Hunting Ghosts in Downtown Orlando

Posted by sunshineandsometea in Local Central Florida and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Today is my 31st birthday!  Woo!  But instead of talking about my birthday, today I am going to tell you about something awesome that I got to do on Saturday night.

Several of my girlfriends and I took the “Last Call” Haunted Pub Tour with American Ghost Adventures as part of my friend Lara’s bachelorette party.  There were six of us and we each paid $20 for the tour.  We met our wonderful guides Robert and Christine at the Harp & Celt.

Throughout the night, we also visited Stagger Inn, The Attic (formerly AKA Lounge), Ceviche, and The Dessert Lady.  So most of the tour was confined to the areas around Pine St. and Magnolia St. and then down by Church St.  We learned a bit about the history of each place, and in certain instances, we also conducted real investigations using small flashlights and EMF detectors.

I don’t want to give too much of the tour away, and of course, no two tours are going to be the same, but I can say that we had some extremely eerie and unexplainable experiences in both the Harp Restaurant and (especially) The Attic.  Note that this is NOT the type of tour where effects like these are engineered to happen on cue or where actors are trained to jump out and scare you.  The tour guides take hauntings and the paranormal very seriously.

We had the Harp Restaurant all to ourselves (they are only open for lunch) and learned it had previously been a brothel back in the late 1800s.  Lights flickered upon us asking questions, disconnected speakers crackled, and at one point a flashlight randomly started rolling and then stopped.   I am not sure what to make of any of it (old wiring? uneven floors?), but it was definitely thrilling.

Our best experience of the evening was at The Attic.  The former hardware store proprietor, Edward “Eddie” Kuhl built the place in the 1880s, and he eventually had a heart attack and died on the stairs going up to the 3rd floor.

He was known to be a prankster and it seems like he wanted to pull a few pranks on us that evening.  A small, ordinary flashlight was placed on the stairs where he died, and we all asked very nicely if he would turn it on.  Much to our shock, the flashlight came on!

Eddie saying “hi” to us with a flashlight.

We all shrieked and it turned off again.  This happened a few other times over the next 5 or 10 minutes.  At some point, our guide Christine decided to try to get it on video, so she counted to 3 and had us all say very loudly “We love you Eddie!”  Prankster Eddie decided to choose that time to NOT turn on the flashlight.  However, our guide caught a compelling video instead (click the link for the page where it is posted on Facebook).  The video shows us standing by the staircase saying “We love you Eddie!”, and then suddenly a white dot (orb?) flies from the middle of the staircase right towards Christine and her camera.  She immediately played it back for all of us and we were dumbfounded.  The flashlight turned on and off a few more times and we all thanked Eddie for visiting us.  I’m still not really sure what happened, but it was very very cool.  We were on cloud nine while we were on our way to the next place!

The whole group on the stairs at the historic Bumby Arcade off of Church Street. The staircase is supposedly haunted by two children. We got some EMF spikes on the stairs (you can kind of see the one placed on the stairs next to my feet is lit up), and notice the “orbs” behind us. Still not sure what I think about orbs in photos…

I have been on many ghost tours in the past (Salem, Boston, two in Savannah, and St. Augustine) and this was by far the most fun I have had.  Our tour guides were great and totally geared the tour towards our group specifically (we were the only ones on the tour that evening).  I felt like it was the perfect mix of fun/party, history, and a real interactive investigation.  I know that occasionally this same company conducts tours and investigations of Greenwood Cemetery, which is one of Orlando’s oldest.  We found out that “Eddie” Kuhl is actually buried there, so I think most of the group is extremely interested in going to visit his final resting place, since we now feel like we have “met” him!  I am keeping my eye out for the next tour of Greenwood so we can join them.

If you are at all interested in this sort of thing and are in Orlando, I highly recommend American Ghost Adventures.

First Blogiversary!

Posted by sunshineandsometea in Uncategorized and tagged with , , , , ,

I can’t believe it has been a whole year since I started this blog!  I started just a few days before I turned 30 with this post.  I wasn’t sure where I would go with it or what I would write about or who would even read it.  I have learned a great deal along the way, and even met a few new friends.

Some fun facts and stats:

  • In the past 12 months, I have made 183 posts.
  • Of those, the most popular by far has been the post about making your own coasters from terracotta pot saucers.
  • An oddly large number of people run across my blog when searching for info on Chili’s blackberry iced tea.  It’s my most popular search term.
  • The Facebook page for this blog currently has 59 followers, which thrills me to death!  I’d love for it to keep growing!
  • I have blogged about four out-of-state trips this year, which for me is a lot.  I have blogged in Massachusetts and Vermont, South Carolina, Tennessee, and back to Massachusetts again.
  • The blog that I get the most referrals from is addicted2decorating.com!

Although I know I am not the most skilled or prolific or compelling writer, I truly enjoy this hobby of mine.  I love the outlet of personal expression, and I love getting to share things with people.  It’s a great way to connect, destress, and it makes life more fun!  I would like to encourage those of you who are interested in blogging to just give it a try.  You can start your own blog for free at wordpress.com, which is exactly how I started.  It’s really easy and user-friendly for those without experience.  And if you need help, please feel free to reach out to me.

Excited to start year 2 at Sunshine And Some Tea!

Adventures in The Villages

Posted by sunshineandsometea in Local Central Florida and tagged with , , , ,

Below are pictures of our adventures in the Sumter Landing section of The Villages, which is one of the largest retirement communities in the world, and also where my grandparents live.  When I say retirement community, I know it doesn’t sound very exciting, but everytime I go to visit I come away thinking how much I would love to someday be able to retire here.  First of all, it’s enormous.  There are endless neighborhoods with endless ammenities, including two different highly-themed downtown districts that include everything you could think of (banks, shops, cafes, chain restaurants, movie theaters, real estate offices, services, etc, etc).  Second (and this is the part I REALLY love), the entire community is almost entirely accessible by golf cart!  There are even special lanes, tunnels, and thruways built just for golf cart traffic.

These photos are from the newer of the two downtown districts, Lake Sumter Landing, which is themed to look like a seaside town somewhere on the East Coast, complete with a fake shipwreck.  The other downtown district, Spanish Springs, is themed like a town from the Wild West.  Some of the buildings even have elaborate fictional back stories and histories that have been made up to give the whole area lots of character.  It truly is like a Disney World for retired folks.  They are currently building a third downtown district called Brownwood, which will have a quaint farming community theme.

You will have to excuse the quality of the photos, as most of them were taken with my iPhone on a moving golf cart!

Starting our journey on the golfcart near my grandparents’ neighborhood.

My brother Ryan had his own cart behind us.

This is one of the tunnels built especially so that the golfcart traffic goes safely underneath the major roads instead of across them.

Entering Lake Sumter Landing.

We parked the golf carts near the lake and wandered over to the waterfront.

We didn’t see any gators.

The “shipwreck” on the lake.

Back in the golf cart, headed to the town square.

Harley Davidson store. Note the narrow grey sign at the top near the roofline. It says “C.F.C. River Freight Co.” This is what I mean about the back stories and theming…This building is fairly new, but it’s made to look like it was originally some kind of shipping company many years ago. Some of the buildings have little plaques noting their “histories”.

Their Panera is in such a cute building with a wrap-around porch/patio.

There is nightly entertainment in each of the town squares. See the chairs set up? There are also little bar stalls in the square, so you can get a beer or margarita to enjoy while you watch the show.

They even have their own radio station.

The most adorable movie theater, the “Old Mill Playhouse”. It’s even prettier on the inside…almost vaudeville-esque.

More cute shops, with lots of golf carts parked outside.

Maybe next time I will take you on a tour of the other downtown district, Spanish Springs.  It’s older than Sumter Landing, but still very cute and quaint with some really interesting features and architecture.

Hodgepodging.com

Posted by sunshineandsometea in Friends & Family and tagged with , , , ,

Hope everyone’s weekend was nice!

I just wanted to take a quick second to let everyone know about the brand new blog of a dear friend of mine.  Her name is Carol and she is actually the mom of one of my very best friends.  My family has known her family since I looked like this:

That’s me in the center, and Carol’s daughter on the left!  Ha ha!

Anyways, Carol is starting a brand new blog called Hodgepodging.com about all kinds of topics; health, weight loss, travel, shopping, etc.  I know she would appreciate some new readers and  friends over at her new online home.  Please check it out!

Celebrating Moms

Posted by sunshineandsometea in Crafts & Decor, Friends & Family and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Happy Mother’s Day!  We will be heading out shortly to spend the day with two of my very favorite moms:

My mom, and HER mom (my “Mimi”)!  We are all going to visit Mimi in The Villages, which is always a fun time.  Not only are my grandparents really fun people, but whenever we go out to visit them, we always get to take their golf cart out for a spin around town.  The Villages is a very unique and interesting place.  It’s a retirement community, but ENORMOUS and unlike any other you have ever seen.  I’m sure I will elaborate on that in a future post.

I knew I wanted to make both my mom and Mimi something as part of their gifts.  I decided to go back to the camera/gadget case that I made the other day.  I think this has become my new favorite go-to simple project.  I think my favorite part about it is that you don’t have to do much fabric cutting.  I would love sewing about a zillion times more than I already do if I didn’t have to cut fabric.   I figured my mom could use hers to hold her iPod Nano and earbuds when she isn’t using it.  And I thought Mimi could use hers for her camera.

If you are new to sewing or just want something quick and easy to stitch up, I urge you to give this one a try!  It’s perfect!  Check out the tutorial here, at Sew, Mama, Sew.

I hope my mother and grandmother like the cases I made for them.  Of course, they both deserve so much more.  I hope my mom and all the moms out there know how much they are needed and loved today and everyday.  I love you Mom!!!

My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.  -George Washington

Instagram Link Party: Cats!

Posted by sunshineandsometea in Friends & Family and tagged with , , , ,

It has been awhile since I talked about my furkids.  Thought I would share some pics.

Logan just turned 8.  He’s the “old man” of our family.  He knows he’s handsome, and is our most easygoing (read: too lazy to care) cat.  He is also enormous (22 lbs!).

Stella is 2, and is the scrawny runt.  She is sweet and snuggly, and is often terrorized by her brothers (poor thing!).  She enjoys sitting on Tadd’s shoulder like a parrot.  She also loves going out on the screened porch to watch birds and butterflies fly around.

Jacoby is the baby.  You might remember when we rescued him from a Publix parking lot back in July.  He is almost 11 months old now!   He is rambunctious, but sweet and happy all the time.  He also has the shiniest fur I have ever seen.  We call him “sparkle-cat”!

He has come a long way from this!:

 

 

Maxine’s On Shine

Posted by sunshineandsometea in Local Central Florida and tagged with , , , , , , ,

I meant to post about this earlier in the week.  I wanted to share a restaurant review for a new-to-us place that we tried last Sunday night.  However, I am excited to share that I have been promoted at work!  And in preparing for my new role, time and energy has been scarce lately.

Tadd and I actually went to Maxine’s On Shine Sunday  night to celebrate said promotion.  It’s a cute little bistro on Shine Avenue tucked away in an adorable residential neighborhood just north of downtown Orlando.  The food seems to focus on Italian and Greek cuisine, kind of a Mediterranean blend, but I wouldn’t really categorize it strongly that way.  The food is just really good.  That’s all you need to know!   Although the menu is not large, I’m sure anyone would be able to find something they like.

Source: Maxine’s On Shine’s Facebook Page

We ate on the patio, as the weather was lovely that night.  Not too hot or humid, with a slight coolish breeze, which is becoming less and less common in Central Florida this time of year.  We started with a couple of beers, Shipyard Applehead for me (LOVE!), and Magic Hat #9 for Tadd.  We found their beer & wine list to be impressive.  It’s always nice to see lesser-known craft brews on a menu.  Tadd had originally tried to order a Blackened Voodoo, which is one of his favorite more obscure beers.  He was impressed to see it on the menu, but it turns out they were out of it that night.

We found out that they have a Sunday night special called Magical Mystery Tour.  For $25, you get a 3 course meal (appetizer, entree, and dessert) chosen by the chef, and a your choice of a draught beer or glass of wine.  Tadd was feeling adventurous, so he chose that option.  I am way too much of a picky eater to leave that much to chance, but there really isn’t that much that Tadd won’t eat (olives and raisins are really the only two biggies), so he went for it.  While we waited for his first course to come out, I also ordered a cup of their soup of the day, butternut squash and apple soup.  Mmmmmmm, so good!  I only wished it was fall, because these are flavors that I usually associate with that season.

Soon enough, they brought out Tadd’s appetizer of stuffed grape leaves.  I tried one and thought they were ok, though not really my taste.  Tadd, however, inhaled them.

For entrees, I got the spinach ravioli with ratatouille.  And looking back at the pic, I realize this doesn’t look super appetizing, but I really really loved it.  The mountain of roasted veggies were SO good.  There were mushrooms and artichokes and summer squash and spinach and even beets, which I don’t typically care for.  All really really good.

Tadd lucked out and was presented with something he is STILL raving about; Gnocchi con Pollo Sorrentina, which is gnocchi and chicken served with prosciutto and veggies in a wine/butter sauce.  He was soooooo happy, and cleaned his plate.  I thought he might have licked it afterward if he thought he could have gotten away with it!

Tadd’s mystery dessert was an interesting concoction of what seemed like house-made vanilla ice cream, house-made butterscotch sauce, strawberries, and blueberries.  No idea what this dessert was called, but I think it was just right to end Tadd’s meal.  I had a few bites, and LOVED the ice cream.  Especially combined with the butterscotch and berries.  Nothing complicated or fussy, just really good.

Towards the end of our meal, the owner approached and asked us about our experience.  He was warm, friendly, and welcoming.  Service throughout the meal was great too.  We had Mary as our server, and she was sweet and cheerful.  Loved her.  We walked back to our car vowing to come back soon and bring friends.  Tadd’s office is nearby, so he would love to come back someday for lunch, and I have heard their weekend brunch is great as well.

If you live in Central Florida and are looking for a place to dine near downtown Orlando, check it out!

Maxine’s On Shine

337 N Shine Ave

Orlando, FL 32803

(407) 674-6841

Finally a new sewing project: Camera/Gadget Case!

Posted by sunshineandsometea in Crafts & Decor and tagged with , , , , , , ,

As I mentioned in my previous post about the wristlet I made for my grandmother, I was actually in the process of making one more.  I finished it yesterday, and gave it to my good friend Melanie as a birthday gift.  She loves anything pink & black, and I knew I already had the perfect fabric to use for this project.  I seriously love these fabrics together!  Especially the pink & white floral.

I had a little bit of these fabrics leftover from this project, and was surfing around, trying to find something new to do with them.  Pinterest to the rescue, once again!  I stumbled upon this fantastic tutorial from Sew, Mama, Sew for a camera/gadget case.  What a fun, easy, cute project!  I absolutely love how it turned out, and it was really easy!   All you need are 2 rectangles of fabric and 1 rectangle of cotton batting (all three pieces should be 14″x5″), a 4″ length of thin elastic, and a button.  The whole project took me all of 30 or so minutes.  Love projects like this!

Linking up!:

 shabby creek cottage

Green Monster Smoothie

Posted by sunshineandsometea in Recipes and tagged with , , , , ,

Tadd and I have been trying different “green monster” smoothie recipes lately, and after some trial and error, I believe we have finally found the perfect blend!  If you are unfamiliar with green monster smoothies, the addition of spinach might throw you off, but trust me when I say you really can’t taste it at all.

Green Monster Smoothie:

 

2 sliced bananas

1/3 cup of peanut butter

1 single-serve container of greek yogurt (we used strawberry this time)

1/2 cup soy milk

2 handfuls of spinach

1 1/2 cups crushed ice

Blend well & serve.   Mmmmmmmm…

Projects for a very special occasion.

Posted by sunshineandsometea in Crafts & Decor, Friends & Family and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Sorry for another quiet week around these parts.  Life has been rather hectic lately, and there just hasn’t been much time for the creative stuff that’s fun to share on the blog.

I did want to do a quick post to share a couple of the creative projects that I completed prior to my trip to Boston.

First, the letters that I showed you in this picture:

We used them at the guestbook table at my grandmother’s birthday party.  I just bought the letters pre-painted at JoAnn’s (on sale!), and four coordinating sheets of scrapbook paper.  I used my Mod Podge to paint a thin layer of glue on the letters, stuck them to the paper, and then cut away the excess paper with a craft knife.

They were a huge hit with the guests, but if I were to do it all over again, I would do a couple of things differently.  I would use a thinner layer of glue (and be more careful about wiping off the excess while still wet), and I would let them dry more thoroughly before using the craft knife.  You can see the “D” has some scuffy spots on the edges, and the “N” and “A” both have ripped spots.  You couldn’t tell unless you looked closely, but I knew they were there and it bugged me!  Honestly, between everyday life and getting ready to go out of town, I did not devote as much time to this project as I would have liked, so I’m sure that contributed to the imperfections.

Also, I wanted to handmake a gift for my grandmother.  I decided to make another wristlet (based on this clutch tutorial), and she adored it.

She said it will be her new bag for when she goes to play bingo.  So cute!  I have to say I really love this project for gift-giving because everyone seems to really appreciate both the looks and usefulness of the finished product.  I’m actually working on another one now.  At some point I need to break out and try something different, but for now I will stick with this gathered wristlet as my go-to gift of choice!

This was right after I gave her the wristlet. She's holding it and telling me about her sewing skills from back in the day.

Love my Nana!  I hope she had a fabulous 90th birthday!  So glad we got to attend!