What an outstanding experience to tour this campus! The…read moreguide Jack C is simply amazing. Me & Barby took the one & one half hour tour & really enjoyed it. We found free parking on College St one block away. It cost about $30 & you can get a AAA discount. They give you a small audio ear piece & you can hear Jack in your ear as you walk from building to building. If you're a FLW fan, this is a singular experience.

I'm just here to add to the chorus of voices offering praise for this comprehensive and enjoyable…read moreFLW extended tour. The guide we had was knowledgeable and a great storyteller. I also appreciated some of her strong opinions about the architecture and the architect. Our tour had many delights along our walking/exploring journey. We went a little long, which everyone appreciated, and I was not tempted to look at my watch once. (Pro Tip: The Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art (The AGB) at Florida Southern College is extraordinary, and you will find several local-flavor restaurants nearby.)

This facility is part of the City of Lakeland Parks and Recreaton…read more The LHS Class of 1972 held their 40th Class Reunion here. It's a beautiful building built in the 1920's. It has a fantastic veranda that overlooks Lake Mirror.

Recently attended a wedding here, very nice and spacious venue. Was decorated nicely with flowers…read moreand twinkle lights. Holds a lot of people. Nice views for photos! Indoor venue but has an outside patio attached.

The Seaboard Air Line Railroad was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until…read moreJuly 1, 1967 when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. Air Line does not refer to air travel but instead is a common term for the shortest distance between two points. The railroad operated 4,000 miles of track running from Richmond, Virginia down through Jacksonville and ending in West Palm Beach. Solomon Davies Warfield, chairman of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad at the time, extended the railroad further into South Florida to Miami in 1925 and to Homestead in 1927 where it ended. Solomon Davies Warfield was the uncle of Bessie Wallis Warfield Simpson, the woman whose love affair with King Edward forced him to abdicate the throne. This train station, like all of the Seaboard Air Line Stations, was designed by architect L. Philipps Clarke in the Mediterranean Revival style that was popular in Florida during the prosperous 1920's. The masonry vernacular building was constructed in 1927 near the intersection of Pilaklakaha Avenue and Pearl Street on the Seaboard's rail line. The train was instrumental to the development of Auburndale bringing in passengers and goods from around the state and country. In addition to the Seaboard Air Line Station Auburndale also had a Atlantic Coast Line station. CSX closed the station in 1993 and it deteriorated to the point that it was going to be demolished. The City of Auburndale purchased the building and relocated it to where the former Atlantic Coast Line train depot once sat. The building was restored with a grant from the Florida Department of State. Today the building is across the railroad tracks from the historic Downtown City Park and it can be rented for private events. Only two of the Seaboard Air Line Stations have been destroyed. The Boynton Beach station was torn down in 2006 and the Delray Station was destroyed by arson. Thanks to the care taken by the City of Auburndale, this majestic station still maintains it's beauty and history today. The historic marker was installed in 2014 by the City of Auburndale, Auburndale Historic Preservation Commission.

They call it Lakeland for a reason! Wire Lake has a nice sidewalk path around it and is a short…read moredistance.from downtown. The roads by it are a lil busy in sections but if you like birds, water, palms, historical sites, and Middle Schools, this lake has it all!!! There is a section with various palms marked with labels along the lake by Lawton Chiles Middle School. Arboretum like. Some of the palms haven't survived but there are many to look at for the palm enthusiast. Choose a good one foe your next landscaping project! Juat past the palms is a historical marker for the 10th Cavalry "Buffalo Soldiers". African American soldiers had a very important role in the American Civil War and were stationed here a few decades later before deploying to Cuba to hekp liberate it from Spain. What would the area have looked and felt like back then? Interesting to reflect on. There is some trash in the lake. Styrofoam cups. Plastic bottles. :,( But birds as well. Views of taller downtown buildings in distance. A shiny new Methodist Church building is across the street. Those Methodists seem to be doing very well! Have to respect their methods.. Circling around to the other side there is the old courthouse building and you can cross the Traintracks on New York Avenue to reach downtown and Munn Park. Hurry before the Confederate Memorial statue of Munn is gone! Make sure to stop and smell the roses. Where? How did I get here? And the days go by. Water flowing under ground.. Apparently there is a cycling trail circuit around Lakeland's lakes. Check it out. Someone should.make a Yelp entry for it..

Florida is well known (at least to me) for their constant parade of tolls along any number of their…read moreroads. The Polk Parkway is one of them, providing a bit of a bypass around Lakeland between Tampa and Orlando. Groundbreaking began in 1996 and it opened for traffic in 1999. At just over 24 miles, it is an "L" shape with half going east to west and the other half turning north to south. However, the entire roadway is signed east-west. No toll takers during these days of COVID, so I'm hoping to get a bill-by-mail or see if they are able to recognize my North Carolina QuickPass. It's been a few weeks, so I'm not feeling especially hopeful. It's also a little on the spendy side - two exits, not five miles, is $0.80 for SunPass and twice that for cash. The road was smooth and the toll plaza was easy enough to navigate. [Review 13349 overall, 667 of 2020.]

Took the tour today with 3 other people. 1 had not ever been on a Segway before. Russell was very…read moregood at instructing on how to use the Segway. Never felt rushed and he was great at answering questions. We got to hear some very interesting history and it was very personal. I highly recommend taking a tour with this company. You can take the tour more than once because there are many stories to be heard about the history of this area. Thank you for a wonderful time! Kathy R.

Awesome experience. We went on Tuesday afternoon. Very informative local history. Russell was a…read moregreat guide. Safety is a priority and they make sure you feel comfortable on the Segway before heading out for the tour. Thanks EGT!!

Longer trail than other local loops - with parking and a water stop. Appreciate that they keep it…read moreclean & that it's a wider trail so we're able to ride side by side for the most part.

This trail is partly hilly but mostly flat. They are doing a lot of construction on the main road…read morebeside the trail. There is a restroom on the path with a wheelchair accessible bathroom. If you ride the entire trail you will have to cross the road three times from start to finish. The trail is not usually that busy, I usually pass about 3-5 people on the trail. There are seats to stop if you need a break but no water available.

I love finding a historical marker. They are filled with nuggets of interesting history about the…read moresurrounding area. I found this one while driving through Central Florida in Polk County on my way to Kissimmee. This marker was erected in 1966 by the Polk County Historical Commission. When the government enacted the Indian Removal Act in 1830, the army was sent to drive all of the Native American out west on the Trail of Tears. The Seminoles resisted and the Second Seminole War broke out. Forts like this one on Lake Alfred were set up all across Florida to aid the US army in their mission. Fort Cummings was established on January 22,1839 and named for Col. Alexander Cummings of the Fourth Infantry. It was part of the forts in Central Florida protecting the supply line from Fort Brooke, Tampa to Fort Mellon, Sanford. In 1841 the fort was moved 1/2 mile west of the original location. In 1841 it was the site of a meeting between Seminole Chief Coacochee and Colonel William Jenkins Worth. The fort was abandoned later that year. There are no remains of the fort today, but the site is designated by a historic marker located at the intersection of South Lake Shore Way and West Pierce Street in present-day Lake Alfred, Florida.