I was stopped by my elementary school which was celebrating it’s 81st year. The school was open to the public so I got the chance to roam the halls and snap photos. Click here to see one of the photos at Genuine Florida.

Above is a piano I found in the upstairs auditorium. It looked old enough to be the same one used to teach my third grade class piano way back when. It’s the only class I failed.

I attended the monthly meeting of Orlando Remembered. Here are drawings of Robert Serros, Dan Pottinger and, the ever graceful Grace Chewning.

A clipping from the Sentinel Star was brought in of a large group of children who were celebrating birthdays. Most known by the group at the meeting. Member Duke Crittendon estimated the photo to be from 1940 or 41. Amongst those in the photo was a little girl who stood a bit away from the group. I did a little drawing of her holding her package.

Afterward I got a haircut at Jim’s Barber Shop. Click here to go to Genuine Florida for a photo and details.

We made our way to Apalachicola to celebrate our anniversary. Sandra had us staying at the historic Gibson Inn and we had dinner at the restaurant inside- Avenue Sea. The sketch is of a table setting in the restaurant.

On Friday we wandered Apalachicola. I had to go back to the room for a while as I had a project to work on.  Later we had dinner at Papa Joes Oyster & Grill. The sketch here is of a dredging crane that sat still in the bay.

We made a trip to White Springs so that Sandra could drop off a ton of materials for the upcoming hiking festival and to test a hike she will be leading a “V.I.P.” group on Saturday. The test was to see how much of the trail was passable due to recent high water levels of the adjacent Suwannee River. We tried getting through a number of ways but kept running into the Suwannee running over the trail or thick clusters of saw palmetto being impossible to find a way around the water. The hope is that the water recedes and the trail will be passable Saturday. Otherwise, Sandra will have to take them down boring dirt roadways used by government vehicles to do whatever they do. It was a lot of walking for me, but much needed. Above is a sketch of a native azalea. Click here to see a photo of the azalea flowers at Genuine Florida.

Here is a sketch of the former Adams Dry Goods Store that has clocked a hundred years and still stands proudly at the main crossroads of White Springs.

It was Sandra’s birthday and that evening headed to Alachua and had dinner at a great and very popular spot, Conestoga’s. Friend Phyliss Walinsky joined us. We had a terrific meal of steaks and, courtesy of the restaurant, birthday cake ice cream. Below are a few drawings of  a few sitting near us. The middle lady was a bit odd and ended up creating a bit of a spectacle in the restaurant. The end guy looked a bit Burt Lahr-ish.

I was out in southwest Florida. While there I roamed Punta Gorda. See a couple photos by clicking here. Then I was in Englewood where I saw a bobcat in the Rotunda development. See the bobcat photos by clicking here. 

Then I found the Cape Haze Trail. To the right is a sketch I made of the Placida Bunk House. To learn more of it, click here.

I then made my way south on US41 and took lots of photos of Florida historic sites and cool signs. I was actually retaking most of them involving the switch of the Swampy doll and the Stuckey’s monkey doll used before. I’ll slowly sprinkle the trips photos on the Genuine Florida site. Click here to see one I just put there.

I gave a talk of the history of Movies in Florida to the Moveable Feast group. I included drawing (Though not as much as I had planned) along with travel ideas as to how to visit locations where Florida films were made. It all dovetails with the map brochure I created for VisitFloirda last year about thye same subject and available across the state of Florida. Below is a photo of me talking about the Georgia birth of Oliver Hardy and his subsequent trip to Jacksonville to be a star. The t-shirt I’m wearing (an odd choice for me) was of the Florida made film, ‘Return of the Creature’.

Another attendee was someone I hadn’t seen in a few years, Dena Wild. Dena was a planner and over the design division at the City of Orlando when I was there. We also worked on a bunch of historic preservation projects outside of the city amongst other things. I admit to being a bit tired when I got there and when I saw first Dena, I was jarred and had to be sure it wasn’t 1986 and I was back in City Hall! She looks just like she did twenty years ago. Obviously I don’t – See photo above! 🙂 It was great to see and have a chance to talk for a bit with Dena!

 I recently acquired this brochure for the collection. What a great design! I’d stay there just based on the art!

For more Coronado info., click here to go to Genuine Florida.

I made a trip to Umatilla to go to a booksale and found Florida historical opportunities! For more of that you’ll need to click here once I link it.

Otherwise, here’s a sketch of the inside of the old 1800’s Ferran Department Store in Downtown Eustis where I got some drawing done Saturday afternoon. Please excuse the quick color. The wooden corner piece is free standing and is being used as a divider from the cooking area. The corner piece is part of the original department store building.

This was a great read! A very well constructed book of the life of Mel Tillis from his birth in Tampa in 1932 to when the book came out in 1984. Lots about growing up in east Hillsborough County and around Pahokee. Fun to learn the poor to middle class Tillis family had a bakery in both locations, too!

One of the neatest stories of Tillis growing up is that while down in Pahokee and entering his teen years, his friends would grab the top of a young pine tree and pull it back. Someone would then sit on the top pulled back. The top of the tree would be let go and the young person would take flight near Lake Okeechobee!

Something else was that at the end of the book he writes that he was attempting to get Richard Powell’s book, ‘I’ll Take This Land’, about Florida pioneers made into a film. I did some simple checking and can’t find any indication a film was made. I hadn’t read Powell’s book yet. I bumped it to the front and let’s see how it stands against ‘A Land Remembered’.

‘Stutterin’ Boy’ is out of print, but worth searching out! I just hope Tillis will write a follow-up from 1984 to present.

Our first stop this day was to the Florida Caverns State Park. You can see a photo of the caverns here. 

Here is a sketch I drew while taking the tour.

From there we toured Marianna. Making stops at the Chamber of Commerce and the wonderful building it’s in.

	We made many, many, many stops afterward. We went through ten counties and ten times as many stops. Not that we mind. What an outstanding way to experiencing our great State of Florida and all it has to offer!Our final stop was at Staff’s Restaurant, the oldest seafood restaurant in Florida. Here’s a sketch of a part of the fascinating interior.