Celebration and Shingle Creek

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Always a favourite place to go - Celebration.  It's one of those places I don't get tired of.  There is always something to see or do.

 Even weeds can be beautiful, or at least attractive to various insects.

Main street from across the lake.  There are some lovely shops and good restaurants in that two block area.  The cafe at the corner makes great malted milkshakes - a throwback to another era, and oh so good.

One of the condo complexes in Celebration.  Such a difference from what Florida looked like before urbanization (see the swamp picture below).  

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Shingle Creek Regional Park is just a few minutes' drive up the road from our condo.  It's a good place to see what central Florida looked like before urban development and theme parks.  The creek itself is popular for kayaking, canoeing, and fishing.  We didn't do anything of those things.  Instead, we opted for walking and photography.

 Kayakers in the creek. There are plenty of live oaks and Spanish moss, lending the scene an almost movie-like quality.

This is the old caretaker's cottage.  Shingle Creek Regional Park has several sections. We were at the Steffen Homestead section.  Some of the original buildings, including this cottage dating from the early 1900s, still stand.  I like this photo better in black and white than in colour.

Every time I look at the ferns and the reflection in the water, I think of jaws - waiting to snap shut on an unsuspecting animal.

 Swamp!  Imagine being the first European and being faced with this!  If it weren't for the paths and boardwalks, we could get lost in the this in minutes.  Even though in some places, we could hear the US192, a major road, it is incredibly easy to get disoriented.  Not to mention that the swamp is home to turtles, snakes and alligators.

Andersonville National Historic Site, Georgia

Friday, January 9, 2015

We had an extra day to ourselves before arriving in Florida for an extended stay.  One of the places we'd often thought about visiting is the Andersonville National Historic Site in southern Georgia. Andersonville was the site of one of the Civil War prisons.

I remember, years ago, watching a TV movie with Richard Basehart, where he played Henry Wirz, the captain of the Andersonville prison.  Wirz was tried as a war criminal, found guilty and hung in 1865 because of the appalling conditions in the Andersonville camp.  The movie played a part in my interest in the US Civil War. I was always curious why this camp seemed to evoke so much strong emotion.

Now, I know why.  The prison camp (actually called Camp Sumter military prison camp but commonly known as Andersonville) was built to accommodate about 10,000 prisoners of war.  It was supposed to relieve overcrowding in other prisons and to keep Union prisoners away from the battlefront.  At its peak, there were over 32,000 in an area of just over 26 acres.  Nearly 13,000 Civil War prisoners died in 14 months.  Most of the deaths were from disease and starvation.  Nineteen feet inside the perimeter of the camp was something called the deadline - kind of a no-man's-land between the actual camp and the camp walls.  So really, there were less than 26 acres to accommodate all the prisoners.  Crossing the deadline meant death.  Guards, stationed in various sentry boxes, shot to kill.

There isn't much left of the actual POW camp itself.  However, the cemetery is still an active one. In addition to the Civil War prisoners who died in Andersonville, the cemetery also has graves of military men and women from WWI, WWII, Korea and more recent conflicts.

 The memorial erected by Wisconsin, after the Civil War.  

What's left of the stream near the camp.  The site for the prison was chosen because of the proximity to a railway - only a quarter of a mile away - and the abundance (or so they thought) of fresh water.  Unfortunately, the stream could not accommodate the needs of so many prisoners, not to mention guards.  

 None of the original walls of the camp remain.  This is a recreation of the north gate.  The prisoners were enter through this gate.  Once in, the outer gate (seen open on the left) was shut.  Once that was shut, the inner gate was opened, and prisoners entered the camp.  

 The inner gate.  The 'fence' shows the deadline.  Prisoners could not be between the deadline markers and the wall - they would be shot.

 Two of the guns that were aimed at the prison camp - just in case any prisoners managed to break out.

The living conditions for prisoners was entirely makeshift - whatever could be used.  These 'dwellings' were called she-bangs.  

 This is just one photo of a section of the graves for the Andersonville prisoners.  There were so many that they were buried shoulder to shoulder.  If nothing else, the sight of so many grave markers so close together really emphasized for me the cost and the futility of war.

 Interestingly,not all the prisoners were soldiers.  There were a few civilians.  One, above, was a teamster - a drive of wagons.  Another was a musician.  There are over 465 marked as unknown soldier.  Considering there were nearly 13,000 deaths, and records were kept by hand, that actually only a small percentage.  

The graves of the first three prisoners buried in the cemetery.  You only know that grave #1 is actually grave #1 because it is beside grave #2.  There were so many deaths that the graves were numbered.  A list of kept separately of who was in each grave.  After the war, the headstones were added.  

 These six graves have an interesting story.  They are the graves of the ringleaders of the Raiders.  The Raiders were basically a gang of prisoners who preyed on other prisoners.  They became so bad that something finally had to be done.  The prisoners formed another group, called the Regulators, who tried to maintain some semblance of law and order.  The captain of the camp, Henry Wirz, agreed the ringleaders of the Raiders should be tried by a jury of union sergeants.  If found guilty, they would be hanged.  They were duly tried and convicted. They were buried outside the original cemetery.

Last days in Florida

Our  time in Florida, like all good things, must come to an end.  Our last days, spent with Ralph and Catherine, saw us visiting old places and new places.

We spent a pleasant afternoon wandering around Celebration - a place that Walter and I have visited several times.  We took some of the trails that we had walked before, only this time, went further than we had in the past.

 A white bird of paradise flower.  I had never seen one like this before.  Beautiful.

 Walter, Ralph and Catherine on one of the various boardwalks.  It was a sunny warm day, and many of the little of forest creatures were out seeking mates and building nests.  Spring was in the air!

 We were scolded several times by this squirrel while we were walking from one lagoon to another.  I guess we were too close to either his nest or his mate (or both).  He would follow us along the rails of the boardwalk and squeak at us.  If we stopped and turned around, he then jumped to the nearest tree - a distance of over two feet.  I was surprised that he could jump that far.

 A male anhinga drying its feathers. This bird swims with only its neck about water.  It doesn't produce a waterproof oil for its feathers, and so must sit with its wings spread out, allowing the feathers to dry.  It was sitting on one side of a lagoon.  A good thing too, because on the other side was a rather large alligator.

 A muscovy duck (notice the wet head feathers) flapping its wings in the water.  These birds are used to being fed by humans, and so when they see us walking along the path, they come right up to us expecting to have pieces of bread or other food thrown to them.  We didn't have anything, and the ducks moved on to the next lot of tourists.

On Ralph and Catherine's last day, we took them to Bok Tower Gardens.  This time, we determined that we would visit Pinewood Estate.  On previous trips we wanted to visit the estate, but always got sidetracked in the gardens.  This time, we did the estate first.  And I'm glad we did.  What a treat!

Pinewood Estate was built in the 1930s by Charles A. Buck, a vice president of Bethlehem Steel, in the spanish style, as a winter retreat for his family.  Mr. Buck was an avid amateur horticulturalist.  He hired a firm to design the gardens first, and then place the house within the gardens to maximize the views from each room.  The house was acquired by the folks at Bok Tower Gardens in the 1970s.

 Part of the back of the house.  Designed in the spanish style, it it stucco on the outside, with tile floors and beautiful painted tiles everywhere.

 Part of one of the gardents and the water fountain.  The tiles of the fountain, as all the painted tiles, were hand painted in Tunisia.  Each room has different designs of tiles.  

 The staircase from the driveway to the front door.  Note you walked down the stairs to the door.  Off to the side, a path led to the fountain above.

The door in the wall - leading to the kitchen garden with the house in the background.  Everything was designed to be visually pleasing to the eye.  What a place!

 Doorway into one of the bedrooms.  As an aside, there are several bathrooms in the house - each one decorated in a different colour, and all still with the original American Standard tubs, sinks and toilets from the 1930s.  Things were built to last then.

 Part of Mrs. Buck's bedroom.  She had a separate suite from the husband. 

We spent several hours visiting the house and the gardens of Bok Tower before we returned to the house, then taking Ralph and Catherine to the airport.  

After that, it was back home to pack and clean up before Walter and I began the trek home.  The trip back to Canada was smooth.  Good weather all the way back.  It was a wonderful time away, and we look forward to travelling again.  As much as I like travelling, though, it felt good to be home.  Even if it's only for a short time.

St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach

On Thursday and Friday, Walter, Ralph and I went to St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach (across the causeway).  Ralph's friends, Steve and Cindy, are in St. Augustine Beach for a month, and graciously invited us to stay overnight.  Thursday was probably the coldest day we've had so far.  In St. Augustine, the temperature rose to 15C and didn't get much higher.  It felt weird to wear long pants and shoes and socks. By Friday, though, we were back to warmer temperatures.

St. Augustine is about 2 1/2 hours away from Kissimmeee.  The whole city has about 12,000 people, according to the latest census. Not very big, at all.  We arranged to take a tour of the old part of St. Augustine on Thursday morning.  It is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in North America, having been founded in 1565 by the Spanish.  The original city was rather small, as it was situated between the Maria Sanchez Creek and the ocean.  The city was expanded in the 19th century by Henry Flagler (a partner of John D. Rockefeller) when he bought several parcels of land and filled in the creek. Unfortunately, most of the original historical building burned over the years, and today the historic centre has mostly replicas. There are a few original buildings left, about five or so according to our tour guide.  It's an easy area to walk around, and I would go back, just to do that.  There is only so much that we can see from a trolley car, and I would like to see more of the old part.

The Spanish, who had St. Augustine for 200+ years, built a fort Castillo de San Marcos.  It changed hands several time, first Spanish, then British (who traded Cuba to the Spanish for Florida), then Spanish again, and lastly American.  Oddly enough, the fort was handed over by treaties, not because it was conquered.

 A typical street in the historic district.  The upper balconies are Spanish influence.  

 One of the many buildings built by Henry Flagler.  This one is a church, although, unfortunately I don't remember which one. He was involved in the building of several churches.

 One of the more whimsical residents of St. Augustine.

 This restaurant is in what used to be an indoor swimming pool.  The floor was leveled out and the dining area is where the pool would have been 12 feet deep. The balcony above is at street level.

 Another typical street, and another Spanish style balcony.

 The oldest wooden school house in the USA.  I think this is a replica, but I could be wrong.

 Some of the old roads are paved with bricks from Birmingham, Alabama.  It took me a while to figure out what 'BHAM, ALA" meant.

 Our friend Ralph on the board walk up to the fort.

 View from the top of the fort, overlooking the estuary.

 Walter and Ralph contemplating something about the cannon.  There were several examples of Spanish cannon, some made in Seville and brought over to St. Augustine on ships.

 The boardwalk across the sand dunes at the resort where Steve and Cindy are staying.  It just invites you to walk across and enjoy the beach.

 One of the many residents of the beach - a ring billed gull.

 A sandpiper of some kind.  I haven't identified exactly which one yet.

 Birds everywhere.  There were a few fellows out fishing for whiting.  The birds would swarm when the nets were drawn in. Gulls and pelicans - all waiting to see what they could steal from the fishermen.

 Some of the many pelicans looking for easy pickings.

 The condo complex where we stayed overnight, courtesy of Steve and Cindy, Ralph's friends.  We will definitely reciprocate at some time in the future.

Lazy days in Florida

Celebration has turned out to be a hidden treasure.  We've been there a few times on our own, and have been there with Alicia.  Yesterday, we went again, just to walk around in the afternoon.  It was a beautiful day, and being out in the sunshine seemed like a good thing to do.  There is something soothing about feeling the warm sunshine on my skin - and yes, there is sunscreen.  After all, I don't want to get burned.  But more than that, it feels good to be out and about (probably because it doesn't feel like exercise).

If you've never been to Celebration, it's a town that was developed by the Walt Disney Company.  It was designed to have an early 20th century feel.  Houses generally have large balconies, no high-density housing, and lots of parkland and walking area.

We've walked around the main lagoon at the bottom of Market Street a few times.  There is always something to see, especially various water birds.  When Alicia was here, she and I walked across the board walk on the other side of the lagoon, and came upon another lagoon in a secluded residential area.  Yesterday, Walter and I walked around that lagoon and found another boardwalk.  That led us to another larger lagoon, with walking paths along it.  In other words, if we're energetic, we can walk all around Celebration by keeping to the walking paths and the boardwalks.  The whole area is about 20 square kilometres.  We haven't walked it all, and mostly likely won't on this trip to Florida, but it will be something to keep in mind for future visits.

 Walk with me along the path, and together we will explore what lies before us.  One of the many walking paths in Celebration.

 Water lilies almost ready to bloom.

 The juxtaposition of old and new is always interesting.  A few feet from the young water liles, a sign of spring, I found this dead maple leaf, a sign of autumn and winter.  Even here, the seasons are represented.

 Segways parked along one of the boardwalks.  The tour guide and his party were down by the lagoon edge looking at an alligator in the distance.

 Spring is mating season.  And the squirrels were not happy with all the people walking along the boardwalks.  Seems we were too close to their trees.  We were roundly scolded by just about every squirrel we saw.

A snowy egret.  Beautiful!

I love the reflection in the water.  These houses are part of the group around the second lagoon we visited.