Mosaic Swan

In addition to live swans, artful ones can be seen in locations all around town. In fact there is an abundance of public art in Lakeland, just another of the nice things about it. Right now this one, just outside city hall, is my favorite but I’m not sure that I’ve seen them all yet, and there are many other very nice ones. As I get around town I seem to keep discovering others that I hadn’t seen before. There are also several rather large artful butterflies as well.

This swan suffered some damage and is now missing a few tiles, I’m glad that I got this photo before that happened, and I hope it can be repaired soon. I don’t know what caused the damage, but this is the only one that I’ve seen any damage on at all. That is remarkable in most communities.

Swans Nesting

Swans have graced Lakeland for many decades, they are descendants of swans gifted to the city by Queen Elizabeth of England in 1957. This pair I found nesting in the corner of a parking lot just up from Lake Morton.

Lake Mirror from downtown

Here is another view of Lake Mirror this time from Downtown. Across the lake you can see the stair stepped lawn amphitheater in Barnett Park, that is a location for frequent concerts and movies. With the street going down to the lake here and the park rising from the lake this photo shows another aspect of Lakeland that I like over much of Florida. There is a somewhat hilly rolling landscape here that is very nice. Most of Florida is very flat.

First Post

I Chose this for my first post as it shows several elements of Lakeland that I like so well. 1st, Lakes. This is one of many lakes in the city, Lake Mirror is right downtown and has a delightful pedestrian promenade around the whole lake. 2nd, Parks. This photo was taken from Hollis Garden an incredible public botanical park, it is right next another park with play areas, a lakeside amphitheater, and more, just two of many wonderful parks in this city. 3rd, Downtown. Just over the tree tops is a hint of downtown Lakeland. This city's downtown has a charm and sense of place that is hard to match in ANY city in Florida.