Beyond the old Harbour station, a new car park has been laid. Somewhat optimistically it seems to have hundreds of spaces, so maybe they are expecting lots of visitors at some point.

I have been harsh on Folkestone and the area around the harbour in the past, on a warm and sunny August day it is rather pleasant. Lots of people were out enjoying the sighs, eating ice creams and looking for fish and chips. And it is not too hard to imagine the harbour branch being the centre piece of a thriving seaside resort, with two or three tank engines charging up the bank hauling rakes of coaches filled with enthusiasts who would travel from around the country to see such sights.

But then there are problems; one being the gradient on the branch 1:36 from a standing start I believe, that is fierce. Two, there is no station at the top of the branch, and if one was built access is a problem. Three, there is the potential cost of maintaining the piers and swing bridge.

Maybe it can be sorted, but these are big challenges for the Remembrance Line if they was to preserve it.

optimistic boat at the rowing club

Portrait of a young african girl with frizzy hair and traditional african plaits, and a shy smile on her lips

Thanks to Chrysti, learning new tricks.

Optimistic Kim was poised to win her birthday game of Monopoly -- but sadly, fate had other plans in mind.

Erudite Fotography // Facebook

2014: Beakerhead Presents … An Optimistic Evening

Mark Stevenson is talking about the Future.

Photo by: Denis Semenov Photography

Optimistically awaiting further passengers on a miserable wet September day, is Stagecoach South Midlands Northern Counties Palatine bodied Volvo Olympian 16534.

Optimistic Message on the Exam Room sign.

Center for Living Well offers High-quality, personalized care, enhanced access to services, coordinated, hassle-free treatment, as well as privacy and confidentiality.

www.amoflordecera.com.br

15082018

Not really my best day but my smiley knicker keeps me optimistic.

A rather optimistic Destination for a Class 313

2014: Beakerhead Presents … An Optimistic Evening

Opening speech.

Photo by: Denis Semenov Photography

while I have dreams of an SX 70, I'm stuck with my Sun600 and a fax machine to scan them with. oh well, I guess they are right for each other.

Inside a road side cafe on Gwadar Coastal Highway!

January 2008 optimistic patch of sky, taken late afternoon, as I was heading for home on a very dark & stormy old day.

Inspired loosely by Don McCullins Somerset Work.

www.hamiltonsgallery.com/photographers/mccullin/mccullins...

The U2 song, " One Tree Hill " also came to mind.

Raman Optimistic

2014: Beakerhead Presents … An Optimistic Evening

After presentation questions to Mark Stevenson.

Photo by: Denis Semenov Photography

Jonny Greenwood

PNA Leaders look fairly optimistic at this get together. They include Air Marshal Asghar Khan, Ghafoor Ahmed, Mufti Mahmood, Sherbaz Mazari, Nasim Wali khan, Nasrullah Khan, Pir Pagaro, Shah Ahmed Noorani and Sardar Abdul Qayum Khan. On the night of 4-5 July 1977 Gen Zia deposed Bhutto and took over.

© Brett Nickell

Mixed media on paper (Pastel, crayon, oil pastel, acrylic) 11 x 20 inches.

How much fun can one guy have with a box of crayons?

#positive #optimistic #determined

#watch #Movies online PassPlay, www.passplay.com — in San Francisco, CA, United States.

Intergrated Wordle with Flickr in the truest sense! Photo + Words

For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic

by: Paramore

listen here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBUdTO97ZQ0

Just talk yourself up

And tear yourself down

You've hit your one wall

Now find a way around

Well what's the problem?

You've got a lot of nerve

So what did you think I would say?

No you can't run away, no you can't run away

So what did you think I would say?

No you can't run away, no you can't run away

You wouldn't

I never wanted to say this

You never wanted to stay

I put my faith in you, so much faith

And then you just threw it away

You threw it away

I'm not so naive

My sorry eyes can see

The way you fight shy

Of almost everything

Well, if you give up

You'll get what you deserve

So what did you think I would say?

No you can't run away, no you can't run away

So what did you think I would say?

No you can't run away, no you can't run away

You wouldn't

I never wanted to say this

You never wanted to stay

I put my faith in you, so much faith

And then you just threw it away

You threw it away

You were finished long before

We had even seen the start

Why don't you stand up, be a man about it?

Fight with your bare hands about it now

I never wanted to say this

You never wanted to stay well did you

I put my faith in you, so much faith

And then you just threw it away

I never wanted to say this

You never wanted to stay

I put my faith in you, so much faith

And then you just threw it away

Optimistic epithat, Coburg IOOF Cemetery.

Optimistically credited with 300 gross horsepower, Ford's ubiquitous "Thunderbird" 390 was something of a stone. It had decent low-end torque, but not a lot of high-rpm grunt. It was offered in most of the Ford line -- by 1967 it had found its way into everything but the Falcon.

Seen while cycling: On last night's Trenton Social Ride, we explored inside the old Roebling Steel Mill. One of the guys we ride with, Reed Gusciora, was recently elected mayor of Trenton. It was intriguing and optimistic to hear him discuss his ideas on redevelopment.

Weird thing - I'm not feeling the post-Christmas mood swing that so often happens. I find myself really upbeat and looking forward to next year.

Now I've got all that bullshit about turning 30 out of my head and done with I feel a lot more free . . . if you know what I mean? It's like it's been hanging over me the last couple of years, sad I know but it's true, but since I crossed the threshold between decades it's like I don't have to worry about it anymore. And that's cool.

I may be growing older, but it doesn't mean I have to grow up right?

And there's other things too - so much is going to happen next year. We're going to have another baby, both mine and Lydia's jobs will be changing as our department is restructuring . . . that sounds bad but I could just as easily come out of it with a better job. It's a bit complicated, but I'm looking on the bright side.

I've found a new hobby I really enjoy (photography, dur) and I can only improve the longer I'm at it.

And I've got an iPod. I didn't want one for years, now I've got one I can't imagine ever being apart from it. Even iTunes is growing on me. I spent a couple of hours yesterday copying and pasting album covers onto my iPod so I could use Coverflow and it was worth every damn second. And I found some games, including a music quiz that bases it's questions on the music you have on your iPod! I can't tell you how cool that is.

So this shot is meant to be me looking all optimistic towards the future . . . in reality it's me clutching at straws for an idea and staring out the window, ha ha! Still, the setting sun had a kinda nice effect on the wall behind me, and with a bit of tweaking in Lightroom and a couple of textures it looks alright.

Couldn't think of a way to get my iPod in shot though. Humph.

Woot! Bring on 2009 - oh yes.

"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority."

— E.B. White (1899-1985) "Coon Tree," The New Yorker (June 14, 1956)

Image: [The wild weather has been a warning we have yet to heed] Relief from the Ara Pacis (9 BCE) depicting the goddess Tellus Mater (Mother Earth) flanked by the Aurae (Peaceful Breezes) of sea and land

This North Eastern Life: Quote of the Day for 2016-07-12

#nature #environment #man #humans #EBWhite #quoteoftheday

www.21stcenturynews.com.au/warren-buffett-optimistic-stocks/

After taking this picture I quickly caught it and fed it to my hedgehog, just so it wont escape. You know how quick they are.

The optimism of youth is nothing compared with the optimism of childhood. 3/365

No, i don't believe it'll work for a second. But it's my first year with an allotment, so I'm allowed to be unrealistic about the obstacles slugs and snails will get round 🐌.

Optimistic, positive outlook.

Amsterdam

Go and seek your optimistic balloon,

everyone needs one.

serie

I

II

The Dixie Walesbilt Hotel, known as the Grand Hotel in later years, is one of a small number of skyscrapers built in the 1920s that still stand today and is a prime example of how optimistic people were during the Florida land boom. Built in 1926, it found financing through a stock-sale campaign in the local business community, costing $500,000 after it was completed(which equates to about $6 million today.)

The building architecture, masonry vernacular with hints of Mediterranean-Revival, is also a good example of the time is was built. It was designed by two well-known architects at the time, Fred Bishop who designed the Byrd Theatre in Virginia, and D.J. Phipps, whose designed both the Wyoming County Courthouse and Jail and the Colonial Hotel in Virginia.

The hotel was constructed using the “three-part vertical block” method, which became the dominant pattern in tall buildings during the 1920s. Three-part buildings are composed of a base, shaft and a cap, all noticeably visible.

The hotel opened as the “Walesbilt” in January 1927, shortly after the land boom had started to collapse and two years before the Great Depression began. It’s also best to note that the hotel opened around the same time the Floridan Hotel in Tampa opened, another hotel built during the Florida land boom.

In 1972, the hotel was purchased by Anderson Sun State and renamed the “Groveland Motor Inn”. The firm completely renovated the hotel and used it to host visitors to the area who were interested in Green Swamp, land sectioned off for land development. At the time there was heavy speculation in the land because of it’s close proximity to Walt Disney World and were selling for around $5,000 an acre at the time. That ended after a state cabinet designation of the swamp as an area of critical state concern, placing the land off-limits to any large land developments. The firm filed for foreclosure and the hotel was auctioned off in 1974. Despite RCI Electric purchasing the hotel, it remained empty for many years afterwards.

n 1978, the hotel was signed over to the Agape Players, a nationally known religious music and drama group, who would assume the mortgage and would pay the costs to make improvements to meet city fire and safety standards. The hotel was renamed the “Royal Walesbilt” and after extensive improvements were made, it became the headquarters for the Agape Players; using it as a teaching facility and the base from which the group launched their tours. In addition, they operated a restaurant, an ice cream parlor on the lobby floor and a “Christian hotel” on the upper floors, catering mostly to groups. The Agape Players disbanded in 1985 and put the property up for sale

Victor Khubani, a property investor from New York acquired the property and renamed the hotel “Grand”. The hotel closed briefly in December 1988, due to a variety of code violations and causing the owner to later pay $14,000 in fines. On August 31, 1990 it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, possibly for tax exemption reasons. In October 1991, The State Fire Marshall’s Office gave the owner one year to install a new sprinkler system and in May 1993, the code enforcement board gave Khubani until March to complete the work.

In March 1994, the hotel closed due to multiple code violations and was to remain closed until a new fire sprinkler system was installed. To reopen, the fire escapes and elevator, which did not function, would have to be repaired as well. In 1995, the hotel was auctioned off to a redevelopment firm, which dismantled part of the interior for reconstruction, which was never completed.

Since then, the hotel has deteriorated, becoming an eyesore to many of the residents of Lake Wales and nicknamed “The Green Monster” for the greenish color it has acquired from over the years. In 1995, it was even jokingly mentioned to become a sacrifice to “the bomb”, an economic boom that occurred in parts of Florida where movie production companies would pay cities to blow up buildings for their movies. In 2007, the city foreclosed on the structure for more than $700,000 in unpaid code fines, with hopes in finding someone to restore it.

Development firm, Dixie-Walesbilt LLC announced plans to restore the hotel, signing into an agreement with the city of Lake Wales in February 2010. By the agreement, the city would retain ownership of the building until a defined amount of work had been accomplished. The work must be completed within 16 months and the amount of money invested must succeed at least $1.5 million. The building would then be handed off the Dixie Walesbilt LLC, where they may continue with private funding or other methods to for debt funding.

Ray Brown, President of Dixie Walesbilt LLC, planned to invest $6 million into the renovation, with original plans to put retail stores on the ground floor and using the upper floors for as many as 40 condominiums.

On June 2, 2011, the city of Lake Wales agreed to deed the building off to Ray Brown in a 4-1 vote, after meeting the requirements of the redevelopment agreement. Though Brown submitted a list of costs to the city totaling $1.66 million, Mayor Mike Carter wasn’t satisfied with the results so far, pointing out that Brown failed to repair the windows and repaint the building. Previous owners had put tar on the building and then painted over it, so much of Brown’s investment went to stripping the tar off the exterior walls.

To repaint the building, Brown would also have to resurface the hotel with hydrated lime to replicate the original skin as well as the window frames would need to be constructed of Douglas fir, red cedar and gulf cypress. According to Brown, previous owners who renovated the building rarely removed the building original elements. They carpeted over intricate tile flooring, stuck tar paper above skylights and placed modern drinking fountains in front of the originals. He estimated about 98 percent of the building is still in it’s original form.

Restoration of the building’s exterior began in January 2015 and included surface repair, pressure washing, paint removal, chemical treatment, and a comprehensive resurfacing of the exterior.

While the original plans were for turning the building into condominiums, that has since changed and current plans call for operating the building as a boutique hotel. The hotel will feature geothermal cooling as opposed to traditional air conditioning, a permanent art gallery as well as theme gallery showings throughout the year, and the best WiFi/internet in the city. The project is expected to be completed in 18 to 24 months.

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

www.cityoflakewales.com/505/Dixie-Walesbilt-Hotel

www.abandonedfl.com/dixie-walesbilt-hotel/

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

ODC2. Optimistic.

It would be optimistic to think it would be restored.

Well this is a church not far away from me, me and my companion went for a ride just so I could get some images. Well this church closed years ago when it wasn't making enough money, and sadly it never got restored, and I think there may even be plans to have it knocked down. Which is a shame as I adore abandoned buildings. So I did have to capture this before I got caught! Well I am exhausted after that cycle, have a good Saturday everyone :-)

Additional Photos

Check out my photostream for the video of this building!

I hear that when country and western music is played backwards, you get your truck, dog, and wife back. ;)

Wendover, Ontario.