Leisure … more than a word, it's a lifestyle

The 18th Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot is well underway and just recently I took a trip to take a look at some of the most amazing and outstanding topiaries you will ever see at Walt Disney World.

For those that are unsure, a topiary is the horticultural practice of training live perennial plants, by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes such as the ones you can see all over Walt Disney World. It can take from several months to several years to grow a topiary and Disney has a very special place to do this that you can see on the video below.

I also spoke to Carla Shuman who is a landscape architect at Walt Disney World and she was a mine of information. I asked her about the process of creating a topiary and here’s what she had to say: “We usually develop a concept and story line with quick sketches, and coordinate the size and pose of new topiary with our horticulture team, sculptors and film makers. For more visible displays, a miniature mock-up helps to finalize spacing and arrangements of garden elements. The model can be a computer image or cardboard cutouts arranged with our scaled topiary maquettes. This tells us where adjustments should be made. We have taken full-size cutouts to locations to check their size and spacing. After measuring, computerized plans are used to locate topiaries, props and plant material so all can be ordered and readied for efficient installation, which often happens over night, when guests are not in the parks.”

I also asked Carla what her favorite part of the Flower & Garden Festival was and she commented: “I especially like the gardens and topiaries that use plants to tell stories. FNGLA’s Green Living Garden illustrates “Sustainable Chic” ideas with Tuscan style. Guests can see and smell the plants used to make some of Guerlain’s most famous perfumes. Topiaries seem to come to life when planted with textured grasses and colorful groundcovers.”

This time of year is known as “Golf Season” in Orlando and it’s not just because it’s a great time to play the noble game but also a fabulous time to get out to see some of the best tournaments in the United States… the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour is on it’s Florida Swing right now and next week it stops at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge for the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard.

2011 is truly a golden year for Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge as it’s actually celebrating it’s 50th Anniversary. The Bay Hill Club was built in 1961 and it was just four short years after that in 1965 when the “King of Golf”, Arnold Palmer, played in and won a charity golf event on what was then an unknown golf course. The rest is history as “Arnie” fell in love with Orlando and Bay Hill that day and he started to hatch a plan to make the club his own. Naturally, he succeeded by initially taking out a 5 year lease with an option to buy  on the property in 1970 and since taking ownership in 1975 he and his team have worked extremely hard to ensure that the PGA Tour makes an annual stop in Orlando.

Today, the Arnold Palmer Invitational attracts some of the strongest fields of the season and it’s world class amenities including a 70 room lodge make it a comfortable and value added experience for those guests fortunate to stay there during the event. So, if you’re in Orlando this year and unable to secure accommodation for the event at Bay Hill, why not enjoy your own vacation home just 10 to 15 minutes away from some of the best golf you’ll ever see? Florida Leisure Vacation Homes has homes close to the famous Orlando course and who knows, you may just see us skipping work and enjoying some quality golf time. Here’s some video I shot showing some of the things going on behind the scenes and how the venue is preparing for the tournament.

It’s St Patrick’s Day and that can only  mean one thing if you are Irish or have Irish roots… celebrate!

Very few folks celebrate like the Irish and that usually means copious amounts of alcohol washed down with copious amounts of more alcohol!

St Patrick’s Day or Paddy’s Day, is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick, one of the patron saints of Ireland. Around this time of year you will find several St Patricks Day Parades, Irish Festivals and of course Green Beer. Not only is this day is a national holiday in Ireland but for most here in Orlando FL, St Patrick’s Day 2011 is a day to party and celebrate with friends!

If you’re currently in Orlando there’s plenty going on today and here’s some suggestions of where you might want to hang out and enjoy the party.

Enjoy an authentic pour of Guinness at a local Irish pub. Orlando is home to dozens of Irish and English pubs that promise to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. Take your pick and head out for your first toast at your favorite spot.

Visit The Harp & Celt Restaurant and Irish Pub. It’s located on South Magnolia Avenue in downtown Orlando, and is a laid back, locally owned pub that serves up plenty of classic Irish food and drinks.

Head to Downtown Disney as the Raglan Road Irish Pub features special events and festivities over Saint Patrick’s Day weekend, and it’s a great place to dance the night away to the tunes of a Celtic band.

Head to downtown Orlando for the weekend celebrations.   Almost every bar and restaurant downtown hosts a special menu and plenty of corned beef with cabbage and scotch eggs. You can also head out for a St. Patrick’s Day picnic at Lake Eola park. The park is a great venue to enjoy a picnic, and the weather is nearly always perfect over St. Patrick’s Day weekend so round up some sandwiches and treats, and head outdoors for the day to catch bagpipe music and other live entertainment  acts throughout the area.

From 4pm till close you can celebrate at Pat O’ Brien’s at Universal’s City Walk. There is no cover charge until 7pm and there will be a Live Rock Band & Dueling Pianos. Traditional Irish food can be purchased and you’ll find leprechauns, beads and $7.95 hurricanes and $2.00 Bud Drafts. General admission is $12 and VIL (very important leprechaun) is $20.

Included with general admission at Bok Tower Gardens will be some very special carillon music featuring lively Irish melodies. Concerts are at 1 pm and 3 pm and are totally free with admission to the Gardens.

Finally at Will’s Pub there is a St Patrick’s Day tribute to Thin Lizzy starting at 9pm.

Day 2 at the Tavistock Cup saw Team Lake Nona dominate the play and capture its third consecutive win and fourth World Golf and Country Club Championship title in the tournament’s eight-year history. A score of 43-under par saw Team Lake Nona overtake Team Isleworth on their home turf in the singles stroke-play format.

As the low medalist for Day Two, Lake Nona’s Oliver Wilson helped lead his team to victory with a score of -7 (65) and he took home the Payne Stewart Salver Award and the $200,000 prize. Team Isleworth’s Robert Allenby was runner-up with a score of -6 (66).

Team Albany came in 16 shots behind Lake Nona at 27-under par while Isleworth came in third place with a score of 25-under par. Queenwood finished fourth at 18-under par. Team Lake Nona’s Graeme McDowell won the closest to the pin challenge on Hole 2, Team Queenwood’s David Howell on Hole 5, Team Isleworth’s Stuart Appleby on Hole 11 and Team Queenwood’s Adam Scott on Hole 15.

It was my first visit to the Tavistock Cup and I have to say it was very refreshing to see the players competing hard but also having some fun and entertaining the crowd a lot more than you’d normally find at such a golf event. There was none of that stuffy nose in the air atmosphere that you might have expected from such an event and the gallery was as laid back as the players.

Sure, there was some friendly country club rivalry thrown into the mix but nothing that suggested this event was only reserved for the elite of society. Spectators were allowed to get close to the players and while there were some ropes and marshals around the tees and greens, it was possible to walk the fairways with no real concerns about security, taking pictures or even having the odd cell phone conversation as long as you were mindful of normal golf etiquette.

It was also nice to see the players families along for the fun and some of the youngsters actually made the event more down to earth and relaxing as they made a beeline for the 18th flag or the bunker surrounding the same green. Rounding things off was a nice simple presentation ceremony as Tracey Stewart presented the Payne Stewart Salver Award to Oliver Wilson before the Tavistock Cup was handed over for safe keeping for a year to Team Nona.

The annual two-day tournament will be held at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club next year in March and it is hoped that there may even be six teams in the mix as the tournament grows. It’s a date you should put in your diary… here’s some vid…

The first day at the Tavistock Cup at the beautiful venue of Isleworth Golf & Country Club has come to an end and it’s been a fascinating day’s play as Team Isleworth led the way with -30 in the better ball stroke play format. Following closely behind is Team Albany at -28, Team Nona -25 and Team Queenland -16.

This year marks a departure from the previous seven years as  Team Isleworth and Team Nona are now joined by Team Albany and Team Queenland to spruce up the contest and hopefully expand the contest even further. There is a huge amount of golf talent at this event and it has elevated the Tavistock Cup to new levels and that can only be good news both for the tournament and also for the Tavistock Foundation. The Tavistock Foundation has donated millions of dollars to local, national and international charities since the tournament’s inception back in 2004.

So all in all it means, More Teams, More Players, More Colors, More Fun and of course, a whole lot more golf to enjoy.

Tomorrow sees the individual stroke play format come into play and that means each player will play their own ball rather than posting a better ball score as per today. Today it was the three best better ball scores that counted and tomorrow it will be the top six individual scores that will count the most. It promises to be a fascinating day’s play from the time it starts, 10.50am thru the closing ceremonies at approximately 5.00pm tomorrow evening.

Twenty-four of the world’s top-ranked golfers will compete in the 2011 Tavistock Cup, which returns to Isleworth Golf & Country Club, near Orlando, on Monday March 14 and Tuesday March15.

This will be the eighth installment of the team event and this time there’s something new happening that will excite many golf fans. For the first time the event will will feature a four-club competition between the golf professional members of Albany, Isleworth, Lake Nona Golf & Country Club and Queenwood Golf Club.

Team Albany is made up of Tim Clark, Ernie Els, Trevor Immelman, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Tiger Woods and don’t worry if you’ve not heard of the team before because they are representing the new luxury resort community in The Bahamas developed by Tavistock Group. This team may well be the favorites to take the honors over the two day event as with golf greats like Woods and Els in their team, Albany has amassed a total of 198 worldwide victories with five of Team Albany’s players being ranked in the top 30 in the world.

Team Isleworth’s lineup features Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Brian Davis, J.B. Holmes, Sean O’Hair and Lee Janzen. Isleworth is home to this years event and is known for being the luxury residential community nestled amongst the Butler Chain of Lakes in southwest Orlando. This team has notched 244 worldwide wins and Isleworth’s players include four of the top 70 in the world.

Team Lake Nona has assembled Ross Fisher, Retief Goosen, Peter Hanson, Graeme McDowell, Henrik Stenson and Oliver Wilson. Lake Nona boasts a victory roster of 319 worldwide wins. Lake Nona is situated in southeast Orlando and forms a cornerstone to Tavistock Group’s emerging life sciences cluster becoming known as Lake Nona Medical City. Each player on Team Lake Nona is ranked in the top 100 in the world and the golf course is ranked among the top residential courses in the world.

Team Queenwood’s competitors include Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke, David Howell, Soren Kjeldsen, Paul McGinley and Adam Scott. Queenwood is one of the most exclusive private members’ golf clubs in the United Kingdom, and it is a team that has secured 64 worldwide victories. Queenwood features four players in the top 110 in the world, as well as a number of Ryder Cup veterans.

Totaling it all up and through the end of 2010, Tavistock Cup’s participating clubs have won more than 825 worldwide victories, including 59 major championships. Some record and some indication of the talent that will be on show on Monday and Tuesday of next week.

In the spirit of Tavistock Cup competition, there is an official dress code for the tournament; spectators are encouraged to wear either ALBANY PINK to show their support for Team Albany, ISLEWORTH RED to show their support for Team Isleworth, LAKE NONA BLUE to show their support for Team Lake Nona or QUEENWOOD GREEN to show their support for Team Queenwood.

The Tavistock Cup’s world-class field hails from all corners of the globe, making this year’s tournament the most internationally diverse one yet. Tavistock Cup contestants play for prize money, team hole-in-one prizes and the title of World Golf and Country Club Champion.

Established in 2004, the Tavistock Cup began as a friendly inter-club match between Isleworth and Lake Nona’s golf professional members. The past seven matches have left Isleworth and Lake Nona tied in the series. Each club has claimed three Tavistock Cup titles, with the 2005 matches ending in a tie following a sudden-death playoff.

The Tavistock Cup through the Tavistock Foundation has donated millions of dollars to local, national and international charities since the tournament’s inception. Some of this year’s beneficiaries include Audubon of Florida, The First Tee, Health Central Foundation, Orlando Minority Youth Golf Association, University of Central Florida Foundation and Valencia College.

The two-day tournament will be broadcast live on the Golf Channel in the U.S., Canada and Japan and airs on international affiliates throughout the United Kingdom, Latin America and South Africa. TavistockCup.com will feature real-time live scoring of the matches.

Welcome home Discovery!

The oldest of NASA’s surviving shuttles, Discovery is home and has racked up nearly 150 million miles as it ended it’s final journey today. It has accumulated more than 39 missions in nearly 27 years and spent 365 days total in space. It flew to the International Space Station 13 times and made the first shuttle rendezvous with Russia’s Mir station in 1995.

Discovery first flew in 1984 and carried the Hubble Space Telescope to orbit six years later. It’s flown 184 astronauts, including John Glenn at age 77 in 1998.

Here’s a by-the-numbers look at Discovery’s lasting legacy in space that, according to NASA, will cement the shuttle’s place in the fleet’s record books:

148,221,675: The number of miles Discovery has traveled after 39 space missions. This is a distance record unmatched among NASA’s space shuttle fleet.   The miles traveled by Discovery could have carried it to the moon and back more than 288 times, or on 1 1/2 trips to the sun.

40,000: The number of spectators, according to NASA estimates, who watched Discovery’s final launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Feb. 24, 2011.

17,400: The speed at which Discovery traveled (in miles per hour) to remain in orbit. It’s about Mach 25, or five times the speed of a bullet.

5,830: The number of orbits Discovery has flown around the Earth after its final flight. During spaceflight, Discovery completes one orbit around Earth every 90 minutes.

1984: The year Discovery blasted off on its maiden space voyage. Discovery’s first flight was NASA’s STS-41D mission, which launched on Aug. 30 carrying three communications satellites and an experimental solar array wing. The mission was commanded by astronaut Henry Hartsfield.

365: The number of cumulative days Discovery will have flown in space by the end of its career. Altogether, that’s 52 weeks. Put another way, if you were to string all of Discovery’s mission’s together into one mission, the shuttle would be in space for exactly an entire year.

246: The number of crew members Discovery has carried during its space career so far. According to NASA, Discovery has been the ultimate space taxi and carried the most astronauts of any shuttle.

39: The number of missions Discovery will have flown by the time it is retired.

13: The number of times Discovery will have docked with the International Space Station after it is retired.

5: The number of astronauts that marked a first-ever in space when they flew on Discovery. According to NASA, they include: the first female to ever pilot a spacecraft (former astronaut Eileen Collins);  the oldest person to fly in space (former astronaut John Glenn); the first African-American to perform a spacewalk (former astronaut Bernard Harris); the first cosmonaut to fly on an American spacecraft (Russian spaceflyer Sergei Krikalev); and the first sitting member of Congress to fly in space (former Utah Senator Jake Garn).

4: The number of years it took to build the space shuttle Discovery.   The shuttle was completed in October 1983 in Palmdale, Calif., and was shipped a month later to NASA piggyback atop the agency’s modified Boeing 747 shuttle carrier craft. Four is also the maximum number of times the shuttle has flown in space in a single year. In 1985, Discovery set the bar for number of flights by one orbiter in one year.

3: The number of satellites Discovery carried during its first launch. Discovery was also NASA’s third space shuttle built for orbital flight. It was built after the shuttles Columbia and Challenger.

2: The number of return-to-flight missions Discovery has flown to help NASA resume shuttle flights. Discovery was the shuttle that flew the STS-26 mission two years after the loss of the shuttle Challenger and its crew during launch on Jan. 28, 1986. The shuttle also flew the STS-114 mission that followed the 2003 loss of shuttle Columbia and its seven-astronaut crew. That mission launched in July 2005.

1: The number of actual dockings with Russia’s Space Station Mir. Discovery actually visited the Mir station twice. It was the first U.S. shuttle to rendezvous with (but not dock at) Mir in 1995. Its second and last trip to Mir was in 1998, when it actually linked up with the Russian space station.

Sad to say but Space Shuttle Discovery is almost at the end of its nearly 27-year flying career. It’s scheduled to return to Earth just before noon tomorrow for the final time and just a day away from landing, Discovery’s astronauts received the first-ever live wake-up music in the history of the shuttle program this morning, a tune that was written in honor of the world’s most traveled spaceship.

The lead guitarist of Big Head Todd and the Monsters performed a solo version of “Blue Sky” … a song written by the group at the request of the 2005 crew of Discovery, which returned NASA to orbit following the Columbia tragedy. It ended up the top vote-getter in NASA’s pick-the-wake-up-music contest to mark the end of the shuttle program, just a few months away with only two missions remaining.

Shuttle commander Steven Lindsey thanked Mission Control for the special recording and at first, he didn’t realize the acoustic performance was live until Todd Park Mohr radioed his greetings. Commander Lindsey and his crew then began a test of the shuttle’s systems before the six astronauts held a ceremony to mark Discovery’s final flight.

Discovery is the world’s most flown spaceship and now faces life as a museum display. It’s the first of NASA’s three space shuttles to be retired and NASA will spend several months decommissioning Discovery before sending it to the Smithsonian Institution to live out its days.

It’s a great shame the program is coming to an end and it is the beginning of the end of a very special era. NASA managers contend the fleet still has lots of flying lifetime left but the agency is under presidential direction to aim for true outer space, which means giving up the shuttles, which are confined to orbit.

Just two shuttle launches will remain: Endeavour next month and Atlantis at the end of June. So, if you are in the Orlando area at the moment, you might just want to make the short journey over to the coast and watch the shuttle come into land… and hear those sonic booms emanate from Discovery for the final time.

Bike Week 2011 officially opened last Friday and this year sees the event celebrating it’s 70th birthday. Approximately 500,000 people will be making their way to Daytona Beach for the 10 day event to enjoy some great motorcycle racing, concerts, parties, and street festivals.

The Daytona Beach Bike Week rally started as the Daytona 200 race on January 24, 1937 and the first race was a 3.2 miles beach and pavement course. It was won by Ed Kretz from California riding an Indian motorcycle with an average speed of 73.34 mph.

The yearly race took a break from 1942 to 1947 due to World War II and during the years off, an unofficial event took place and was commonly known as “Bike Week.” In 1947 the official race resumed and gained in popularity as the event was then promoted by the late William France Sr., co-founder of NASCAR.

Today it’s still all about the best-looking bikes, the smell of leather, the ear-splitting pipes, Old Glory waving, tributes to veterans, the beer and the biker babes as tents and temporary stages fill up every square inch of Main Street as bikers enjoy the party leading up to the main event, the Daytona 200, which takes place on the newly repaved track on March 12.

At least 7 bike shows will take place, among them: Limpnickie Lot, Church of Chop, Pro-Am, Ol School Chopper, Sport Bike Fest, Boarwalk Ride-in & Rat’s Hole Chopper Show and Bator’s Classic Daytona Motorcycle Auction during Bike Week will include the Eddie James (estate) BMW collection.

2011 DAYTONA BIKE WEEK – BIKE SHOWS

Limpnickie Lot – Stone Edge Skate Park, 1848 S. Ridgewood Ave. South Daytona. Ride-in bike show TBA and a great place to check out a new generation of builders.
Church of Chop – Old School Rod & Bike Show at The Junkyard Saloon, DeLeon Springs - Friday, March 4th and Saturday, March 5th.
Pro-Am Bike Show – at The DeLand Bike Rally – Sunday, March 6th to Thurs., March 10th.
Ol School Chopper Show – at Willie’s Tropical Tattoo, 824 S. Yonge St., Ormond Beach -
Thursday, March 10th.
Boardwalk Ride-in Bike Show – Oceanside boardwalk at Main Street – Friday, March 11th.
- 20 classes from domestic to metric with 50 trophies.
Rat’s Hole Bike Show – Daytona Lagoon, beachside on Earl Street – Sat., March 12th.
Sport Bike Fest – Hottest Custom Contest – at Martini’s Chop House, 1815 S. Ridgewood Ave., Daytona Beach, Saturday, March 12th.

Bator’s Daytona Classic Motorcycle Auction - Thursday’s Parts & Memorabilia Auction, March 10 will include the massive BMW (estate) collection of motorcycle icon, Eddie James. Swap Meet, March 9 to 11; Classic Motorcycle Auction on Friday, March 11.

Additionally coleslaw wrestling is scheduled for Wednesday and bike blessings for next Sunday.

Bike Week isn’t just about bike and bikers though, as there will be plenty of traffic from four-wheel vehicles as people-watching is just too much fun for non-motorcyclists to miss out on. So why not take a trip over to Daytona this week? A lot of bikers make the hour trip from the vacation homes they rent so you’ll be sure to see some interesting sights!

Here’s some video:

Spring Training began in Kissimmee for the Houston Astros this week as they opened their campaign with a 3-0 loss against the Atlanta Braves last Tuesday.

Baseball’s spring training was almost a secret once upon a time as players prepared for the regular season in privacy but all that has changed now that the event has blossomed into a tourist attraction. 30 teams pretty much evenly split between Florida (the Grapefruit League) and Arizona (the Cactus League), gear up for the main season by taking time away from their regular home base to enjoy a change of scenery and usually a lot better weather!

Here in Florida we are blessed with clusters of clubs who compete on both coasts while a handful come to Central Florida to tune up. The Gulf Coast configuration stretches from Dunedin (Blue Jays) south to Clearwater (Phillies), Tampa (Yankees), Bradenton (Pirates), Sarasota (Orioles), Port Charlotte (Rays), and Fort Myers, where the Red Sox and Twins train in separate ballparks.

On the Atlantic side, north to south, are spring training camps in Viera (Nationals), Port St. Lucie (Mets), and Jupiter (Cards and Marlins), while Central Florida’s I-4 corridor, around Orlando, includes the Astros (in nearby Kissimmee), the Tigers in Lakeland and at Disney, the Atlanta Braves train at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports. A full list of fixtures can be found here.

How Spring Training Really Works

While veteran players view spring training as a time to tune-up, younger players see it as audition time. They have to put up or shut up, convincing managers to keep them in mind as they pare rosters to the maximum 25 players by Opening Day on March 31.

A few days after pitchers and catchers report (usually in mid- to late-February) along with injured position players, full squads begin workouts. In most camps, that means morning calisthenics, clinics in fundamentals, and inter squad games. Most workouts of this nature are free to watch and are far less crowded than proper games and allows autograph hounds the best access to players that they can ever have.

For autograph hunters, photographers, and sun worshipers alike, exhibition season is just that: an exhibition. Games don’t count, there’s no pressure on players or managers, and the Grapefruit or Cactus League won-lost records are printed in newspapers without any recognition of league affiliation. If games go past the regulation nine innings, they often end in ties because visiting teams just don’t have enough pitchers!

In fact, visiting teams almost never bring a full slate of stars. Major League Baseball asks that they bring at least three, since fans buying tickets and want to see big-leaguers instead of bush-leaguers, but that rule is rarely enforced.

Nigel Worrall & Cal Ripken Jnr.

Some players will go out of their way to be accommodating to autograph requests though and when Cal Ripken, Jr. was an active player, he once signed autographs for 90 minutes after a game at West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium was rained out while an Orioles teammate held an umbrella over his head to keep the autographs from smudging!

Most players will happily pose for pictures, especially before or after workouts. On the other hand, almost all will refuse to sign while eating, playing golf when they’re off duty, or otherwise enjoying their time away from the ballpark and fans who perch themselves at the players’ parking lot will generally find autographs easier to acquire when players arrive than when they leave.

It’s a great time to visit Florida and what could be better than taking in a ball game at drastically reduced prices while sun tanning yourself?

Here’s some pictures and video I took from a recent tour of Osceola County Stadium at Osceola Heritage Park: