The Road Goes Ever On

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Morse Museum Of American Art, 1

If you care about art, American art, and Tiffany in particular, a real gem awaits you in Winter Park, one of Orlando's older and more interesting neighborhoods. The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art is one of the best "smaller" museum we have visited in the past 20 years of international museum-going. It is by no means small, in terms of square footage, but merely narrow in its focus on American art and particularly that of Louis Comfort Tiffany. We have seen our share of fine glass in the past several years--in Paris, Nancy, London, New York--the Morse can hold its own with those places and institutions. It has even donated some of its collection to the Met. Vicki gives it her highest praise, allowing that it is worth taking a day away from Disney. Plus, entry is just $5. The Morse has a fine website, with better descriptions and appraisals than I can offer. So I'll mostly let the pix speak for themselves.

Unpretentious entry

Glories within

Initially, mostly the stained glass masterpieces

But then, much more...an education in Tiffany's many innovations
in materials and techniques

Lamps too, but by no means as great a collection as what we saw at
the New York Historical

Some of our favorite Wisterias, however

Architectural And Other Wonders Of Orlando

With the New Year came Vicki's sister Marie for a week's visit, particularly beneficial for her knowledge of the area: she was a resident in nearby St. Cloud for some years before moving to Knoxville. We undertook a number of excursions to see the sights.

Some vintage mid-century Florida architecture, Orange World; most
of these tourist traps have failed and the buildings have been abandoned...
but not Orange World...

Our visit to downtown Orlando began as a bus ride, the main purpose
of which was to get our senior citizen discount bus passes at the terminal;
from there we walked to the Lake

Lots of Deco Echo to look at

Also some arguably real if modest Art Deco

Orange County; originally, Mosquito County, Marie said

The Catholic cathedral

Actual tympanum on one of the non-Catholic churches

Greek Orthodox

Appropriate frowny-faced Pantokrator

Truly profound juxtaposition of religious symbols

City Christmas tree (no oranges)

On the shore of Lake Eola, Orlando's downtown lake

Birds

Even more (dirty, disgusting, filthy, lice-ridden) birds

The flying saucer that crashed here in 1948 (parts of the superstructure
are now at Space Mountain)

More Deco Echo, The Paramount on Lake Eola, with
a welcome Publix; the farthest extent of our walk;
built 2008

Egyptian Deco Echo?

Found nearby

More Echo

More Deco; but enough for us

Fun Old Fashioned Family Christmas, 2024

And so it came to pass that, once more, we all descended upon Rebecca and Jeremy's Cary abode for Christmas. It was another great family Christmas, although somewhat lacking in documentation. For the record, if not photographically documented, we did all the usual baking, potica, cookies, cookie decoration (also watching multiple episodes of TGBBS), Christmas eve gifts, Christmas morning, Christmas brunch, Christmas charcuterie, egg nogs, and each of the three traditional Christmas fondues: cheese, meat/seafood, and chocolate. Grand-aunt Carole and particularly her daughter Lexi again impressed with gifts of Swiftia for Penelope. And, as foreshadowed in a previous post, we finally got to watch Christmas Family Vacation all together.