quirky side of dunedin: Dunedin part 2

What do orange murals, funky mailboxes, and tree chandeliers all have in common? They are the quirky and fun aspects that make Dunedin so unique.

Walk around downtown Dunedin, and you can't help but notice the orange murals on the sides of houses, businesses, and public spaces. These sunny pops of color are a sign of Dunedin's rich history of orange groves and citrus packing, specifically, the designs on the sides of shipping crates of the late 1800s and early to mid-1900s. In 2009, local artists began painting oranges all over town and today there are over 800 murals displayed throughout the city. Here are a few of my favorites, captured during our week-long stay in this quirky Florida town.

We stayed at the amazing Fenway Hotel and each day, on our way to downtown, we walked through the residential neighborhood between our hotel and town. We quickly noticed that all the houses had outrageous mailboxes. Doing a bit of research, it appears the tradition began when one neighbor secretly painted lemons on the mailbox of the Lemon family. The prank turned into requests for other neighbors to commission personalized mailboxes for themselves. The trend spread through the neighboring streets and soon the entire neighborhood was buying or DIYing fantastical mailboxes. A walk through the streets proves to be an amusing experience where you spot something more extraordinary at each turn.

Even more intriguing than the mailboxes, we noticed residents had chandeliers hanging from the branches of their front trees. All different shapes and sizes, many in bright colors and patterns, the chandeliers were sparkly during the day but absolutely beautiful at night. Legend has it that resident Max Helms started the trend and now residents of Dunedin have the goal to not only "light up Dunedin" but to light up the entire west coast of Florida.