Two weeks ago, after our exhausting off-road biking adventure, we paid a visit to Fort Christmas. We went there several times when the girls were young, on our own and for Indian Princess outings. But that was a long time ago. The girls have grown a lot since then, and so has the fort.
They now have a large collection of old Florida houses, and we enjoyed a trip back in time as we wandered from one to another. Bear in mind that Florida is a young state, even if it does have our country's oldest city. Sometimes it seems more like the Wild West than the East Coast.
Here's a somewhat random assortment of pictures. I love my digital camera. (Thanks, Janet!)
The fort as we remembered it
Even the 50's count as historical here. This house is only slightly smaller and actually has one more bedroom than the house where I spent the first nine years of my life. I didn't think it small then!
Florida's equivalent of tapping maple trees for syrup.
Smokehouse from 1900. Smoked meat hanging from the roof. Did you ever wonder where smokescreens come from?
These pictures from the 1900 house are for my friend who works in a living history museum and has her own spinning wheel.
And this one from the 1915 house is for my other friend who is a master quilter—just in case she ever reads my blog....
From the 1870's—mosquito netting a must-have
From the 1927 house. My mother grew up about 60 miles from here. Even though her family kept a hotel, not a farm, I couldn't help thinking of her when we toured this one.
When you think cowboys and cattle drives, do you think Wild West? Florida was the land of the open range until 1949.
If you look closely at this fur animal license from the 1930's, you'll learn a few things. That the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission, which runs the camp Heather attended when she was nine, has been around a long time. That nutrition probably wasn't the best for these pioneers and their children. That this 33-year-old example of these tough, hard-working farmers, ranchers, and cowboys was only 4' 10" tall and weighted 85 pounds!
This ranch house came from what is now the Tosohatchee State Reserve, where we were biking earlier in the day.
Hey, wait a minute! I grew up with that sink!
