We haven't rented the canoes yet, but it looks like a pretty place to paddle around.
Aren't the trees pretty here? Why anyone would spend $60 a night to
camp at the sardine-packed seaside private parkinglot they call an
RV resort a few miles north of here is beside me.
Back in the 1920s, before this place was a state park, this
building was a brothel. Now it's the park ranger's residence.
However, the park rangers here do seem particularly happy...
In the early days of the park, this "youth camping area" (that's
what the sign says) was the area that the black folks were relegated to.
The ranger said that they get old black men who come to the park and
prefer to go to this area to fish. Makes me wonder if the "youth
camping area" back at Faver Dykes had the same history.
This is a necklace we made with the shells we found at
Anastasia beach.
There is a nature trail with lots of signs showing different
kinds of trees. Katie really liked running ahead to find the next
sign. There were quite a few trees broken by the hurricane,
but this was the biggest. Can you imagine trying to blow this one over?
Near the nature trail is a museum/visitor's center, with a lot of
art from Fred Marsh:
This is a velvet cape he painted around 1900 for a play (see the
tiny black & white picture in the corner?). He did a great job of
painting the women on it, and it couldn't have been easy painting
on velvet. Also, he was so modern for his time. That was the day
of Art Neuveau, but he was painting like Matisse or Picasso. Maybe
he met them in Paris, where he studied as a teenager.
He was hired by the Navy to design posters during World War 1.
I really like this model for a mural of Michigan's industry.
Marsh designed this sculpture for the state park we are staying
in. Apparently, Marsh lived on the coast nearby here in the 1920s
(brothel time) and 1930s (early park time), and wanted to
commemmorate the local Native Americans.
This last one of his is his most famous, but she looks like a hood
ornament to me. Not feminine like the women on the early cape.
Very 1930s stylized.
Well, yesterday (Friday) we dropped the rv off to get it serviced,
and spent the day seeing the Daytona Beach area. First we visited the
second tallest lighthouse in the US: Ponce De Leon lighthouse
(I have no idea what is the tallest, and they weren't telling.)
Here we go:
This is looking down from almost the top.
Here are views from the top:
Beached boats, maybe the hurricanes got em.
The coolest thing about this lighthouse is that it's one of the
only ones, or maybe the only one (I forget), that still has all
its extra buildings still standing. You can see the privy. You
can see where the kids slept. You can walk around their garden
and you can see the old lenses they used. It is still in use, but
with a newfangled lens.
Katie met the lighthouse cat, TC, and she needed look no further.
The whole time we were there, all she wanted to do was pet the
very old, infirm kitty (who was sort of trying to politely edge
away. Eventually we had to break the news to Katie.) Here they are:
Across the street from the lighthouse is a yacht dock, and this
neat thing is what they use to move them around. It was probably
30 feet tall, and I got to see it driving around.
After the lighthouse we had lunch and then headed for Daytona
Beach, one of the few beaches you can still drive on with a car.
I remember when I was growing up, there were legends or
stories about folks falling asleep or getting drunk and forgetting
about the tide, which does come in enough to strand your vehicle.
We didn't stay too long, because there were black clouds piling up
and the tide was coming in, but Katie had a great time while we
were there. Here's a few pics:
This is my favorite. It's my new desktop wallpaper.
The shop called to say they were done with the RV, everything was fixed except the fridge, which they couldn't figure out because it was of course working. I'd love to have brought it to them when it wasn't working, but of course you have to book these appointments weeks in advance. sheesh.
Today is Saturday, and this morning at the state park there was a
guy reinacting what it was like to be a settler in this area in
the 1700s, during the Indian Wars. It was really fascinating and
I listened for an hour, while Mark and Katie got bored and went for a
walk and finally rode his bike back to the RV while I stayed some
more. Here are some pictures:
I got to try to create sparks with a steel and a flint (couldn't do
it), chew on some sweet cane used to make syrup (tasted like
watermellon), and buy some real sugar cane sugar in a cone shape
and also some pressed green tea that probably tastes horrible but
I had to have it.
Katie made friends with two little boys (age 4 and a half and 7) near us here. Tried playing with them with limited success (they ride bikes very fast compared to her, and like to play cops). She seemed really happy to have them nearby. Hopefully they'll get to play tomorrow too. Gotta go--Mark's game is finally over (it's just after midnight).
We also met a couple of really wonderful women camping near us. Molly was walking her dog Ramble when we first met her, and she showed us some tricks that her very well trained German Shepherd can do. We got to know Molly and her friend Norma a little while we've been here, and they have given us tips on some of their favorite parks to see in the south. It's great to hear real recommendations and not just choose places based on what's nearby. There were so many nice people at Ormond Beach; maybe we met more of them here because we were actually here for so long, and around camp a little more.
Molly and Norma lived in Melbourne Beach, Florida, right on the ocean, and they say that they can see the launches at Cape Canaveral from their doorstep. They were spared by the hurricanes, which they feared would blow their home's roof off. They were so nice to Katie, and we're hoping to take them up on their offer of a visit when we head back towards Jacksonville in a couple weeks.
On our last full day in camp, Katie and I drove out to an old (1700s)
sugar plantation near our state park (on Norma & Molly's recommendation).
I was impressed that the road out to the plantation has remained the
same for 200 years. It's only one lane, but it's so pretty I'm
surprised they never paved it:
Below is a picture of the mill ruins. The mill was the largest sugar mill
in Florida, until it was burned by the Seminoles in 1836 (they got a tad
angry over that whole "white guys moving in and taking over" thing).
The ruins were quite pretty, with the jungle trying to creep back in and
take over.
I'm kind of a nut about old maps, so here's one of Florida in 1831,
showing how much was controlled by the Seminoles during the Seminole
Wars.
We left Ormond Beach this morning, bound for Lake Louisa. We had expected to go straight south down the east coast of Florida, but there are no state parks with any room for us in that direction, so instead we had to head southwest, toward Orlando. We are only 20 minutes from The Mouse, and staying in place with a dynamite sunset. Open up Lake Louisa and see more...