Bill's Blog

Interpretations in Madison, WI...
Playing with light and shapes

Trucker's Sunrise

Evening Tie-down

Dinner cruises coming in

Kitsch:
Art, objects, or design considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but appreciated in an ironic way.

Kissimmee, Florida

Florida Kitsch NOW

Entrance to the Gaylord Palms Resort
Just a bit excessive

Interior of the Gaylord Palms
A huge resort... all under roof

Indoor Alligators
Viewed from the comfort of a pristine indoor walkway,
no pesky swamps or snakes or bugs or.... to deal with.

Or viewed from behind a "waterfall"

Speaking of waterfalls,
how about a genuine series of waterfalls, conveniently laid out to be seen from the walk.
All indoors in air-conditioned comfort of course.

Just plain tacky,
but advertising must go on.

The flowers are gorgeous,
in their manicured surroundings with special human attendants and no pesky bugs.
Did I mention they are indoors so one doesn't have to experience Florida heat and humidity?

Florida Kitsch THEN
A lot of the old Florida kitsch has gone away: the old hotels are closed and rotting away, replaced with new style chains. The old eye-catching buildings are fading away. I wish I had more time to capture their images because a lot of these remembrances that the seasons have passed by are leaving us.

Before the days of advertising and the internet, this is how they drew you into the souvenir shops loaded with lots of overpriced tacky stuff. One of the few survivors

I remember "The Gator" from when I was a kid. The Gator Hotel is still open, but only as a remnant of its glory. Safari Land, located behind The Gator, has been long closed.

Some of the old buildings have been "re-purposed."
How about a medieval Country Bar.

Deals on electronics have left the building.
You can no longer walk through a camera to find the deal of a lifetime.

The Warplanes Museum.
It is actually a front for selling tourist rides in old airplanes.
But it is still hanging in there.

Is it a foggy morning in Florida?

Nope, it is what happens when you step outside from a highly air conditioned area into a VERY humid Florida morning... everything fogs up.

Nice effect though.

08/09/11