The first stop was the Dudley farm which over time had supported over three generations of Dudley until the last grand daughter honored her mother's wishes by deeding it over for a park.
They had me at the fences.
Nan pointed out that to her this is the real Florida - no fancy green grass to mow but the garden with a yard to sweep.
Where they made the cane syrup.
One of the volunteers. There were few out yesterday. It was a bit chilly out.
The second generation opened a small store and even had a post office to help the other settlers in the area. This was before "Snowbirds" had been recognized as a tribe. Nan commented though on how many of the early settlers had move from South Carolina. I think that may be similar to early settlers from Ohio moving west to settle Illinois in order to find the frontier.
The kitchen and dinning room was separate. Besides keeping the house from burning down from kitchen fires, there was a need to find room for all those children to sleep in the house. Picture to come.
I reallt wanted that dining room table. Honda Fit's have large hauling spaces but we couldn't figure out how to get it in without being noticed.
"I'm so pretty!" or is it....
I'm too sexy for my....feathers....
See, See.....I can strut around all day...
Pissss....over here lady. Don't believe a thing he "gobbles." We know the real story and he isn't as great as he thinks he is, really!" (Who could doubt I thing this beautiful face tells you?)
This, face is an entirely different story however. You might think she is reminising about house chores in her youth back in the time of dinasaurs....
But you would be wrong. She never got that super flying broom like Harry Potter, but she appeared to be quite familiar with this lower tech kind.
The laundry is empty this morning. No wait for a machine.
Beds, beds, everywhere...
The family room....
The family.... Apparently the family needed all those wash tubs.
Two tourists outstanding in the front garden.
The dogwoods are blooming north central Florida. Spring colors are slowly moving north.
We did go on and visit the Hailey Plantation but apparently besides the dogwoods growing in the front yard, my camera was taking a break. The Plantation house was much larger with 12 foot ceilings but it was much harder to envision actually family life. More interesting was listening to Nan's stories of growing up in the area. She even talked about getting permission to access the property back in the early 70's while it was still boarded up and had not been refurbished in any way.
Waiting for other campers to arrive today and tomorrow.....
I love this stuff. Reminds of when I was a child and went to see my grandma in KY. She had the same stove and there was a pot belly stove in the front of the house while the kitchen was in the rear. Shotgun house the 2 stoves heated the whole house in the winter. Boy it was cold on a winter morning. There was also an out house out back and a well in the yard to draw water. I can remember it being like that until I was about 8 or 9. That would have been in the 70's.
ReplyDeleteHaving a party!!!
ReplyDeleteInteresting how early settler houses look pretty much the same no matter where they are located. They just contain all the necessities and whatever minimal heating they could include. Nice visit. Hope it warms up for you all soon.
ReplyDeleteTina, I like coming along with you! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Colleen. Except for the flora, this could be a pioneer's homestead almost anywhere.
ReplyDelete