Lake Wales, Alachua, Marianna, FL – Apr 2023

Well, I’m either gonna need a bigger shed or much less stuff.  It’s amazing how quickly you accumulate things at a home base.  Also, I didn’t have an opportunity to do anything with the scoot, so I decided to just put it in the shed for the summer, and deal with it when I return.  But, in the end, everything did fit in the shed including the new chairs I got for the paver fire pit patio, and all the landscape ornaments I picked up while on the road last year.  So, everything got packed, and I’m now back on the road.  Wahoo!

Lake Wales

So I spent my final two weeks of Apr at the Home Base preparing things for my travel launch.  Some RV maintenance got done, some yard work got done (including laying down another six bags of mulch), and finally putting away all items that are around the yard. That last step is important for a couple of reasons – first, leaving them sitting out in the hot summer sun for the next 7 months would cause them to age prematurely, but mostly to keep them from becoming projectiles should the area get hit by a hurricane.  So safely and securely they sit in my shed.  In the past, I had been able to also store the fire pit in the shed, but with the new furniture and the scoot, that wasn’t happening this year.  So, I got a couple of additional tie down straps, and secured the cover to prevent it from blowing away in a storm.  Besides, it is certainly heavy enough to hopefully keep it from flying around in a bad storm.  I guess we’ll see!  So, on Apr 12th, I closed up the slides, hooked up the truck, and pulled away from the place I called home for the past 5 months.  It will be great to be back on the road, but I will certainly miss my little slice of paradise while I’m gone.  See you again in seven months!

In early Apr, I got to spend time with friends and family before heading out.  First, I got to enjoy my grandson Henry’s first birthday on Apr 1st (yea, he’s an April Fools baby).  The theme of the party was “Mr One-derful” where everyone got dressed up in their Sunday bests, and the guest of honor sported a baby suite complete with bow tie.  I of course participated via video call on the Portal, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  I got to see all the action even though I was a thousand miles away.  Highlights were the gift openings, and his first birthday “smash cake”.  All in all, a truly wonderful day.

Also, I heard from my friend Greg who normally resides in Albuquerque, but was in Odessa (near Tampa) visiting with his sister Sherry and brother-in-law Vince.  They invited me to come out for a visit where they hosted a really nice lunch.  Greg’s GF Sheila was also present taking in a warm vacation away from the cold NM weather.  It was great spending they day with them and getting to meet his family.  Thank you for the invite and the wonderful hospitality.

Alachua

My first stop on my 2023 road trip would take me to the little town of Alachua.  While there’s not too much to see in this small, 10K population town, it does have some fame as being the home to the Santa Fe College Perry Center for Emerging Technologies and Progress Corporate Park, which houses one of the largest bio and life sciences business clusters in Florida.  So, since that is not necessarily tourist friendly, I spent my limited tourist time checking out the city of Gainesville, home to the University of Florida.

But before I go there, I wanted to share an interesting find at the campground where I stayed in Alachua.  Travelers Campground, besides being a place to park your RV for a few days, also operates an animal sanctuary.  So instead of using all of their available land to shove in more RVs, they use a sizable portion of it to rescue various farm animals and provide them a forever home.  They’ve got macaws, pigs, horses, emus, donkeys, chickens, goats, and cows to name a few.  I also loved the RV toys some of them had in their pens.  Truly a noble cause by some very caring owners.  Well done Travelers!

My first stop in Gainesville was a visit to the Solar Walk.  This $30K public art project was created in 2002 by Elizabeth Indianos.  Including the sun, there are sculptures representing each planet in the solar system (including the now defunct Pluto), and spans nearly a mile along a sidewalk on NW 8th Ave.  The distance between each sculpture is said to be representative of the actual distance for that planet from the sun, on a roughly 4 billion to 1 scale.  Each spire sculpture is decorated with imbeded stones, and contains a plaque with details of each planet including its sign, axis tilt, distance from the sun, and various orbital details.  There was also a piece dedicated to Halley Comet that was added in 2009.  It was an interesting collection of art pieces.

Next I visited the campus of the University of Florida, and what a beautiful campus it is.  It was established in 1853, and has operated in its 2,000 acre Gainesville location since 1906.  As of 2023, it boasted an admission exceeding 57,000 students – making it the third largest Florida university, and the fifth largest single-campus university in the country.  Unfortunately for me, school was in session, combined with an afternoon schedule that included NCAA Gymnastics Championship Semifinals, and an evening Gators football game.  So, the place was a zoo, with students virtually everywhere and absolutely no place to park.  So, while I “saw” all the Roadside items noted here, I did so from the seat of my moving truck. As a result, with the exception of the bat houses, I had to “borrow” a few other peoples pictures to share here as I had no opportunity to take them myself.

First up was a visit to the University of Florida Bat Houses.  Brazilian free-tailed bats are the residents here, and number in excess of 400,000 – making these the largest occupied bat houses in North America, and perhaps the world.  Each evening at dusk, they emerge for their daily feeding.  Signs in the area warn would-be watchers to beware of falling urine and poop as the bats fly overhead.  Old clothes and a hat are recommended protective gear.  Ahhh, No Thanks!

A couple of sculptures on the campus grounds were interesting.  First up was a bronze Bull Gator that sits outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium – home to the Gators football team.  It was dedicated in 2008 and is meant to celebrate the 2006 football national championship by the University of Florida Gators.  Next up was a visit to what is affectionately called the Turlington Turd.  The clean version of this oddity is known as the potato rock.  It’s a 10 ton boulder donated to the university by the Florida Crushed Stone Company, that sits just outside Turlington Hall.  Whatever you call it, it certainly is odd looking.  Last up on my UF campus tour was to a historical marker that identifies the University of Florida as the birthplace of Gatorade.  In 1965, Dr. Robert Cade, a researcher from the UF College of Medicine, along with a few of his colleagues, discovered the impact to the loss of electrolytes among the football players in the hot Florida sun.  They developed a concoction containing salts and sugars that would replenish those electrolytes and thus “aid” the performance of the “Gators”.  Alas Gatorade was born and as is often said, the rest is history.

As I mentioned, UF (not to be confused with FU), is an absolutely beautiful campus.  As I meandered through it, I couldn’t help but notice the abundance of college kids riding scoots.  They were everywhere!  It does make sense though.  Beautiful climate year round, inexpensive to buy, and oh so economical to operate given their excellent fuel economy.  So I thought I’d share with you a quick tour of the campus from the vantage point of my dash cam, while at the same time playing a little game I like to call “Count the Scoots”.  Enjoy!

Marianna

My next stop would take me to Marianna, FL – located not far from the Alabama boarder in the north east corner of the Florida Panhandle.  Like many of the other towns of Jackson County, Marianna is a small laid back kinda town with a population of just over 6,000. While there was not a lot to see in Marianna, other nearby Jackson County towns offered some unique and interesting places to visit.

One such place was a town with an interesting name.   Just 15 miles north-east of me was the town of Two Egg.  Yea, you read that right, the name of the town is Two Egg!  I even got a picture and a selfie at the sign leading into town.  There are lots of competing stories as to how the town got its name, but this version seems the most plausible.  In the early 1800s, the town was actually known as Allison, FL.  Plantations and farming was the mainstay in the area, and most all residents prospered.  That was until the depression hit in 1930 which hit the community hard, and families were doing all they could just to survive.  Children would be sent to the local store to barter for goods.  Eggs were a common currency then, and it was said the bartering children would ask for “Two Eggs” of sugar, or “Two Eggs” of flour, etc.  The Lawrence Grocery Store was central to all this bartering, and was nicknamed “Two Egg”.  Well, it stuck and by 1940, the name even appeared on an official state of Florida road map.  Sadly, much of this town is rundown.  In fact, the Lawrence Grocery Store that once served the community (at right, top left) is mostly in total ruins (at right, bottom left).

Just north of Two Egg is the town of Bascom.  Despite that town only having a population of 86 in 2023, it does have a couple claims to fame on its side.  First off, this was the birthplace of famed actress Faye Dunaway (seen pictured here at left in her role in Bonnie and Clyde).  She was born Jan 14, 1941 and for a short time lived in a tiny shack in Bascom  (last known picture at left, top right).  Her father was an NCO in the US Army, so they moved frequently.  I searched everywhere to find the location of the house, but alas no luck.  Given its condition from the last known photo, it’s likely to be a goner by now anyway.

Also located in Bascom is the only beluga caviar farm in the United States.  Sturgeon Aquafarms began in 2003 when they imported Caspian Sea Sturgeon.  What began with some 30 beluga now numbers to more than 5,000.  The beluga can grow to nine feet in length, and weigh upwards of 350 lbs.  Sadly, this farm was out on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere Bascom, and did not seem to have any opportunities for a visit.  So, I grabbed a couple pictures from their website to share here.  Actually, there’s another reason I didn’t visit, but more on that later.

Next, I visited the town of Greenwood, FL.  While there were no Roadside America attractions listed there, I did find an interesting write up about the town in the Jackson County visitors guide.  Specifically a couple of very old houses, and an old store are located there.  The Great Oaks Plantation (at right, top and bottom right) was built around 1861, and is believed to be the last antebellum mansion completed before the Civil War.  Built by Hamilton Bryan as a home for his mother on the 5,200 acre plantation that was established by his father Elijah Bryan.  It was added to the national register of historic places in 1972.

Just down the road is the other home I visited known as the Erwin House.  Built in the early 1930s, it is believed to be the oldest standing residence in Jackson County.  The home was purchased by John M.F Erwin in 1851.  Erwin served as a Colonel in the Confederate Army, was Post Master of the Greenwood Post Office, served in the State House of Representatives, and served in the US Militia.  The home is currently occupied by Laurence Pender III and his family.  More on him later.

The last building I visited in Greenwood was L. S. Pender’s Store.  Built in 1869 on the grounds in the corner of the Erwin Mansion estate at the direction of Col John M.F Erwin, it served as the largest community store in Greenwood.  It was purchased by Laurence S. Pender in 1896, was renamed to the L.S. Pender Store, and has been in operation ever since.  It is believed to be the oldest such enterprise still in operation in Florida.  I have to admit, when I took a picture of the place from across the street, it hardly looked in operation to me.  However, I saw a gentleman walk out of the store, down the sidewalk, then back in again.  So, I figured I’d go and see if it was in fact still open.  What I found inside was absolutely amazing!  The gentleman I had seen was actually the proprietor of the store, a man named Laurence Pender, II.  He is the son of L.S Pender who purchased the store in 1896, and is the second generation store operator.  Mr. Pender could not have been more gracious with his time and knowledge, sharing with me lots of and lots of history of the store and the community.  Back in the day, they sold mostly goods – everything from dry good for baking, to textiles for making clothes, ingredients for home remedies and patent medicines, to hats and shoes, and even caskets.  The original wooden floor reminded me of the old stores in Nashua where I grew up that I used to go to when I was a kid.  There too,  they had boards that were uneven and creaked as you walked on them.  He showed me old photos of his father and uncle who once operated the store, and even old ledgers dating back to the late 1800s where sales were logged and amounts owed were tracked.  It was like stepping back in time over 100 years.  Truly amazing!  Mr. Pender even gave me some materials that told the history of both the store and the Erwin house.  Oh, and the current owner of the Erwin House, that’s Laurence Pender, III – his son.  He is the principal at Marianna High School.  Sadly, Mr. Pender, now well into his late 70s,  will likely be the last operator of the store.  He told me his children have their own lives and careers, and none have expressed any interest in the store.  Probably about right as there were no patrons observed while I was there, and frankly, by the looks of the place and its contents, there likely haven’t been any in quite some time.  It’s  more fitting to be a gathering place nowadays where folks can travel back to a simpler time.  I know I sure did while I was there!  My heartfelt thanks to Mr. Pender for his time and wonderful hospitality in sharing with me some of his stories.  They will be forever treasured!

Final Thoughts

Well, I’ve wrapped up FL in this edition of the blog.  Next up, I travel through AL, LA, and TX as I work my way west.  Oh, about this picture.  Soon after I left the campground to play tourist around Marianna, I ran across some kids holding signs for a car wash.  Having worked many car wash fund raisers as a kid, I try my best to support these endeavors when I see them.  Besides, my truck was filthy and in dire need of a wash.  So, I pulled around and gave the kids their biggest challenge washing my big boy truck.  Anyway, as I drove away with my shiny clean truck, it dawned on me that part of my touristy itinerary for the day was to take me onto a couple of dirt roads.  One to visit the Sturgeon Aquafarm, and just a short distance from there was to be another dirt road named after Faye Dunaway.  I thought it would be interesting to at least take a few pictures from the road of these two venues.  However, having just laid out a generous donation to the kid’s cause and getting my truck cleaned, I opted to skip those two stops and rather  remain solely on paved roads.  Alas, my truck is still clean!  Anyway, till next time, safe travels to you all.

I only show a sampling of my adventure pictures here in the blog, and do so mostly in collage format for brevity and ease of reading. If you want to view an album containing individual full fidelity and hi-res images of all my travel pictures related to this specific blog, click the image below. Enjoy!