by acres and acres of perfectly symmetrical groves of orange trees, heavily laden with fruit---in rows laid out so precisely as far as the eye can see--the sandy lanes between the rows tick by like the spokes of a wagon wheel as you zip by at 50 miles per hour. Interspersed within the bucolic fields and groves are occasional clusters of shanties with nice automobiles parked in the yards---some readers may consider an image of this sort a distasteful interruption of perfection---but I would submit that perfection has its own definition---and no one I know would dare dispute the fact that a big, shiny Chevy Silverado 4x4 Crew Cab sitting in front of any manner of dwelling is well-deserved of a prominent place in the annals of perfection. Usually, on the weekends on Co.Rd.580, you will almost always encounter a delicious, mouth-watering aroma wafting from a food truck parked on the left shoulder of the road near the orange grove. I don't know what that guy's cooking, but it smells like heaven! The menu is clearly painted all over the side of his truck---but it's in Spanish, so I'm clueless. All I know is that there are generally five or six cars parked on the bank around it, as well as locals (adults and children) coming on foot from both directions to stand in a line that is, more often than not, seven to ten deep in customers waiting to be served. Farther on down the road, at the crossroads of Co.Rd. 580 and Power Line Road, a man sits in a lawn chair under an umbrella in the summertime and sells watermelons, cantaloupes, and other produce in season from the back of his pickup truck. Watermelons $4, cantaloupes $2. Sounds like a deal to me! A left on Power Line Road will take you to Hinson Avenue. Make a right and go on into Haines City. Coming into town, you will see the old Polk Hotel (now the Landmark Baptist College), in its Italian Renaissance splendor, rising above the landscape reminding everyone of a time when discriminating travelers could chose Haines City as a vacation destination. Across the street, the architecture of the buildings indicate that the hotel was once grand enough to occupy both sides of the street in its heyday of citrus and cattle commerce before the stock market crashed in 1929.   Hinson Avenue continues west and runs into Hwy.17-92, which (if you go north) is the old direct road to Kissimmee and Orlando. Before you reach the interchange for Hwy. 27 (the old direct road to Miami, if you go south), you will see, on the right, a beautiful art-deco structure that was originally built to house the Publix Supermarket of Haines City in 1953. 
If you like retro architecture, Haines City should definitely be on your list of places to visit. Bring your camera and have at it!
Staying on 17-92, on the other side of Hwy. 27, you are now on your way to Lake Alfred---about 8 or 9 miles down the road. Almost immediately, you will notice that you are, once again, in the wide open spaces of rural Florida. A couple miles down, there is a really nice produce stand on the side of the road whose brisk business is a testament to the fertile fields of Polk County. Continuing on, you will soon come to a sort of "lake district," where you will be traveling along side of beautiful Lake Haines on the left. I'm not sure what the regulations are, but I have seen fishermen in boats, as well as fishermen on the banks of the lake trying their luck at that big strike.
Just as you're coming into the little town of Lake Alfred, take a right at Shinn Blvd./Co.Rd. 557, toward I-4; cross over the railroad tracks and you are off in the country again. This really is a pretty drive. There are lakes everywhere---lots of water-front homes and property. On the right, you can see the definite rise of the "ridgeland" that is kind of the backbone of the geography of this state. You are now on the road to THE BARN, driving on a straight passageway, through fields of huge live oaks and lush orange groves on either side of the highway. As you get closer to I-4, look for the eagles' nest on top of a telephone pole on the right-hand side of the road. The road will fork-----the right fork goes to I-4 and the left fork goes to 557-A----go left, and THE BARN is on the left. You can't miss it.
  
The place is full of really nice antiques, as well as trendy clothing, accessories (jewelry, pocketbooks, shoes, sunglasses, etc.), and my personal favorite---home and garden decor-----pictures, dishes, kitchen linens----and best of all, nick-knacks!!!! I love 'em! Some of their wreaths were a little expensive for my budget, but overall, I thought their prices were reasonable. In the porch and garden shop, I bought two little decorative birds---$3 each!
Have you ever seen anything so perfectly cute in your life? Happiness---for a mere six dollars---what could be better!
Lori bought an antique milkglass basket for $16---it's really cute, too. Sorry, I don't have a picture. When we went on this roadtrip we had discussed the possibility of starting a blog, but unfortunately, we didn't think about taking any pictures while we were there.
After a couple of hours of looking around the shops, Lori suggested
it was time for a "little snacky." I'm usually agreeable when food is involved, so we went into the Back Porch Cafe at THE BARN where they serve light sandwiches, desserts, coffee, and soft drinks. We decided on coffee and a "light" strawberry cheesecake that was their current homage to the strawberry harvest in nearby Plant City. 
We didn't take this picture, but I wanted you to see how prissy it is inside the cafe---it's really adorable! Girls will love it---but, guys, don't worry about your testosterone levels taking a nose dive---you will love it too, because the coffee was really good and the cheesecake was delicious (smile).
After our "snacky," Lori and I had to quickly make our purchases because THE BARN closes at 4 pm---and it was already about 10 'til when we polished off the last crumb of our cheesecakes. We rushed back through the buildings to get the items we had chosen as essential to our own personal harmonies, paid for them, and then met in the parking lot to plan our next adventure---according to Lori, Mt. Dora is a definite "must-see" for our list---sounds good to me. She got in her car and headed north on I-4 to Windemere and I pointed the Cruiser south toward Lake Alfred and back home to Solivita. It was a really great day! What a blast!
Until next time....
Peace and fried chicken.....
Margaret
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