Last friday the Lure crew took a brief field trip to Johnson’s Diner for lunch then to the Black Box. If you haven’t been to Johnson’s, you owe it to yourself to go. This soul food institution has been around for nearly 30 years. You won’t find any cremé fraiche or white truffles at Johnson’s, but you will find some of the best fried chicken, collards, oxtail, candied yams, mashed potatoes, cornbread and sweet potato pie in Central Florida.

After lunch we headed to the Black Box Collective, on Central near Parramore. It’s described as “a non-profit center for art, music and activism. A show space that is open to all people for use of skill shares alike.” This is a place where street artists hone their painting skills. As we approached, music was blasting from one of the small buildings that makes up the Black Box. Apparently they were preparing for an event that was to take place there later that night. We wandered the property admiring the paintings and tags that completely cover every building. There are several sculptures around the compound as well. After firing off a few frames, we headed back to the studio to finish up our day’s work feeling full and inspired.