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Florida as it once was!
Highlands Hammock State Park (Sebring)
Our favorite park for hiking, it is a Gold Nugget that has been preserved in it's pre-European state and contains all the Florida inland plant ecosystems. Eight, short & easy hikes allows you to see them all; yet you will feel that you are in the wilderness.
Photo Tour More Details Park Web Site McLarty Treasure Museum (Sebastian Inlet)
Exhibiting the history of the Spanish treasure ships that sank in the hurricane of 1715, it is by far the best of this type of museum I have ever visited, showing extraordinary detail on what life was like in a time before the Industrial Revolution, Electricity, Machines, etc. I thought it was particularly interesting to see all the goods that flowed from the Phillipines through the Carribean and on to Europe. Far more interesting than seeing Gold, those people had and met the same basic material desires as today.
Museum Web Site Washington Oaks State Gardens (South Of St. Augustine)
We had memorable experiences at this truly unusual combination: world-class Gardens, exotic Beach, uplifting Hike through several ecosystems, and History. The coquina-rock formations on the beach remind one of some foreign island. The Gardens rank with Cypress Gardens (closed) amoung our favorites. The Gardeners were friendly and helpful to Nita who was looking for unusual Florida plants for our garden.
Photo Tour Park Web Site Ximenez-Fatio House (St. Augustine)
The Ximenez-Fatio House was built about 1798 by Andres Ximenez, a Spanish storekeeper. The house is built of native coquina and reflects both Spanish and English design principles. The separate kitchen, with its brick baking oven, is the only original in Saint Augustine dating from the last quarter of the eighteenth century. The House is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been preserved and restored to depict an early 19th century inn.
The free one-hour tour ($1 donations appreciated) given by The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America is utterly facinating with detailed observations about life in Florida before air-conditioning. Amoung many things, you will see the origin of common expressions such as "don't let the bed-bugs bite" and he is of the "upper crust".
Ximenez-Fatio House Web Site Colonial Spanish Quarters (St. Augustine)
A living history museum we greatly enjoyed. Costumed interpreters relive a time when St. Augustine was a remote outpost of the Spanish Empire. The Quarter illustrates the life of Spanish Soldiers and their families in 1740 St. Augustine. Skilled Tradesmen go about their occupations in blacksmithing, carpentry, leatherworking, candlemaking and other trades. You will experience how these families lived, grew, and cooked their food and tended their livestock.
Photo Tour