Fantastic Florida Upcoming Events

The first two months of 2013 are crammed full of great historical and environmental Florida events. I wish I had time to do them all, but I will have to pick and choose which ones ones I can attend. Here are just a few of my faves.

There are two historic events tomorrow (Saturday, January 12th) in West Volusia County. First in the Historic Volusia County Courthouse in downtown DeLand, the second performance of "Ponce de Land Landed Here" will be performed, complete with re-enactors and lawyers. This live court drama will attempt once-and-for-all to set the record straight as to the whereabouts of Ponce's initial landing place in La Florida. Click here for more information or to watch it live.

Just up the road in DeLeon Springs is having their annual "Day in Florida History" event featuring re-enactors from different eras of Florida history and a vintage tractor show. I went a couple years ago and found it to be entertaining and fun.

Further up the road in St. Augustine, Flagler College will be celebrating the 125th anniversary of the opening of the Hotel Ponce de Leon, the grand Spanish Revival complex which houses the College.

Next Thursday, January 17 the Florida Sierra Club is having a rally in Tampa to demand environmental protection of Florida's waters. There will be a press conference and march to the EPA information session. More information here.

The next day in Sarasota, my friend Robin Draper of Authentic Florida is putting on a fundraiser for the Scrub Jay program at Oscar Scherer State Park. Speakers include Florida's own Ansel Adams, Clyde Butcher, the brilliant Florida writer Jeff Klinkenberg, and Jack Perkins, who's voice you would recognize anywhere. It starts at 10 am at the Girl Scout Conference Center on Friday, January 18. More information here.

On Saturday, January 20, the Orange County Regional History Center will host the authors of "Ditch Of Dreams," the story behind the ill-fated Cross Florida Barge Canal. The results of this project to bi-sect the state can still be seen in the form of Rodman Dam and Rodman Pool which interrupt the flow of one of Florida's most scenic rivers, the Oklawaha.

Photo by John Moran

On February 1st the Center for Earth Jurisprudence is hosting a conference for those interested in advocating for the earth's legal rights.  The event, titled "Rights of Springs: Strategies for Change Makers" will be held at the Barry University School of Law in Orlando. More information here.

The next big event will be another Rally for Florida's Water like the one I attended at Silver Springs over the summer. Featuring former Senator Bob Graham and Seminole County Commissioner Lee Constatine, this event will raise the awareness of the importance of protecting Florida's most important resource, its water. The event will be February 16 from 10 am to 4 pm at Wekiva State Park.

On Sunday, February 24, the following weekend, the always fun Floridiana Festival gets underway at the Palladium Theater in downtown St. Pete. For more information, click here.

Further out, there are two big events related to my upcoming book. First my book's companion exhibit, "Finding the Fountain of Youth: Exploring the Myth of Florida's Waters" opens in the Central Gallery of the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville after a Members only event on March 21st. My graphic panels will be part of John Moran's Springs Eternal exhibit on display at the Gainesville museum through the end of the year. More to follow...

My first scheduled talk about my book will be at the main branch of the Orange County Public Library on June 8 at 2 pm.  As I haven't put my talk together yet, there is no information available yet, but I promise to post it as soon as possible.

So mark your calendars and I hope to see you and some of these important Florida events!

Completing a long, watery circuit

I spent the first day of Memorial Day weekend like so many other Floridians, on the water. My kayak buddy and his wife and I drove to Hontoon Island State Park near DeLand and embarked on an eventful journey around the island covering about 12 miles. We headed upstream on the north-flowing St. Johns River towards Blue Spring State Park, hugging the shoreline to avoid motorboat traffic. A foggy morning soon turned into a sunny day as we paddled the four miles to the spring. Along the way we had wonderful encounters with osprey, herons, a bald eagle and even a flock of turkeys. And due to a no-wake zone extending most of the way, the effects of the motorboats were minimal.

The beautiful St. Johns River, Florida's largest

Spider web on channel marker

The spring, like the river, was packed with holiday traffic and I overheard someone say the state park ran out of rental canoes. Kayaking Blue Springs run was a highlight for me; I'd only seen it from observation platforms above previously. This new perspective allowed me to get close to schools of gar that didn't seem to mind the intrusion of a 10 ft. yellow kayak. I also saw schools of catfish, mullet and bream. Oblivious to the hordes of swimmers, an otter enjoyed a fish dinner on the far bank, to the delight of many. After a quick dip into the green waters we crossed the St. Johns again to try to find the quickest route up the western side of the island.

Blue Spring Run

Catfish swim over an algae-coated spring run

Mullet in the green water of Blue Springs

The most direct routes were said to be covered with vegetation but we tried them anyways. Snake Creek which heads northwest to Dead Hontoon River, seemed impassable by our estimation. We tried Smith Canal, an east-west artery linking the two rivers, but were deterred by a large alligator and heavy coverage of plants on the water. Our only path, other than backtracking, was heading further south to another canal, which we were warned was a "very long paddle". And it was. With aching shoulders and a huge sense of accomplishment, we eventually hooked up with the St. Johns again. As one my fellow kayakers said of Hontoon Island, "it's a big island." My estimate is that we covered 12 miles and spent 6 hours in our boats. Not bad for three middle-aged weekend adventurers. Fantastic weather, incredible nature and a chance to spend the day on a few of Florida's most picturesque waterways made it all worth it. Seeing so many other Floridians enjoying the outdoors along with us was encouraging to me. To me there is nothing like the sense of freedom one feels on the water –  on Memorial Day weekend enjoying ones freedom seems like a good way to honor the sacrifices others have made.

Cypress Knees on the Dead Hontoon River

Boaters enjoying the holiday weekend

A couple of Florida Legends

When I was a kid growing up in Gainesville, many of my weekends were spent at our family's place on the St. Johns River in tiny Welaka, Florida. On Fridays my dad would come home from work and we'd load up the car and stop for dinner somewhere in Putnam County. One of the places we stopped was Holiday House in East Palatka.

Fast forward to adult life – living in the College Park section of Orlando – one of my favorite Old Florida haunts became the Holiday House Restaurant next to the Ben White Raceway. Seemingly untouched by time, they served food that my grandmother would love, buffet-style, and they had the best desserts anywhere. When the city announced plans to tear down the Holiday House, I wrote letters to the mayor and the newspaper in protest, to no avail.

The sign for the former Ben White Raceway Holiday House

So last year when I heard they were closing the original location in DeLand, I was saddened that a Central Florida institution might go the way of the Dodo. But after six months in limbo, the Holiday House re-emerged on Hwy. 17, further from the Stetson Campus and closer to DeLeon Springs. Jonesing for a slice of monster cake, Mrs. Ephemera made a pilgrimage to DeLand last weekend to fill our bellies.

The new location is a modern building filled with gorgeous artwork created by the owner Willa McGuire Cook. Mrs. Cook is a legend in her own right - she was recruited by Dick Pope Sr. to move to Winter Haven to star in his water ski show at Cypress Gardens. And Mrs. Cook isn't just any skier- she is a three time World Champion, an eight time National Champion and she is credited with creating many of the water ski moves that competitors use today. She was the first person to ever successfully jump off a water ski ramp backwards and she was Esther Williams' ski double in the movie Easy to Love. And the award given to the most outstanding female water skier of the year is named in her honor.

Cypress Gardens publicity photo with Willa Cook, courtesy of Lu Vickers

So in addition to feasting on creamy, delicious mac and cheese and a gigantic slab of salmon, I feed my appetite for Floridiana when I had the opportunity to met Mrs. Cook at her restaurant. She explained to us how she had been lured from Oregon by Mr. Pope and how she was part of the Cypress Gardens ski shows for a decade. A prolific cook since her teen age years, it was her dream to open a restaurant and she opened the first Holiday House in an old house in DeLand in 1959. At one time the Holiday House chain had 17 venues, but Cook and her husband sold the chain. The last one still open is the DeLand location and it is owned and operated by her and her son.

Willa Cook's harness racing painting inspired from the Ben White Raceway - she told us she tried riding the horses once but got a face full of flying mud from the horse's hooves.

Former Florida Citrus Queen Florence Ember

Tommy Bartlett, the man that started world tours and the Wisconsin Dells ski shows

Her artwork decorated many of the Holiday House locations including the one at the Ben White Raceway in Orlando, a spot Mrs. Cook called "one of her favorites." In addition to adding ambiance to the restaurant, her portraits hang in the Water Ski Hall of Fame in Polk County. I was very impressed with her artistic talents and amazed at the fact that at 82 years old, Mrs. Cook seemed as vital and lively as someone half her age. In fact the waitress shared with us that many of the vegetables served in the restaurant were grown in Mrs. Cook's garden.

Ironically, after stuffing myself at the buffet, I didn't have room for dessert, the "goal" of this particular quest. But the opportunity to meet a Florida legend in person was more satisfying than any cake, pie or cobbler.

Although all the comfort style food is outstanding in the buffet,
I am huge fan of Holiday House's desserts

Photo collage from restaurant

The Museum in the Hospital

The DeLand Memorial Hospital Museum in DeLand Florida is an interesting gathering of collections in a restored 1920s hospital. I saw pictures of some of the ephemera in a friends blog, and it has been on my list every since.

Located in Dreggors Park, the building itself served s a hospital from 1922 to 1948 when the hospital was moved to DeLand Naval Air Station. After a brief stint as a frat house for Stetson University, the building was used by the School Board until it was restored in 1993. It is now on the Historic Register.


The museum is housed in the 2nd and 3rd floor and a docent has to let you in to each exhibit. Our tour started with a tour of a recreation of Former US Ambassador Bert Fish's office. In addition to a fine career in the diplomatic service, Fish was a philanthropist and according to our guide, opened up oil drilling for US companies in Saudi Arabia.



The next gallery was a re-creation of a 1920's operating room with life sized mannequins performing surgery. Next up was the gallery of Ice and Electricity which was mainly comprised of a huge collection of insulators of all shapes and sizes. The small town of DeLand was actually the first city in Florida with an electrical system and the generator was the 3rd or 4th one ever made by Thomas Edison.


There were two large galleries of World War I and World War II memorabilia, each stuffed with great artifacts and models. The tour then led to a re-creation of a 1920s doctors office and then to another building that housed the Hawtense Conrad Elephant Fantasyland.




My overall impression is that I enjoyed looking at these collections amassed by individuals who were obviously very passionate about the objects they accumulated. They all fit together to give a fairly good history of the area in an interesting, visual way. The docent was a colorful character and I recommend making a stop there if you are in the DeLand area.

Looking for roadside treasure

The cooler months are when I choose to do most of my traveling around the Sunshine State, not just because of the more comfortable weather. Mainly because the light is so much better, with less humidity and great blue skies. In summer, I tend to stick close to home or if I do travel, I go out of state. November through April, however, I hit Florida's roads in the "Adventure Mobile" whenever I can.

Between destinations there are always opportunities to make new roadside discoveries. While I don't claim to be an expert on the American roadside, I do like searching older commercial areas for roadside gems like old gas stations, neon signs, or vintage restaurants. At other points in my life, I thought old commercial strips were rundown and dilapidated. Now I see these roadside relics as windows to the past, a past that is more threatened every day as my state continues to become more developed. So each road trip becomes a mini-treasure hunt and I'm excited to make new discoveries all the time.

I also try to re-photograph signs that I shot in the pre-digital age using my old film camera with my new digital SLR. Photoshop is wonderful tool for helping to enhance roadside images. I am also constantly in search of roadside relics to post to the Society for Commercial Archeology's Facebook page, which I co-administer. It is because of the influence of folks in that organization that I have learned this way of seeing, where a drive down the highway is not a matter of getting from point A to point B, but rather an opportunity to make new discoveries. On this next to last day of the year, I am thankful for this way of seeing and hoping 2011 proves to be a fertile year of new roadside finds.

The first five images are from a short stretch of US 17 in DeLand. When searching for roadside treasures, the pre-interstate US highways are always a great place to start.

I discovered this cute sign on State Road 40 outside Astor.

Mid-century modern architecture is fun to discover in places you don't expect it. This is the back of the fire department in Palatka.

This funky little church is in Hastings Florida.

Three gas stations in St. Augustine- I'm not sure what this one was....

I'm pretty sure this was a Pure Oil gas station. One can tell it was former gas station by looking for the spot where the pumps used to be – there's usually a patch in the concrete.

Formerly a "Batwing" Phillips 66 station

Fraternal organizations often have interesting buildings and great signs – this one is in Palatka.

Originally in the Ponce de Leon Shopping Center near St. Augustine's town square, this push plate on the door is the only evidence of this site being home to a former Woolworth's.

This is Florida's oldest diner, Palatka's Angel's Diner from 1932, a real roadside treasure!

I'm fairly certain that these two Orlando structures
were once drive-thru dairies.