Blue Monday: Tourist Plates

Today is Blue Monday at our fun hostess Smiling Sally's blog of the same name. Today is when a group of Sally's friends and fellow bloggers get together and show off their blueness for the week. If you'd like to join us, please do. The more the merrier! :-)

Today, I'd like to focus on tourists plates...



No, not that kind of plate...





And not that kind, either...




This kind of plate!

And as you can see my able assistant and friend Miss Cecelia has a small blue and white tourist plate she's showing you here, along with her new missing teeth. [Someone has discovered that she can be on "television" and is now opting for a career in that medium via my blog. Vanna White, move over! ;-)]




When Mr. Magpie and I purchased our Victorian getaway in St. Augustine, we made a decision about the furnishings. Instead of going seriously Victorian, we chose to go Florida whimsical. And what is more whimsical than tourist plates! Only, we decided we wanted our tourist plates to be a little more dignified, and that's why we opted for the blue and white transferware.

We also decided that these plates should represent places we remember from childhood and which have some sort of sentimental connection. That first one pictured above is Cà d' Zan (House of John) in Sarasota and belonged to John Ringling of circus fame.

The next plate is Thomas Edison's winter home in Ft. Myers...



If you haven't seen these residences, you need to make plans to see them at some point. Both are fascinating and sentimental favorites.

And speaking of sentimental favorites, Silver Springs is pictured here...



Oh, how I loved their glass bottom boats! Even Tarzan swam in these waters at certain points, and so did mermaid Esther Williams.

Then there's beautiful Cypress Gardens with its world class water skiers, Southern belles, and beautiful flowers. Esther also swam here, where a swimming pool was named for her...



This transferware plate opted for a floral border instead of the belles above...



Right down the road from Winter Haven and Cypress Gardens is Lake Wales and its beautiful Bok Tower which is still as beautiful today...



And north a bit of Polk County is Clermont where citrus once ruled and was ruled over by the Citrus Tower. Now, sadly, many of those beautiful groves have been overtaken by residential and commercial developments, but the tower still remains...



Then, of course, there is the Ancient City itself. And this St. Augustine plate features several of its landmarks: the fort, the city gates, and the oldest house...



Next, there's government house, where I got to see King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia of Spain speak from the balcony. That represented the first time a reigning Spanish monarch had visited St. Augustine which happens to be the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the continental United States. Juan Carlos had visited once before as a prince...



Here is the Lightner Museum which began life as one of Henry Flagler's signature hotels, the Alcazar. It dates to the late Victorian period and had the first indoor swimming pool which is now fashioned into antique shops and a restaurant. The rest of the building houses city offices...




This next series of plates feature the famous city gates...



The border on this one features other famous landmarks as well...



And so does this plate which is a produced by Royal Worcester (I got a great deal on this!)...



And finally, here is the man who discovered La Florida: Juan Ponce de Leon. This, too, is a Royal Worcester plate...



We have about sixteen plates total which can serve a crowd. I keep some of them in the cabinet and display a few others. This has been a fun collection to amass, and I hope you enjoyed seeing the dinner plates. I have collected smaller plates for salads and desserts and some less serious plates for everyday casual. But these are my favorites...



And that wraps up my Blue Monday offering. Thanks so much for dropping by my blog to visit, and I look forward to visiting yours as well! Please join Sally and a host of other great folks who have much blueness to share with you today. I'm headed over there right now! You can join me by clicking here. :-)




Happy Blue Monday!


Quintessentially,


Mrs. Magpie (Sheila) and of course, let's not forget Miss Cecelia and her new friend Woodstock! :-) :-) :>