Florida 2007
We left for Florida on Thursday,
January 25, 2007 with planned stops in Charlotte, NC to visit with Ken and
Jeanne Stutt, Atlanta to visit with Mom's sister Kathy and then head on down to
Florida to spend February in Sebastian. All went well at the planned stops with
no major news to report. along the way in Georgia we saw a sign for the location
where Jefferson Davis was captured after the Civil War ended. After a 20 mile
drive off the interstate we found out that the museum site is closed on Monday's
and Tuesdays. Further down the road we found out that the Georgia Agricultural
museum is also closed on Monday's. If you want to see America you can only see
it between Wednesday and Sunday. We spent Monday night Jan 29 in Ocala and on
Tuesday we drove over to Cedar Key to visit this little hamlet.
Cedar Key at one time was a very
busy sea port on the Gulf. It had a very busy lumber trade dealing with cedar
for the pencil trade ad also a very busy fishing industry. Now Cedar Key is a
town of less than 1000 with the nearest serious shopping nearly 50 miles away.
It does have an active art colony and is busy with snowbirds like us in
February, March and April. Cedar Key was a very interesting stop with an
excellent museum and some great restaurants, We recommend Tony's. We arrived in
Sebastian on January 31 when we were advised that we could enter our rental a
day early.
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Where Jefferson Davis was captured in Georgia.
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Downtown Cedar Key, Florida
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Islands around Cedar Key
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Sunrise in Palm Bay, January 31, 2007
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Moon over Sebastian, Fl - February 2, 2007
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My 15+ inch Pompano - Feb. 6, 2007. Good Eating
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Sunrise Feb. 7 Sebastian
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In the sun Feb. 7 - Sebastian
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Our abode in Sebastian
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View across the lagoon - Feb 16, 2007
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Painting the clouds with a sunset across the lagoon
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Themis Launch March 17 at Cape Canaveral
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Themis Satelite launch view from Sebastian
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On February 6 I had and interesting fishing
experience. I had caught the Pompano shown in the above picture and immediately
upon casting out again I got a big strike. The fish was fighting harder than the
Pompano and really running around at the end of the line. I was wondering what
it was when Jack Bermingham, my fishing partner yelled, - get into shallow water
- quick. I turned to my left and spotted the fin of a large dolphin bearing down
on me from about 30 feet away. He was heading for my fish. I started to
backpedal and increased the speed of the retrieve. I was able to scoop up the
fish when I had gotten into 1 foot of water and the dolphin veered off to the
right. The fish I had on was an eighteen inch bluefish which is large for the
Indian River lagoon. I turned him loose and told him to go play with the
dolphins. I had never before been chased out of the water by a dolphin.
Tuesday, February 13 was a great
day fishing. Best two hours of wade fishing I have ever had here. Caught 9
trout, 4 jacks and 4 ladyfish. 17 in total - no keepers but it was fun.
Tuesday, February 20
we visited Palm Beach to generally see where the better class of people live and
specifically to visit the Flagler Museum. The museum was formerly the house
Henry Morrison Flagler gave to his third wife as a wedding gift. Henry M.
Flagler at one time was co-equal to J. D. Rockafeller in the founding of
Standard Oil but after 1890 phased out of the oil operations to pursue the
development of Florida. His first wife gave him three children but died at an
early age. Henry remarried but the second wife became ill and was committed due
to insanity. Mom noted - the first one gave him the children but the third one
got the house. Henry Flagler developed Florida by building resort hotels
intended for the people of means. He started out in St. Augustine and worked his
way down the coast eventually founding Miami as a resort location. There being
no airlines in the 1890 to 1910 period Henry needed to provide transportation
for the future visitors which he did by creating the Florida East Coast
Railroad. Of course for each mile of track that he laid he was given 8000 acres
of land by the State of Florida. Eventually he built the railroad all the way to
Key West. The Key West run of 150 miles was an engineering miracle as it had to
be built over water. Unfortunately this branch only had a 20 year life span as a
hurricane in 1932 destroyed the line.
The house called Whitehall is
spectacular. It is hard to relate to the Gilded Age of American Industrialism
when you realize that this enormous house was only used for 6 weeks during the
winter season. The main entrance hall to the house has a square foot area of
over 4000 square feet. The house was sold out of the family in 1925 had a hotel
wing built on to the house. By 1959 the hotel had run down and was ready for the
wrecking ball. Living relatives to the Flaglers stepped in and re-purchased the
property for restoration. The 25 story hotel wing was removed down to the house
level and turned into a museum. We joined a guided tour of the first floor and
then re-visited the whole first floor on a self guided audio tour. For the
second floor we used the self guided audio. This was one of the best organized
house museums we have ever visited. A real classy place. On the second floor
there was also a display of August Saint-Gaudens sculpture gallery. Saint-Gaudens
has been called the American Michelangelo. We will have to visit his
museum in Cornish, New Hampshire someday.
I can't give the Flagler's story
justice here but there is a book we purchased in the museum gift shop "Last
Train to Paradise" by Les Standisford. from the first few chapters I read, it
will be an enjoyable book.
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Whitehall Mansion
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Whitehall - main hall
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Drawing room Piano
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Even the veil is marble
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Music room
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Courtyard - Venus fountain
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Gargoyle leering at Venus starue
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Dining room
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One of the guest bedrooms
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Master bathroom - bigger than my living room
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Inside of Flagler's rail car
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Flagler's rail car #91
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