Northwest Florida

We have arrived in Florida - northern Florida, that is, and we have been told that's not really Florida.

Since the home base for the US Navy Blue Angels is Pensacola, FL, the welcome center had several displays  about the Blue Angels.

We stayed in an RV park on the Yellow River and were fascinated by the cypress trees growing in the water.  Here again the water isn't pristine like the NW.  The rivers and creeks run very slow.

We spent a day exploring the area around Pensacola looking for markers or something about the Old Spanish Trail.  We found this one street sign so someone knows about the OST but not much of the history has been preserved.

We looked around Live Oak and Lake City, FL, and found some OST era buildings. 

A courthouse in Lake City was just a block from what was believed to be the OST route.

Former Fort Lancaster was on another corner of a town square in Lake City.  The town square memorialized the civil war conflicts and regiments from this area.

The information we have seen says this old brick road located in Wellborn, FL, was a section of the OST.  We visited with a local cabinet maker who has a serious interest in the local history.  However, he had never heard about the OST.

This gentlemen has restored these buildings.  The one on the left was the general store of Wellbourne that was a going concern during the cotton days of the late 1800's. 

The building below is another of the gentlemen's project.  It was brought from a nearby town and he added the siding and roofing of other old buildings to make it look more authentic.

We saw many railroad depots during our drives.  Most of them have been converted for other uses.  Prior to the building of roads like the OST, the railroads were the primary transportation for goods and passengers.

We had lunch near this spring fed pond.  It is possible this pond was a stopping point along the OST since its water was cool and clear.

In Madison, FL, we found this building currently used as an antique shop and bed and breakfast.  During the OST period, this building housed the Madison Hotel which offered steam heat and air cooling.

Around the corner in Madison, we saw this concrete building (a little down on its luck now) that was the Hancock Hotel which was another popular stop along the Trail.

In Greenville, FL, one of the last country hotels along the OST in Florida is still in use.  It is now called the Grace Manor and is a bed and breakfast inn.  It is a three story house with a wraparound porch and gables.  The building was beautifully restored and the grounds were full of flowers, shrubs and trees.

We stayed at a gorgeous state park on the Suwannee River.  It is the one and the same from this song:

The Swanee River (Old Folks at Home)

Written by Stephen C. Foster

Way down upon de swanee Ribber,

Far, far away.

Dere's wha my heart is turning ebber,

Dere's wha de old folks stay.

All up and down de whole creation

Sadly I roam,

Still longing for de old plantation,

And for de old folks at home.

Some of you many not be old enough to remember this song but many of us boomers do remember it.  It is currently the state song of Florida.

This cemetery was at the state park.  The headstones were barely legible.  The earliest date of death was 1856.  Old headstones also tell how long the person lived; for example, one child was only 3 month and 29 days old when they passed.  It is also interesting to see that the gravesites have both headstones and footstones.

******We have found a nomination for REDNECK RV PARK of the YEAR.  One of the residents was keeping the local peacock from pecking his hubcabs and perching on the top of his car by placing and running a water sprinkler on the top of the car.  Picture that.  The sprinkler ran all the time we were there.  We should have got a picture of it.  It's hard to believe.******