we left off wandering down town Deland  I do want to note that I have not  mentioned parks in this —if you are interested in the Deland parks of which there are many just go to this site for more information:

https://www.deland.org/resources/deland-parks-facilities

and for more things to see and do in the area (101 things in fact)

https://www.discoverdeland.org/101-things-to-do-in-deland.html

and don’t forget the historic theater:

http://www.athensdeland.com/index.html

• 

  1990 Safari Limited Gorilla Figurine About 5 inches High

  $10.00

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/647623980/1990-safari-limited-gorilla-figurine?ref=shop_home_active_1

Now return to the parking lot and your car—turn right on 17-92 and then left on West Wisconsin –next major street after Jimmy John’s (on right)

Turn left on Stone

The grounds which includes a Butterfly Gardens  is on Michigan

137 W. Michigan Ave.
DeLand, FL  32720
PH: 386-740-6813
delandhouse@msn.com

Freedom Playground

Bill Dreggor’s Park

that features a Sensory Garden.

The

DeLand’s Memorial Hospital and Veteran’s Museum

is located at

230 Stone Street.

It was built in 1920 to serve the medical needs of a growing community.  The hospital closed in 1948.  Saved by the West Volusia Historical Society.  The building now has a vintage operating room, pharmacy medical equipment and more.

Also:

 Elizabeth Roe Burgess Pavilion –

the first hospital to serve West Volusia’s black citizens.

 Children’s Gallery 

combines Mrs. Conrad’s extensive elephant collection with vintage toys.

Old DeLand Memorial Hospital

• 

  30 inch drop (1 strand) gray beaded necklace

  $4.99

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/647604932/30-inch-drop-1-strand-gray-beaded?ref=shop_home_active_2

Return to Stone and turn right.

Turn left—east on West Rich

Then left—North on North Clara Ave

and right—east on W. Michigan

You’re looking for 137 West Michigan which on the left side of the street

Henry A. Deland House Museum

http://www.delandhouse.com/

Docent-led tours Tuesday – Saturday-  12 noon – 3 pm.​

VISITING HOURS FOR THE DELAND HOUSE MUSEUM
Docent-led tours: Tuesday – Saturday, Noon – 3pm
Admission $5.00 per adult.
​                            $3.00 per student (ages 6-11).
Free  children under 6
​        Group tours by appointment

Gift Shop and Non-Tours: Tuesday – Saturday, Noon – 4pm

Builr in `1886 by Deland’s first attorney, George Hamlin.  Eclectic historic house with an authentic impression of life in early Florida.

Also at this address:

 ROBERT M. CONRAD EDUCATIONAL & RESEARCH CENTER
Tuesday – Saturday, Noon – 4pm

When you leave the museum return to Michigan Ave

Turn left  and cross over 17-92

Gillespie Museum

234 E Michigan Ave,

https://www.stetson.edu/other/gillespie-museum/

is on Stetson’s Campus

While the museum is on the right—parking is on the left at
Lot 35

Closed to visitors in July and early August.  Museum will reopen with regular hours for Stetson University Fall Semester in late August.

Admissions

Walk-in Visitors

• No admissions fee. Donations support educational programming.

Educational Programs (Classes K-12, scouts, home school groups, etc.)

• Students: $2.50
• Teachers/Chaperones: No charge

In addition to an outstanding collection of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, precious minerals and Florida fossils, this museum offers a variety of earth science exhibits and learning experiences.  It houses one of the largest gem and mineral collections in the southeast.

Founded in 1958, the Gillespie Museum has been a center for earth and environmental science education on campus and in the community for six decades. It houses an historic mineral collection, with nearly a thousand of its 15,000 specimens on display in changing exhibits. There are also small galleries devoted to natural history collecting, Florida ecosystems, fluorescent minerals, volcanism and the rock cycle. The layout of the Gillespie Museum with current exhibits can be viewed in this Map and Guide.  The grounds of the museum and of the adjacent Rinker Environmental Learning Center provide outdoor classrooms, including a well-established Native Florida Plant Landscape, the Hatter Harvest Garden, Stetson Beekeeping, and the Volusia Sandhill Ecosystem, Teaching Landscape (an urban restoration in progress).

https://www.stetson.edu/other/gillespie-museum/about.php

• 

  Fenton Ware Handled Carnival Type Glass Beer Mug With Liberty Bell 1775-1975

   $85.10

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/566185407/fenton-ware-handled-carnival-type-glass?ref=shop_home_active_3

When you’ve seen all the gems at Gillespie’s get back in your car and turn right on Michigan and back to 17-92 (also called Woodland Bvd. in Deland)

Continue on north till you pass University then keep a look out for our next stop on the left:

The Museum of Art – DeLand

Home

6000 N. Woodland Blvd.

Museum Galleries are closed during national holidays and new art installations. For more information, call 386-734-4371.

ADMISSION

General Admission: $5
Special Exhibitions: $10
Museum Members: No Charge
Children 12 & Under: No Charge

GALLERY HOURS

is a vital and interactive 501 (c) 3 non-profit visual arts museum enriching the community through its dedication to the collection, preservation, study, exhibition and educational use of the fine arts. The Museum is a source of cultural focus and is recognized statewide by its peers for academic excellence and community outreach. It is host to several rotating exhibits, gallery talks, receptions, educational programming, master artist workshops and special events throughout the year.

when you’re finished exit on 17-92  continuing north you’ll see  on your left at the corner of Pennsylvania and Woodland:

Cooks Buffet

https://cooksbuffetdeland.com/

704 N. Woodland

This was the location of the Original Holiday House   Cook’s Buffet, Cafe, Bakery in DeLand is steeped with family heritage and tradition. Early on, Bob developed a special buffet style serving hand carved aged beef, fresh turkey, lamb and ham. To accompany the meat choices were freshly prepared vegetables, salads and homemade desserts. Soon there were 14 Holiday House Restaurants throughout Central Florida. They probably never dreamed of how this simple restaurant in an old house, where the family called home, living upstairs during the 1960’s would grow into a family tradition and a local chain of restaurants.

Stetson Mansion

Picture below

D1031 Camphor Ln,

is a drive by as it is a private residence and only open to the public for tours on special occasion

The mansion holds within itself a tale of woe and revival. Stetson Mansion was once one of the grandest homes in Florida (way back in the 20th century). Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the grand building was lost from the public’s eye for a hundred years. With some extensive work done to its frame, the mansion now stands in its glory once again. Tours are available from time to time, so do check its website for full details.

check out details and pictures of the house as well as date, times and costs of tours here:  https://www.stetsonmansion.com/

• 

  Ruby Red Depression Glass 8 Places–16 pieces Vintage Cups and Saucers

  $135.86

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/647065348/ruby-red-depression-glass-8-places-16?ref=shop_home_active_1

    If you stopped at Cook’s get back on 17-92 going north (left)  or if you didn’t just keep going past Cooks for a mile.

You will come to a light and intersection for East International Speedway Blvd

92 leaves 17 at this point and so will you

Turn with 92 (right onto the Speedway Blvd and continue for 1/2 mile

then you’ll turn left on Brunswick Lane and go .2 miles—and turn  right on Old Daytona Rd

If you come to Filter you’ve gone too far

go another .2 miles and (somewhere along the way Old Daytona become Biscayne Ave) and

your destination is on the right

Deland Naval Air Station Museum     

https://www.delandnavalairmuseum.org/

910 Biscayne Boulevard
DeLand, Florida

Hours of Operation:

Museum:
Wednesday – Saturday  12 noon till 4:00 PM
Sunday – 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
(Subject to Availability of Volunteers – Call Museum for info)
Guided Tours Available, Large Groups Please Call For Reservations.

Through memorabilia of the Naval Air Station headquarted at the present Deland Airport from 1942-46.  The Museum commemorates the two-seater Dauntless DIe Bomber which was critical to the success of WWII.  Uniforms, aircraft models and parts, guns and photos tell the story.

We will continue the tour next week on up to a fish camp then on to DeLeon Springs and finally finish in Barberville.  See you then.

Persimmon Hollow Brewing Company

https://www.persimmonhollowbrewing.com/

 (386)-873-7350

…..

So I keep telling everyone to get out an about and so I thought I’d write about it…….so how do you plan the perfect vacation—Well I thought I’d start out with

The “simple” Vacation

OK first you gotta figure out what you like or want to see the most or whatever

and for this proposed trip, lets say you’re a Vampire fan….and go from there.

First thing first though:

1.  how far do you want to go?  Simple vacarions are defined by me as some place you can drive to or take quick flight—like you can fly to the Key West from Orlando in an hour or so and you can drive to New Orleans from Texas in a few hours.   And do you wanta take the car (or lease one just for the trip) or a bus or a train or fly what ever
2. How long do you have available to take off?.  Also are your vacation times specific—like you’re all expected to take vacation in the summer (i.e. teachers) or around holidays or whatever-
3. How much do you have and/or can afford to spend?
4. Who’s going, you and family, you and friend, you and a significant lover or even you alone?

Now we can pick a place:

Bottom of the Cup Tearoom / Psychic Reading & Gifts

These go  at 5, 7 and 9 daily from Mon-Sat and cost $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $12 for children

and things are so easy with the internet just go to

Just go to the www.NewOrleans.com  and then mystical and haunted

and of course Vampires are a choice as well

Join the city’s mystical séance. Take a cemetery tour or spend a night in a ghostly hotel. New Orleans features witches and warlocks, vampires and ghosts of every description. New Orleans welcomes everyone: the living, the dead and those souls in between.

• 

  John Andretti RCA Racing T-shirt Autographed by Driver Size X-Large

   $11.84

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/614225140/john-andretti-rca-racing-t-shirt?ref=shop_home_active_4

Vampire lore has a history in New Orleans that resurfaced when Anne Rice, the New Orleans-born doyenne of dark vampire fiction, wrote her “Interview with the Vampire” series in the 1980s. The popular books inspired hordes of fans to mill outside of her possibly haunted Garden District abode on First Street and to peek around other places for vampire-resting places. Rice moved to California in 2004 but you can still find signed copies of her books at Garden District Book Shop, where she once arrived at a book signing in a ferried in a horse-drawn hearse. Then there’s Boutique du Vampyre in the French Quarter, which claims to be the only vampire shop in the country, open to both mortals and vampires since 2003. They offer tours,coffin-shapedd backpacks, capes, you know… the usual.

and there’s no problem picking a hotel and a room in that hotel

• 

  Antique Jointed Rifle Rod No 9622–22 and 25 Caliber, 30 inch in Original bag

   $19.76

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/535262471/antique-jointed-rifle-rod-no-9622-22-and?ref=shop_home_active_24

\

Southern Costume Company NOLA (504) 523-4333

https://sccnola.com/

951 Lafayette St. | New Orleans 70113
Regular Hours: Monday – Friday from 9:00 to 6:00

Get a custom costume made to relive your vampire dream—or to wander the French quarter and really get into the mood.

Oh and be sure you’re careful—stay in the well lit tourist areas. New Orleans has a reputation of being hard on the lax and careless.    Keep your wallets in inside pockets and the like—avoid areas where lights and people are scant….ladies you might want one of those small purses that you can carry in a bra or when you get the costume made get a hidden inside pocket—avoid cemeteries —unless your a vampire and then avoid people with crosses and/or stakes and policemen with silver bullets.  The best time to tour cemeteries is during the day and with a tour group…..there’s a lot more out there that’s scary beyond ghost, goblins, vampires and witches.

Voodoo Bar

718 N Rampart St

Ghost tours depart from this bar so that’s a plus.

Like the Spanish Moss that drapes the trees of the nearby bayous, mystery and the occult have shrouded New Orleans since its birth.   For hundreds of years, families there have practiced a custom called “sitting up with the dead.” “In the Footsteps of Dracula”

• 

  BEATLES SCRAPBOOK from the 1960’s

  $110.80

• https://www.etsy.com/listing/248105255/beatles-scrapbook-from-th-1960s?ref=shop_home_active_45

Did you know there was a French settlement in Florida?

In June 1564 Rene de Laudonniere and a group of 300  (which included Hugeunot colonists as well as sailors) came to northern Florida and sailed about 5 miles inland on what they called the May—a river you might know better as the present day St. John’s and here was founded the colony of La Caroline and given the times and location the needed fort to protect it.

The problem for the French however was that the area had been previously claimed by Spain, who far out weighted any threat from the local Indians—the settlement lasted a little over a year (15 months)  With luck and more Pedro Menendez de Aviles, the governor of Florida and his men, finally captured the colony on September 20, 1565.

The survivors were separated by sex—the women and children were all spared but were to spend a life of slavery.  The men were questioned as to their religion (Catholic vs. Huguenot), two claimed to be Catholic—the rest were ask to renounce their religion which they refused to do and they were hanged and left to rot as they died.  By the time of the murders it is said that there were 400 men that were in the colony that were hanged,

The Spanish eventually refitted the fort and renamed it San Mateo (St. Matthew)  While back in France Captain Dominique de Gourgues (who was a Catholic by the way) raised a fleet and on August 22, 1567 he set sail from France to avenge his countrymen and his country’s honor.  When they reached the new world and landed they formed an alliance with the local Indians–the Timucua who had also suffered under the Spanish.  They attached the fort on the morning of April 24, 1568.  When they finally realized the size of the force attaching and after the death of a group of 60 of their best men were slaughter as they left the fort to scout it., many of the Spanish deserted but only 16 made it back to St. Augustine—and those that remained in the fort were captured, where hanged on the same trees as the original French colonist had ended their lives.

Visit Historical St. Augustine:  https://www.visitstaugustine.com/

You can visit a recreated Fort today near where the original was:–check it out here:  https://www.nps.gov/timu/learn/historyculture/foca.htm

He jests at scars that never felt a wound   

Romeo and Juliet

The best interviews like the best biographies should sing the strangeness and variety of the human race.

Lynn Barber

The Holocaust Encyclopedia says of him:  “Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian known for his opposition to National Socialism. His ties to the July 20, 1944, conspiracy to overthrow the Nazi regime led to his execution in 1945. His theological writings are regarded as classics throughout the Christian world.”  Go to this site for a fuller account:   https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/dietrich-bonhoefferHe was arrested for embezzling money by the Gestapo, who soon found that the money was being used to help rescue Jews and to help keep pastors at the church he belonged to (Confessing Church) out of the Army—it took months for them to actually discover the full scope of his activties.

Another site for more details  the Jewish Virtual Library  https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/dietrich-bonhoeffer   

Today there is even a statue (unveiled  July 1998 above the west entrance) of Bonhoeffer among 10 done to remember 10 modern martyrs) in London’s Westminister Abbey—in fact he actually moved to England in 1933 and was pastor of two London area German speaking parishes until he return to Germany a few years late.

Check out that story here:  https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/dietrich-bonhoeffer

There’s a DVD about him         which you can buy several places on line

and his book   is available too

and if you google him there are more items by and about him..

.and now you know.

Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.

]]

And two of the most famous both served on the same ship under Calico Jack Rackham     

“Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.” —

Emily Dickinson

Continuing at Orange City on 17-92

Many might go thru Orange city and think it no more than the highway clutter of stray buldings and what ever…but if you get off 17-92 and spend a bit of wandering about the town you’ll find some early homes.

In fact there is right in town a  low-key, Craftsman-style hotel dating from 1876 that has shops and more that are worth you parking and walking along it’s porches.  http://www.1876heritageinn.com/history.htm

The Heritage Inn

http://www.1876heritageinn.com/

and check other restaurants in the town and vicinity at https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g34511-Orange_City_Florida.html

• 

  12th and Final plate of the French Plates “Brigitte in Mini Skirt” complete with original packing, booklet and certificate

  $12.00

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/721532205/12th-and-final-plate-of-the-french?ref=shop_home_active_8

Head north on 17-92 until you come to French Ave

where you will turn left

and follow it to

Blue Springs State Park

2199 French Ave

(there are direction signs from 17-92)

This park is famous for a site where manatees come for the winter due to the year round water temperature of 72 degrees.

There’s lots to  do:

go here for the full story:

https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/blue-spring-state-park

Known as Persimmon Hollow for the wild persimmon trees that grow around the natural springs, the area was originally accessible only by steamboat up the St. Johns River. It was settled in 1874 by Captain John Rich, who built a log cabin. Henry Addison DeLand, a baking soda magnate from Fairport, New York, visited there in 1876, and envisioned building a citrus, agricultural and tourism center. That year he bought land and founded the town, naming it after himself. He sold his northern business and hired people to clear land, lay out streets, erect buildings and recruit settlers, most of whom came from upstate New York (however, he never lived in the city year-round.) The City of DeLand was officially incorporated in 1882, and became the county seat of Volusia County in 1887. It was the first city in Florida to have electricity.

DeLand, Florida facts for kids

As you near Deland you will see the Municipal Statium on your right—you will turn left on the next street which is West Euclid Ave .  Continue on this street until you come to Old New York Ave and turn  Left.  Continue on this street until you come to 4125/Hooton Road which will turn east and then back south again.   You will eventually come to River Ridge Road on your left—turn left and follow the road to it’s end at Honton Landing.

St. Johns River Boat Tours

St. Johns River Boat Tours depart daily from Hontoon Landing Resort & Marina. Hontoon is located near DeLand, Florida and is nestled along a bend in the St. Johns River, directly across from Hontoon Island State Park.

Check out more about the tour:  http://www.rivertoursathontoon.com/about.html

Prices and schecudule:

http://www.rivertoursathontoon.com/prices.html

Dockside Deli

http://www.rivertoursathontoon.com/dockside.html

On your way to the Tour Boat Dock location you will have passed the Ferry Dock for

Hontoon Island State Park..

This park is only accessible by private boat or the Ferry that leaves from this dock.  The island has camping and hiking facilities that might interest you as well.  Check it out      https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/hontoon-island-state-park

HONTOON ISLAND STATE PARK 

Hontoon Island State Park is a paradise for fishing, camping, hiking, boating, canoeing, picnicking and nature study.

HISTORY
The first inhabitants of the island were Native American Indians. Snails gathered from the shallows of the St. Johns River were a staple food of these people. Through the years, the discarded shells accumulated to form large mounds on the island, one of which may be viewed on the park’s nature trail. Three remarkable artifacts have been found in the vicinity of Hontoon Island. A large owl totem, carved from a log and two smaller carvings of wood, one of an otter holding a fish and the other of a bird which is apparently a pelican. Replicas of two of the totems stand in the picnic area as a tribute to the artistry and craftsmanship of the extinct culture.

In later years, the 1,650-acre island was a pioneer homestead, a boat yard, a center for commercial fishing and a cattle ranch before being purchased by the state in 1967.

• 

  Vintage Geoff Bodine/NASCAR Driver’s USA Bobsled Project “Going For the Gold”

  $5.99

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/548967232/vintage-geoff-bodinenascar-drivers-usa?ref=shop_home_active_12

Once you’ve done with your boats and things return to 17-92

and go on north (left)

turn left on East Voorhis Ave

go two blocks and make a left on S. Clara Avenue

ON the left before you get to W. New Street

you’ll find

• 

  DOLL Approx 1920s AM 9″ German BISQUE Head and Cloth Body

   $85.11

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/243822032/doll-approx-1920s-am-9-german-bisque?ref=shop_home_active_3

and don’t miss

 Deland Museum of Art Downtown

100 N Woodland Blvd, DeLand, FL 32720

Intimate art museum featuring rotating exhibits of contemporary artwork, plus a gift store.

And come back next week when we look at what’s available to see in Deland and places north.

• 

  Fragile by Yes Vinyl 33 1/3 LP

  $7.99

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/537987481/fragile-by-yes-vinyl-33-13-lp?ref=shop_home_active_32

and so what are you doing this week—going to shop at Christmas in July events which seem, at least in Florida, to be very in this year.  Or are you taking a vacation across the state, country, continent or where-ever.  Don’t tell me you’re staying home and doing nothing—-or worse yet whiling you time away on Facebook or some Fantasy site—I could go on and on about that—-and I’m not against that, but….for instance I’m doing entries for my Blog today—but I’m also reading material on places we plan to visit next year as it’s 2020—and that’s four years (see My 2016 midway on this blog) from last trip to the UK so I’m on my way back along with 2 friends—we bought the tickets last weekend–Virgin Airlines OF COURSE…Besides that I’m making plans for the trip and I’m streaming OUTLANDER.  and am also reading  I AM MARY TUDOR—and straightening the house so you can’t say I’m doing nothing even if I’m taking an official OFF the routine Day.

“I am your Queen, to whom, when I was wedded to the realm and  laws of the same (the spousal ring whereof I have on my finger, which never hitherto was, not hereafter shall be, left off), you promised your allegiance and obedience to me….  And I say to you, on the word of a Prince, I cannot tell how naturally the mother loveth the child, for I was never the mother of any; but certainly, if a Prince and Governor may as naturally and earnestly love  her subjects as the mother doth love the child, then assure yourselves that I,  being your lady and mistress, do as earnestly and tenderly love and favour you. And I, thus loving you, cannot but think that ye as heartily and faithfully love  me; and then I doubt not but we shall give these rebels a short and speedy overthrow.”

Mary Tudor’s Guildhall Speech 1544

https://thetudorenthusiast.weebly.com/blog/category/mary%20tudor

• 

  Misc Items Including Signed Driver’s Card (original autograph) of Rick Mears Early 90’s

  $20.00

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/721550083/misc-items-including-signed-drivers-card?ref=shop_home_active_2

So when I meet people and suggest they try my blog they ask me what its about—and I say everything—-basically you have a big selection on my blog—but not nearly as many choices as you have out there to do..

I recently did two stories that were crazier than usual—both were on my Friday’s Odds and Ends—-one on what to do with your loved ones ashes beside putting them in an urn and or bury them even scattering them was no big compared to what they suggested OMG—go back a couple of Friday and read the story WOW.  The other was some ideas for a Titanic get together etc—little did I know they had items made out of coal from the debris field of the ship’s sinking….People’s lives are like that—-I mean if he hadn’t been real who would have dreamed up Henry VIII.  Somehow I don’t think he would have been as interesting if he’d lived his life on line….

I mean he was the second son of Henry VII who became king after his armies (and most of us agree he was motivated by a nagging mother) beat the lawful king Richard III (who may well have been framed after his death  by Henry or his mother—my money is on the mother—for killing his two young nephews while they resided in the Tower of London.)  But back to Henry—-His brother Arthur was married to a Spanish princess but he died before he was crowned king or even had a child —don’t get me started on did he or didn’t he.  Now comes the healthier younger son who marries the widow and takes over the country and his wives are legend

Katherine of Argon—that widow I mentioned—daughter of the couple who sent Columbus to the Americas—and mother of one daughter—but no sons—He had the marriage declared illegal since she had been married to his brother (don’t ask)

Anne Bullen (one of the spellings)—one daughter—-she was convicted of multiple cases of foolin’ around–even with her own brother Most of the proof came from tortured person’s accounts so you can see that she just might have been innocent of the charges—every body lost their head or worse and he was free again —but to have her he had actually rolled the isle into the Reformation and he became head of the English Church.

Jane Seymore who bore a son and had the good grace to die soon after—He would eventually be buried with her at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle

Ann of Cleves of Germanic nobility—he married her sight unseen and when he did see here he was seriously not impressed—-he made a deal with her and she ended up with couple of castles—an income and a rank of sister to the king.  He ended up with an annullment.

Katherine Howard a young (17) thing and from all accounts—none tortured—a bit free with her affection—she ended up on the ax man’s block  as well—though Henry was said to have actually mourned her—which he did for Jane too.

Katherine Parr who actually outlived him but if he had lived longer she might have fell to the same fate because of her exteme protestant views

So love that whole thing—did that out of my head so if I missed something–sorry.

Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Now don’t get me wrong—I spend a lot of time on the computer too…

I.  Facebook had gotten to me and I was finding myself wasting days doing this thing—now I am restricting what do and how much time I do it.  Allowing me to have a life without making entries

I also so a Facebook for a business for which I get paid and one for my High School class which is keeping us in contact as well as locating old comrades and teacher—some still with us some not but I do consider both of those positive activities and not mindless wanderings among the endless mazes of a machine that could well have been magiced up by a wicked magician—or one of those crazy aliens from so many of those shows to entrap the human race and make them defenseless.

2.  I write My main blog on Mondays—today I’m gripping about the internet but I do lots of other things to as well as  trying to get my audience to crash out and enjoy life again.

On Wed I do memories—old memories of going to DC in 1974–right after Nixon resigned—-to trips about central the sunshine state to help others who live or are visiting here find something here of interest away from the theme parks as well as the computers

Friday is all stops out as I float thru my books, magazines and things I have written in the past and present items on everything from maps of Key West to places in Cornwall.  From Titanic parties to Pirates of Florida and much much more—and I enrich my own knowledge and try to get you all interested in all manner of thing new and adventuresome.

3.  I am using it to plan for my trip

As i mentioned me and two friends are returning to England to explore new areas From the Brontes’ home to King Arthur’s lands and everything in between.

4.  I also use it to find other things including local addresses and phone numbers

Buy things I need and sell things I don’t

To send email with stuff I think my friends might find interesting

and I consider all that positive as long as I keep truckin in my real life.

A library is the delivery room for the birth of ideas, a place where history comes to life.

Norman Cousins

• 

  The Porter Wagner Show Program Dated (4/19/1970s) and signed By Speck Rhodes

  $70.25

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/672524108/the-porter-wagner-show-program-dated?ref=shop_home_active_2

So that’s about it—-I prefer to read books—-hold them in my hands—but if you read Treasure Island on you notebook or whatever—you are still reading and please remember that life is more than reading too—book or not.

I just want you to join me seeing the world—and your world can be the USA or Florida or where ever—I don’t ask you to see everything but please see the world beyond this screen—visit friends—not on line but person to person.  Experience life beyond those fingers on those keys—-experience the real—honest its worth the effort

The kitchen is the heart of every home, for the most part. It evokes memories of your family history.

Debi Mazar

• 

  1993 Dolphin 3 Sheet Set (18 cards) McDonalds Freebee Plus 1994 Budweiser Go Dolphin Sticker and Schedule

  $10.00

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/706766484/1993-dolphin-3-sheet-set-18-cards?ref=shop_home_active_18

You have to go on and be crazy. Craziness is like heaven.

Jimi Hendrix

http://visitwicklow.ie/item/carnew/#

A busy market town situated in the extreme south of the county close to the Wexford Border.  Home of Carnew Castle  http://carnewhistory.blogspot.com/p/the-castle.html

To learn more about this Irish town and area click on the name above.

If being crazy means living life as if it matters, then I don’t mind being completely insane.

Kate Winslet

 “Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.”

-Ernest Hemingway

FEST

Only in Key West

Fantasy Fest is an annual 10-day party in paradise for grown-ups. Started in 1979 by a small group of Key West locals, the party was created to bring visitors to the island in what was a typically quiet, but beautiful season. It worked. Fantasy Fest has grown every year since its inception and is now the wildest extravaganza around! Fun-loving revelers from around the globe bring their creativity and imaginations as they descend upon Key West each year in October for 10 days filled with costuming, parades, libations, and excitement!

Been here and done this several times—-if you think you can hack the craziness then my dears check it out—-it is something you will no long  forget

      2019 Fantasy Fest will begin on

 All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.

-T.E. Lawrence

:

“The Character of Welsh Romance”

Here let us pause for a moment to point out how clearly we are in the region of medieval romance, and how far from that of Celtic mythology.  Perhaps the Celtic “Land of Youth” may have remotely suggested those regions of beauty and mystery into which Arthurian knights rides in quest of adventure.  But the scenery, the motives,  the incidents, are altogether different.  And how beautiful they are—how steeped in the magic light of romance.  The colours live and glow, the forest murmurs in our ears, the breath of that springtime if our modern world is about us as we follow the lonely rider down the grassy track into an unknown world of peril and delight.   While in some respects the Continental tales are greater than the than the Welsh, more thoughtful  and profound, they do not approach them in the exquisite artistry with which the exterior aspect of things is rendered, the atmosphere ever-quickening interest, from point to point in the development of tale.  Nor are these Welsh tales a whit behind in the noble and chivalrous spirit which breathes through them.  a finer school of character and of manners could hardly be found in literature. .  How strange that for many centuries this treasure beyond all price should have lain unnoticed in our midst.  and how deep must be our gratitude to the nameless bards whose thought crrated it, and to the nobly inspired had which first made it a possession for all the English-speaking world.

CELTIC MYTHS AND LEGENDS

T.W. Rolleston

For more information on Early Welsh Literature on this BBC site

https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/early-welsh-literature/

“A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks the chain of routine and renews his life through reading new books, traveling to new places, making new friends, taking up new hobbies and adopting new viewpoints.”

-Wilfred Peterson

For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.

Audrey Hepburn

The Huguenots

In the early 1500’s Protestantism was gaining momentum in Europe.  John Calvin a law student read some papers by Martin Luther who had studied for the priesthood.  and this got Calvin interested in the merits of these new beliefs resulting eventually in his having to flea France,, ending up in Geneva.

Back in France thousands of his follower who were called Huguenots (derived from a German word  “eidgenossen” meaning “confederate” or perhaps
“Hugeon” used to denote persons who walk in the night—because they worshiped in dark, caves and under the night sky as they were unsafe to display their beliefs in the daylight.

To learn more check the History Channel Site:  https://www.history.com/topics/france/huguenots

Keep looking up! I learn from the past, dream about the future and look up. There’s nothing like a beautiful sunset to end a healthy day.

Rachel Boston

Life ain’t always beautiful, but it’s a beautiful ride.

Gary Allan

…..recently widowed Mary of Guise, was the eldest daughter of the large and flourishing family of Claude, duke of Guise, and his wife Antonette of Bourbon.  She had been married at the age of 19 to Francis of Orleans, duke of Longueville, and was left a widow at the age of 22, by his premature death in June 1537…she had a small son, Francis, the new duke of Longueville, and gave birth to another son, shortly after her husband’s death, who died.  In appearance, she was a tall well-built girl, not exactly beautiful, but of the healthy type calculated to appeal to 16th c monarchs in search of heirs.  Mary of Guise also possessed remarkable inner qualities of prudence and tolerance, as well as courage and intelligence which might fairly have been expected of a Guise.  However, none of these characteristics was greatly tested by her  staid and happy married life with her first husband, spent placidly at his various castles at Chateaudun on the Loire, and at Ameiens and Rouen.  According to Brantome, she also had her ration of Gallic gaiety, and loved to gamble and play cards.  At all events she was quite happy at this stage of her life to form part of the great Guise family network, a domestic triangle at the apex of which stood the formidable Duchess Antoinette.

Mary Queen of Scots

Antonia Fraser

To learn more about this fascinating lady including how she plays in Scottish History click here:  http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/stewart_14.html

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.

Albert Einstein

Self-love, it is obvious, remains always positive and active in our natures. Gordon W. Allport

Into the Titanic?

There’s all manner of items and stuff to do and or observe……you could try a Titantic afternoon at home —hey I encourage you do do things but not necessary to go out—staying at home with Friends work too.

You can just watch some movies

A couple examples:

There’s a 1996 series

or 2012

And you can buy them on the web for all manner of prices.\\

Or how about going back to the city where it was built on a DVD:

Again all manner of place to purchase it on line  and there are so many other movies fiction or documentary on the boat—-and if you want to be really bowled over check out the books  just google Titantic movies, Documentaries and/or book.

And then after that you could set about playing cards—with the

Titanic playing cards  (check out how the cards survived the ship:  (https://www.leeasher.com/blog/playing-cards-on-the-titanic.php)

again just google them on line.

Or during the movie you could put together a puzzle

Yeah it’s all over the net too—Google knows where

and you can pass out souvenirs of the party

the whole affair runs about $12 and I’m sure Google will have them cheaper

Just Google Titantic Memorabilia Replicas

You could do costumes:

This site gives a Guide for Women’s fashions (see picture above) on the Ship   https://vintagedancer.com/1900s/what-to-wear-titanic-event/

Check out for these Pinetrest offerings to see TItantic and early 20th c fashion:  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/553872454166368555/?lp=true

So you can go from small to large

Oh by the way there’s a Titantic Store;  https://thetitanicstore.com/

where you can buy everything from items made of coal discovered from the debris field of the ship

like this one

AUTHENTIC COAL SHIP’S WHEEL ORNAMENT

$15.00

even bedding and linen (not hopefully made of coal)

Including a Boarding Pass Fleece blanket

So what are you waiting for?

Oh wait–how about the food

Titanic: The Cookbook is a selection of the most delicious and tantalizing dishes found on the Titanic‘s menus. The first-class Ritz dining room was modelled on the finest French hotel dining room of the period, and the dishes from its menus are classics of fine European cuisine. In its other dining rooms, Titanic‘s chefs offered meals that appealed to a wide range of passengers, from eastern-European immigrants to newly-wealthy Canadians and Americans returning home from Continental tours.

https://www.abebooks.com/9781459501119/Titanic-Cookbook-Recipes-Great-Ocean-145950111X/plp

I think it’s better to burn out than to fade away… it’s better to live out your days being very, very active – even if it destroys you – than to quietly… disappear. Ahmet Ertegun

Continue reading Bits and Pieces Friday: I live a wild and crazy life. Donald Cerrone →

Cont. from last week

You continue up 17-92 —

before you get to Sanford proper and just off  17-92

Left at the light on County Home Road

Just a short distance on the right you’ll see Eslinger Way—The Museum is on your left”

Museum of Sminole County

The buildings are the only only “Old Folks Home” still in existence in Florida.  It was built in 1925 by the county and there were two residences one for white and one for black indigent elderly citizens.  There use to be a huge (3rd largest in the country) here, but it had been dead a few years and I think it’s finally been removed now.  The buildings hold all manner of period furniture, a country store, agriculture, forestry, livestock, library and more local items and history of the area.  It’s a very interesting museum.

Upsala Cemetery Sanford Florida (Near Seminole Towne Center)

is the area where the Swedes that Sanford hired settled.

• 

  EYE MAGAZINE August 1968 Vol 1 #6

   $84.11

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/236740099/eye-magazine-august-1968-vol-1-6?ref=shop_home_active_24

Continue back on 17-92 North/Left at the light   to:

SANFORD

Originally it was an Army post–Fort Mellon (198 N Mellonville Ave
Sanford, Florida 32771 is location where fort once stood for additional information:   https://www.theclio.com/web/entry?id=38007 ) and later Monroe (for a soldier killed by the Seminoles, was founded in the 1830’s  for Indian issues.

In the 1860’s Henry Sanford, a minister to Belgium during the administration of Abraham Lincoln, came to the area and purchased several thousand acres (various sites give different numbers of acres) which he planned to develop.  Sanford employment issues with the locals led him to go further afield bringing workers to the area from Sweden and Scotland.

The town was Sanford was born, while Mellonville which was nearby was incorporated in 1877, the areas economy was based largely on citrus crops which was ended by the Big Freeze of the late 1800’s.  After this the crops were changed to hardier ones by 1910.  Sanford was soon known “The Celery City.”

Ocala National Forest is about 20 miles northwest, and Wekiwa Springs State Park is some 15 miles (25 km) southwest. Pop. (2000) 38,291; Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford Metro Area, 1,644,561; (2010) 53,570; Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford Metro Area, 2,134,41.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Sanford

]

First street has all manner of restaurants, and shopping and the down town is surrounded by a large number of houses and building of historical and architectural note:

For instance

Queen Ann House  (1894)

603 S. Myrtle Ave (private)

Sanford

Once the residence of R.J. Holly, founder of the Sanford Herald.  Later it bcame th home and music studio of the Munson family.  Here generations of Sanford’s youth studied piano—fearing Miss Fannie Reba’s ruler on their knuckles.

This was also the house that was used for filming the movie
“My Girl”

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102492/

Click here for pictures and info on  houses (in various towns in Central Florida) used for the movie:  http://www.themoviedistrict.com/my-girl/

Set in ‘Pennsylvania’, the movie was shot in Florida, where the tow of ‘Madison, Pennsylvania’ was actually Sanford, about 20 miles north of Orlando. The ‘Sultenfuss Funeral Parlor’ is 555 East Stanford Street, Bartow, Route 60, 40 miles east of Tampa. For several years it operated as a bed and breakfast, but the business has since closed.  Filming also took place at Ocoee Christian Church, 15 South Bluford Avenue, Ocoee near Lake Apopka on the western outskirts of Orlando; the old Plant City High School, Plant City, I-4 between Tampa and Lakeland, and Mirror Lake, near Clermont, west of Orlando.  The café, where Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky) and her dad (Dan Aykroyd) see Culkin’s mother, was Cafe Jake’s, now The Breezeway Restaurant & Bar, 112 East First Street, Sanford.

The three block area of downtown Sanford has more than 20 buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Most of the buildings were constructed in the late 1800s, and the newest one was built in 1923. All of the buildings in Sanford’s downtown historic district are remarkably well preserved.    Florida Historical Society   https://myfloridahistory.org/frontiers/article/156

• 

  Bush Clash Daytona 1996 12×17 inches

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/640462273/bush-clash-daytona-1996-12×17-inches?ref=shop_home_active_55
• 
  Sanford Museum
• https://www.sanfordfl.gov/visitors/sanford-museum
• 520 E. 1st St
• Sanford
• Exhibits on local history as well as items on the city founder (and it is named after)  Includes the library and another room from his home donated by his family.

When your done with seeing all that Sanford has to offer get back on 17-92 and continue north (which meanders west along Lake Monroe for awhile—keep a look out on your left and you’ll see

Central Florida Zoo

Home

3755 W Seminole Blvd (Hwy 17-92),

 Sanford, FL 32747

109 acre park, lush growths of graceful palms

ATTRACTIONS

• • ANIMALS
    • Amphibians
    • Invertebrates
    • Birds
    • Mammals
    • Reptiles
  • BOTANICAL GARDENS

• Seminole Aerial Adventures
• Keeper Chats
• Train & Carousel
• Wharton-Smith Tropical Splash Ground
• Giraffe Feeding
• Children’s Zoo
• Rhinoceros Encounters
• Private Experiences
• Bungee Bounce
• Face Painting

• Mini- Cobalt Bottles with Silver tone caps—One Tassled with Textured Body the other with Flowers

  $10.99

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/640144993/minature-cobalt-bottles-with-silver-tone?ref=shop_home_active_59
  

Continue left from the zoo on 17-92 and you will pass under I-4 and over the St. John’s River/alias Lake Monroe.

Turn right at the first road after the bridge. (or just follow the signs to

DeBary Hall.

https://www.volusia.org/services/community-services/parks-recreation-and-culture/parks-and-trails/park-facilities-and-locations/historical-parks/debary-hall-historic-site/

210 E. Sunrise Blvd.

Its on the left of the road.

DeBarry Hall was built in 1871 by Frederick de Bary, a prominent wine importer, business man and sportsman , a European-born wine merchant who chose the St. Johns River country for his hunting estate. Frederick DeBary tried his hand at orange growing and commercial steam boating, but his Florida estate became a center of sport hunting and hospitality.   DeBary reportedly entertained Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Grover Cleveland; the Astors, Goulds and Vanderbilts; and the Prince of Wales, who went on to become King Edward VII.

Among other things of note this house had the first swimming pool in the area and possibly the entire state.  Today’s historic site covers 10 acres and includes the 8,000-square-foot hunting lodge, stables and other structures.

click here for opening times and other helpful information as well as entrance fees:

 https://www.volusia.org/services/community-services/parks-recreation-and-culture/parks-and-trails/park-facilities-and-locations/historical-parks/debary-hall-historic-site/planning-your-visit.stml

I have been coming here since they first opened it and as they gradually added to it.  I made a tour about a year or so ago and really like how they have developed everything and urge you to make a visit if you can make it—even if you can’t do the whole tour.

Samuel Frederick DeBary

to learn more about DeBarry

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52379930/samuel-frederick-debary

• 

  Vintage Troll in sunglasses Key Chain and Set of Troll pierced Earrings

  $15.00

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/707679834/vintage-troll-in-sunglasses-key-chain?ref=shop_home_active_6

Turn back the way you came from DeBarry House and return to 17-92 Turn right/north there and continue on to:

Orange City

https://www.ourorangecity.com/about-our-city/orange-city-town-history/

The first inhabitants of the area were Timacuans, a nomadic tribe who found a land of plenty (fresh water, fish and game).  One (if not the) of the first European settlers to the are are thought to have been Louis and Mary Thursby , who arrived by riverboat in 1856 and built their first home here:  a log cabin at Blue Springs at its junction with the St. John’s River.

It wasn’t till after the Civil War that settlers started to be attractive to the exotic climes of Florida—Thursby’s Landing soon became a site for every thing as arriving settlers to the mail as well as supplies from Jacksonville and points further north.

Soon a town sprang up (about 3 miles east of the landing.  Orange City was founded in 1875, incorporated in 1882 and by 1885 had approx. 800 residents.

About Orange City, Florida

Orange City is located midway between Orlando and Daytona Beach. Orange City is one of the region’s major centers of retail and commerce and boasts a healthy business community with everything from retail to heavy industrial, all while fostering a strong entrepreneurial spirit for new businesses.

Orange City Chamber of Commerce

• 

  1940 New York World’s Fair Small Vase With Handles

   $35.60

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/529656305/1940-new-york-worlds-fair-small-vase?ref=shop_home_active_7

That’s it for this week—we’ll continue our tour next Wed. when we continue with memories

If you are in a beautiful place where you can enjoy sunrise and sunset, then you are living like a lord.

Nathan Phillips

McIntosh, Florida

History

17 miles north of Ocala (US 441) on Orange Lake (check out the fishing  https://stepoutside.org/mcintosh-fl/fishing/ )

Population:  2000 census was 453

A small hilly town with some interesting Victorian homes and it’s located in Florida’s Horse breeding area.  https://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/things-to-do/florida-tours/ocala-horse-farms-florida.html

Home of the McIntosh 1890’s Festival:   this year on
Saturday, October 26, 2019, 8 AM to 5 PM!  http://friendsofmcintosh.org/

Miami is one of these great places that is a really sensual, physically beautiful place.

Michael Mann

I use to be a fanatical decorator for Halloween—and this is some of my front yard….Nothing too fancy—a lot of stuff I put together myself.

=================================================================

Celery Seed

While it has long been used in cooking it  has been long used as a diuretic (increasing urine output)

Celery seed is also used for:

• Treating arthritis and gout
• Helping reduce muscle spasms
• Calming the nerves
• Reducing inflammation
• Lowering blood pressure

But:  there are not studies that support these.

According to an online article by the

Penn State Hershey Medical Center;  It has been found to work well as a mosquito repellent.

There have been some studies on animals that suggest it may help lower blood pressure and cholesterol as well as protect the liver from being damaged by high doses of acetaminophen (Tylenol)—-but no tests have been done on humans that verify these finding for us.

“If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased.”–

Katharine Hepburn

This is Florida

“To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wildflower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.”

-William Blake

Sombrero Reef Lighthouse

The lighthouse is the tallest of the Florida Keys reef lighthouses at 142′ and is a favorite spot for fishermen and divers.  Mooring buoys protect the delicate coral reef from anchor damage>

To learn all about it click here:     http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=701

“Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.”–

Aldous Huxley

1955 Evening ensemble by Bonnie Cashin

=================================================================

The whole world is about three drinks behind.

Humphrey Bogart

I was at lunch at the WInter Park Village–at Bar Louie —just across the street from the movie theater—when I said something about a book my friend was reading about Lauren Bacall and the sweet young thing had no idea who she was so I told her I’d provide some information for her on the lady and her equally famous husband.

Bogart is the elder of the two—a movie star that never had to starve on his way up the ladder of success

Humphrey Bogart was born on December 25, 1899, in New York City. He began his career on Broadway in the 1920s. This led to B-movie parts in 1930s Hollywood.Bogart’s turning point came in the 1940s, with his legendary roles in The Maltese Falcon (view a clip)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kk3Xvw7jn0

and Casablanca. (and one for this movie as well)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEWaqUVac3M

and go here for more info on Boggie:  https://www.biography.com/actor/humphrey-bogart

I was never gaga over Boggie, but he did do those B&W movies so well as the dark morose hero

Lauren Bacall, original name Betty Joan Perske, (born September 16, 1924, New York, New York, U.S.—died August 12, 2014, New York, New York), American actress known for her portrayals of provocative women who hid their soft core underneath a layer of hard-edged pragmatism.   Cast in Hawks’s To Have and Have Not (1944)  as the leggy sardonic beauty who gives Humphrey Bogart a famous lesson in whistling,  check it out:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30DSfAA0brs

the 19-year-old Bacall was an overnight sensation.

Find out more here:  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lauren-Bacall

They also made the Big Sleep        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjJlBnfyiI4

Dark Passage:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLdP36wZyRU

and my favorite Key Largo:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS2EyXIWjNw

Well that should be enough to let you know if you’re interested or not my dear.

A woman isn’t complete without a man. But where do you find a man – a real man – these days?

Lauren Bacall

Frank McCloud (Humphrey’s Bogart’s character Key Largo):
You don’t like it, do you Rocco, the storm? Show it your gun, why don’t you? If it doesn’t stop, shoot it.

I don’t do nostalgia. The phrase ‘the good old days’ never passes my lips. Nicholas Haslam

Green Bank Art Center

5382 Potomac Highland Trail

Green Bank, W.V 24944

304-456-4747

https://www.pocahontascountywv.com/souvenirs/green-bank-art-center

Located between the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the ever-popular Cass Scenic Railroad, and near some of the area’s finest old churches and farmhouses, the Green Bank Artisans Gallery provides a cozy, inviting space for visitors to browse at their leisure and learn more about their purchases from its friendly artisan-clerks.

The good old days are now.

Tom Clancy

You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.

Unknown

Life is a song – sing it. Life is a game – play it. Life is a challenge – meet it. Life is a dream – realize it. Life is a sacrifice – offer it. Life is love – enjoy it.

Sai Baba
\

Vampire Craze

It might surprise you to note that we of the 20th and now 21st Century didn’t invent crazes for thing—we also didn’t invent vampires and in 1819 John William Polidori , the gentleman above (NO HE WASN’T A VAMPIRE) did start a crazy.   He was an English writer and doctor who wrote a short story called “The Vampyre” and it is credited for two things–the first Modern vampire story to be printed and the birth of the French Poetic Vampire phase.

The French in fact, in the next two years after this piece was penned produced at least French play on the blood sucking genre.    Even a few poets got into the act  including Theophile Gautier (who was better known for his vampire stories)

Les Taches James

But there are yellow bruises on my body

And violet stains

Though no white vampire come with lips blood crimsoned

To suck my blood.

Oh and as for Dr. Polidori  he was by the way Lord Bryan’s personal physician and according to the British Library London:  “and stayed with him at the Villa Diodati in Switzerland during the summer of 1816. This was the period in which Percy and Mary Shelley and Claire Clairmont were staying nearby, and when, having read Fantasmagoriana (a collection of ghostly tales), the group challenged each other to compose ghost stories.”

He didn’t get along with Bryon very well but he did develop a Friendship, if not more with Mary Shlley and during this entire time he kept a diary.  He had orginally been commissioned by Byron’s publisher to keep a journal on the author’s time in Europe but this didn’t work out due to their disagreements.  He did however keep a diary on his own.

After he took his own life  on August 24, 1821 in London,  

where he had been born 26 years earlier.  At his death the diary went to his sister who eventually took the good parts out—which she referred to as ‘peccant [sinful] passages’.  While she destroyed the original, the transcribed version is now held at the British Library.

and for more on the development of the modern vampire:  https://publicdomainreview.org/2014/10/16/the-poet-the-physician-and-the-birth-of-the-modern-vampire/

Read more about the book and author:  https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-vampyre-by-john-polidori

And what about the 19th c bad boy Lord Byron:  https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/lord-byron-19thcentury-bad-boy

Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown.

Ross Perot

I’m just living in the moment, trying to win every game. That’s all I’m focused on.

Kawhi Leonard

And here is a DAY TRIP I Developed and took with some of my friends

Start on 17-92 in Maitland Florida

Lake Maitland is one of the largest in Central Florida–and it got its name from?

The lake and later the town were named after Ft. Maitland  You can locate the Marker on the east side of 17-92 near the lake–it is north of Lake Avenue.  And the fort was named after a Capt. William S. Maitland who was injured in the war with the Indian and later committed suicide due to his prolonged recovery.  The fort was built in 1838 as a supply depot for troops in the war with the Seminole Indians (who called th lake Fumechillga “place of thee muskmelons”).

The town which was started sometime before the Civil War was originally named Lake Maitland but that was eventually shortened to it’s present name in 1905.

A good place to start is Ft. Maitland Park

https://maitland.recdesk.com/Community/Facility/Detail?facilityId=66

• 

   

  1993 Dolphin 3 Sheet Set (18 cards) McDonalds Freebee Plus 1994 Budweiser Go Dolphin Sticker and Schedule

  $10.00

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/706766484/1993-dolphin-3-sheet-set-18-cards?ref=shop_home_active_3

Points of Interest/Maitland

The Maitland Historical Museum and Telephone Museum

221 W. Packwood Ave.

Maitland

407-644-1364

12-4 pm

My favorite part of this museum is the Telephone Museum with its different phones, switchboards and all manner of communication in the area.  Here you can experience the early days of telephone with woking phones and shttps://artandhistory.org/witchboards

The main museum has artifacts, photos, etc that tell the story of the city from it’s earliest days thru the citrus and lumber industries and more.

Maitland  Art Center

231 W. Packwood Ave

Maitland

Maitland Art Center

Situated next to the history house this is a great place built for visiting artist

by a local artist to visit Florida—it is a truely unique site and it’s pseudo-Actez style is great.  You can even get married at the chapel

Voted one of the world’s most beautiful buildings and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the gardens and courtyard provide a wonderful retreat.  There are ongoing art exhibits and classes offered to the public.

The Historic Waterhouse Residence and Carpentry Shop Museum

820 Lake Lily Drive

Maitland

407-644-2451

Waterhouse Residence Museum

The house was built in 1844 by one of the town’s pioneers Wm. H. Waterhouse for his family—it is a beautiful home with a great setting on a park in Lake Lily and there’s a parking lot right next to the house which makes the visit very easy.

The Waterhouse Carpentry Shop Museum

Building was constructed about 1883.  It contains wood working tools and materials used about this time.

Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Central Florida

851 N. Maitland Ave

Maitland

407-628-0555

https://www.holocaustedu.org/meet-us/about/

Exhibits illustrates, chronologically, the pre-war Jewish communities in Europe, their culture, religious and economic development, their contributions to Western Civilization and theirr tribulations.  It tracres Hitler’s rise to power and the attendant spread of violence and persecution.

Oh and check below for their plans to build a bigger museum

https://www.holocaustedu.org/building-a-new-holocaust-museum-for-hope-humanity/

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Continue up (north) 17-92 thru

Fern Park

http://www.city-data.com/city/Fern-Park-Florida.html

Here various kinds of ferns were once grown for use by florists nationwide.

Then Casselberry

Hibbard Casselberry developed the town, which was already formed—and eventually was given his name.  A local horticulturists who had under taken the development of the area.

CASSELBERRY FAMILY SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON LIFE OF CITY FOUNDER

The Brightwater estate of Hibbard Casselberry, who was 76 when he died in 1969, stands today as the city’s centerpiece historic site.  Casselberry built his city on the Triplet Chain of Lakes, around his family ferneries and clusters of homes.  “A quick quirk of fate led to his future role in the development of south Seminole County as a major developer, grower of asparagus fern and founder of the city which bears his name,” according to the family heritage. “In 1925, while they were visiting an aunt in Winter Park with sons, Hibbard Jr., 2, and Leonard, 1, ‘Mel’ broke her arm. While waiting for it to heal, Casselberry fell in love with the area and the possibilities of the real estate and fern-growing businesses, particularly the idea of marketing to Northern retirees a building lot, and an adjacent small section for a fernery and orange grove to provide the homeowners a small income.”

Now return to 17-92 and continue North to Longwood.

Longwood may not be the largest cities in Central Florida it does have the history—it was found in 1878 when the war with the Seminoles was ended and settlement was safe.  It’s name—from a fashionable northern settlement.

And how it was founded—John Neil Scury (who would later become its post master) was walking from Sanford to Maitland but only got this far and decided what the heck and ended his walk homesteading here.

Points of Interest

Big Tree Park

761 General Hutchison Pkwy,

Longwood, FL 32750

http://www.seminolecountyfl.gov/locations/Big-Tree-Park.stml

This park is more of a memorial to a 126′ high knobby growth was the largest bald cypress in the nation before some crack ddict burnt it down while doing her drugs.  The tree named the Senator was estimated to be at least 3,000 years old when it was destroyed.

Named for Senator M.O. Overstreet, who donated this massive cypress and the land around it to the people of Seminole County, the tree towered more than 129 feet tall, and that’s only 2/3 of the height it stood when it was a regional landmark for Indians and settlers passing through the region. Like most big trees, its top came off during a hurricane — the 1925 hurricane that spilled Lake Okeechobee into the towns that surrounded it.

Florida Hikes

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to reach Longwood’s historic district turn left on 434 and continue till you come to Ronald Regan and turn right

here is a walking tour of the historic area:  https://www.longwoodfl.org/322/Historic-District

Bradlee-McIntyre House (Museum)

https://www.historiclongwood.com/research/articles/historic-district/bradlee-mcintyre-house-museum

150 W. Warren St.

Longwood

Built in 1885, it was moved from Altamonte Spring to the present location in 1970.  The house is a 15 room Queen Anne that is occasionally open to the public.  It is reported that General Grant’s wife and/or son spent some Florida vacation time her when it was in Altamonte Sprngs

Inside-Outside House (Shop)

https://www.historiclongwood.com/research/articles/historic-district/inside-outside-house

141 W Church Ave
Longwood, FL 32750

Now the home of Cottage Gifts

https://www.cottagegiftshopinlongwoodfla.com/

One of the first examples of pre-fabricated buildings.  The shop is open 10 am – 4 pm daily.

Built by a Captain Pierce —he reputedly along with his black cat Brutus are said to still linger on the property.

Longwood Inn

https://www.historiclongwood.com/research/articles/historic-district/longwood-inn

150 E. Lake Strert

Longwood, fL.

Now an office building rentals offices

But Lobby still looks like a hotel.

a 3-story frame commercial building c 1887.   This building is a rare surviving example of the small wood-frame hotel built in many communities throughout Florida at the end of the 19th c.

Mr. & Mrs. Edward Rand of Boston, Mass; visiting their son F.H. Rand in Longwood, became interested in the idea of building a church and going back to Boston procured funds for the erection of the building. Mr. E.W. Henck, one of the earliest settlers of Longwood, had already donated a plot of land for the purpose. Mr. Rand drew plans for the little church and in 1880, with the help of the Rev. F.R. Holman, John and James Searcy, pioneer Floridians, and others, the church was built as it now stands on Church Street, just a block west of the Post Office. Consecration of the church was delayed a number of years. The first service of the new church was celebrated on Easter Day, April 19, 1882, by the Rev. Lyman Phelps.

check out the whole history of this church in the historic downtown https://www.christchurchlongwood.com/history

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Come back next Wed or Thurs as we head on to Sanford and Beyond

As you might have noticed if you are a regular reader I lost a close friend at the end of June and I am just getting back to my routine—it is hard to loose anyone, but someone who was like a sister and whom I had known and spent many a holiday and other important event with is even harder to loose and in the back of your mind somewhere you think—-some one just made this up and any minute now I know I’ll hear she just return from where ever and we’ll talk or she’ll have another get together or remind me that I still owed her for that bottle of wine….or……..

Due to this episode I thought that I would deal with what we might do to memorialize (and what others have done) our loved ones.

“She did it the hard way.”  Epitaph on the grave at Bette Davis (actress) grave at Forest Lawn Cemetery Hollywood, CA 

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Tombstones and graveyard have long been a part of the passing away tradition of our culture.  More recently cremation has become popular and one can understand why—for instance a few hundred years ago in London burials in church yards became illegal and they introduced commercial cemeteries like High Gate—but do you know the reason why?  Seems that London as it grew became over crowded in more than one place and it was discovered that people were being buried 2 or three deep—or in many cases the body was chopped up (i.e. at the joints) so it could be bundled and placed in a much smaller package and thus be put in a more compact place.  If you go to the old parts of London today you will see many ancient churches surrounded by parks with lovely trees and even some benches, but if you look carefully you will see that in many of these areas (including a city park next to public buildings in Southward—where once there was a pauper’s burial ground) along the old walls those stone leaning are actually some of the original tomb stones.

Of course the earlier you go the more outstanding the memorials are–especially if you were a monarch in Egypt—-those pyramids are certainly impressive and the burial procedure–including the wrapping that makes them so great in the old horror movies—actually according to CAREER TRENDS:  The first mummification of a human in 2000 years happened in 1994. The process took a total of 35 days to completely dry out the body, a week to prepare it and a week to wrap it. Ancient Egyptians took 70 days to prepare a mummy. Egyptians likely chose to take longer in preparing a body in order to follow the star of Sirius. Mummification rituals began when the star first appeared, marking the new year, and ended as the star finally disappeared in the Egyptian sky.”   https://careertrend.com/info-10062564-long-make-mummy.html

Of course if you were poor or if you went really far back you can find all manner of easy preps—from just being left in a cave to being deposited in a swamp and being found thousands of year later preserved by the bog—rather gross but  effective.  The picture below was a  sacrifice and he was put in the blog and the preservation is amazing.

“So it is that one can unearth in a burial ground all sorts of evocations of a society’s history and very essence.  American gravestones from the period 1680-1810, for example,  offer one of the best ways to study colonial and federal art as well as social, economic and religious conditions o the times.  Dead men tell no tales but their tombstones do.  Sometimes the stony stories inscribed on the markers err or exaggerate,  In the U>S> “typographical errors” were so common in the early days that most states passed laws prohibiting tombstone information from serving as proof of birth, death, or vital statistics, or as evidence in court.  

The Cemetery Book

by Ton Weil

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But burials aren’t the only multiple choice that we have had over the years and across the miles.  When I was growing up I can remember when I was small that the body was often viewed in the home, I was in the country in West Va and things were changing because some were viewed in the Funeral homes—mostly the funerals services themselves were held in the deceased or their family’s church and that I remember that the ceremonies held in the funeral homes  came quite a bit later when an increasing number of those we lost had no church they belonged to.    I can remember when my cousin’s grandmother past away, she in her casket were place in what we called the good room (something like the fancy pallor) in other places and how we played outside and told spooky stores during the nights where family and friend came to view my great aunt.

Cremations are, as I said before, currently quite in vogue—My parents who died several years apart, but with instructions that once they were both gone they wished their ashes to be scattered on White Fish Bay in Michigan—My late husband on the other hand ask for a party on a boat in Key West at sunset and his ashes to be deposited on the Gulf Stream so he could roam the world with a bit of him remaining in the sands of Key West.

“Often the deceased or their family members have a deep connection to the place they scatter ashes in. These locations are often scenic, postcard-worthy, highly-photographed areas. National parks and coastal regions are common. In a world where many would argue that no aspect of nature is unaffected by human impact, we still desire that which is ‘natural’ but we also embrace the completely artificial. One such example of this is Disneyland, where there have been many reports of ashes being scattered in the ‘Happiest place on earth.’ No national registry exists to create an archive of these locations, so my research raises questions about the importance of these places and the cultural and social implications that accompany them.”   

Abbey Hepner 

series Temporary Container

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It is unbelievable what you can do with and/or use the ashes for

These include all manners of urns, from beauties that set decoratively around the house to using a Pringles container—there are wooden boxes with can have place for pictures and engraved sayings or memorials.

You can actually arrange for burials at small plots at some  cemeteries and there are places at some locations that have cremation niches–some are large enough to include some small items with the ashes.

But there are possibilities above and beyond the mundane…Urns that you can plant and grow trees in the ashes.

Wurthering Heights’ author Emily Bronte, was known for her stubbornness.  She refused medical attention till the 11th hour.  Her last words were, “If you will send for a doctor, I will see him now.”

Last Laughs:  Funny Tombstone Quotes and Famous Last Words

Kathleen E. Miller

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and for those who are really expressive you can mix the ashes with paint and paint (or have some artist you know) paint a picture—of the loved one or a treasured place—the possibilities are endless.  Or take them and mix them with tattoo ink instead and get something to remember them by on your skin.

A little too much for you?  Put them in a pendant to wear about your neck, or in a ring.  Make pencils out of the with the ashes forming the lead.   How about including them in fireworks and going out with a bang.  Or in bullets–don’t ask or even in stain glass—the possibilities seem endless.

The folklore of shape-shifting brings to mind Lindow Man’s fox-fur armbands, which he wore on his otherwise naked body.  Across medieval Europe, wearing such a band was a symbol of lycanthropic/vampire status, facilitating the transition to the animal state.  This may be what prompted Lindow Man’s grisly killing and preservation in limbo.

The Buried Soul:  How Humans Invented Death

Timothy Taylor

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