Walking to lunch from 8002

Posted on by Ian C.

We’ve lived here five years, and driven many times down to the highway, passing the Formosa Gardens Village shopping area (with Winn Dixie, Ace Hardware, Subway, and other stores) – and we’ve wondered about walking; so today we did (partly because we couldn’t drive, while the garage door is being painted!)

The walk is less than two miles, along mostly uninteresting highway – but at least there are sidewalks; along part of the road, and the reason for the “Formosa Gardens” names, now very derelict Splendid China (which we sadly never saw while it was open). The few views remaining of Splendid China suggest it was once a wonderful “model village” of China – be sure to visit this link and read more about Splendid China, including some inside pictures.

Arriving at lunch, at Subway, we checked our walk – not so far, really …

(of course, we walked it all back again, after lunch!)

Harleys & Heroes

Posted on by Ian C.

The local Harley Davidson dealership is on the corner of I-192, so we pass it many times each week – today, there was a “Harleys & Heroes” event; when we drove by there was a helicopter and various other emergency vehicles.
We returned after lunch; by then the fire trucks had gone, but there was still lots to see!


There was a very impressive “TRI Glide” on display too – maybe the only bike I’d be prepared to ride (three wheels make it much safer); mind you, it’s about the same cost as the MINI Paceman!

Quite liked the idea of Margaret & I riding that machine together! The dealership does rentals too, but of course you need a bike license (and no doubt for that you’d have to ride a two wheel machine); so I doubt that we will try it …

First view of the Paceman

Posted on by Ian C.

The new MINI Paceman has been wandering the country, appearing at various MINI dealerships; I missed it at MINI of Peabody, but (thanks to James) saw it this evening at MINI of Orlando. The one car on show is a “Brilliant Copper” S, loaded with all the technology, leather seats; sadly the copper color was not so “brilliant”, at least inside the dealership; it was really hard to get a good idea of the cars color, see how different these photos are:

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It was easier to see, and appreciate, the overall shape; the lowering roofline makes the Paceman a lot better looking than the Countryman. I also really liked the rear lights design.
Interior, not noticeably different from other MINIs and the Countryman – though again the expensive leather seating color is hard to identify …

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Getting in to the back of the Paceman was surprisingly easy (though no doubt not as easy as the Countryman) – but leg room seemed VERY limited, at least for anyone sitting behind me! Even then, in the back my head brushed the roof, so that roofline presumably is the cause of limited leg room. So get a Countryman if you want to use the rear seats, maybe?

The exterior design of the Paceman is the most interesting MINI I’ve seen for a while – but with a $38,000 price tag, it’s really not a weekend play thing!