9 February 2019
Boy, did I get some sleep! I went to bed last night around 7:30 pm (it’s dark and what else can you do) and got up around 7:30 am. I made a leisurely cup of coffee and a bowl of oatmeal. The temperature wasn’t that bad. I don’t think it got below 40F. I actually had to unzip one of the sleeping bags and sleep only inside of one.
I showered, shaved and was on the road around 9:30. The drive along I-10 wasn’t bad. There were a couple of one lane shunts due to the downed timber from Hurricane Michael but they the traffic speed kept at 70 mph.
I spent the next hour at a Steak and Shake. It was 1:30 pm before I decided to eat lunch and I made the mistake of pulling into one at Tallahassee. It took a while to be seated, a while to be waited on and a while to be served. Once I paid, I had to sit in the parking lot for a while while the drive through cleared (they were in no hurry to take orders) so I could back out of my parking space. I feel like I could have homesteaded there.
I finally escaped the Steak and Shake and made my way to Maclay Gardens State Park. A friend, Jim Wilson, always suggests I stop in and see the gardens. I know Jim is never wrong about anything and since I had some time, I stopped in.
Hand it to the state of Florida to figure a way to make money. I purchased a yearly pass to Florida state parks for $60 earlier this year. However, since the month of February fell within January – March at this park, I got to pay $6 for admission. It’s only in effect for those three months. Go figure. It’s the time the park is most in bloom with magnolias, camellias and azaleas.
The park is quite nice. Jim was right, damn it. The paved path to the gardens is spectacular.
You can also visit the Maclay House which was the winter home of the Maclay family. The original house started out as a hunting lodge.
There were two plants that were mostly in bloom. The first, and most eye-catching were the Japanese magnolias. These reminded me of Ole Miss. The campus at Ole Miss is consistently voted one of the most beautiful college campuses in the United States and I remember that in early spring, the Japanese magnolias in bloom.
The other flowers which predominated were the camellias. My grandmother had two camellia bushes on either side of her front door and I remember them blooming every year. The color most like the one my grandmother is shown below.
Others were nice but I really enjoyed the variegated ones.
My goal today was to visit Stephanie Hurt. I’ve known Stephanie for many years and her husband George used to teach on Central Campus at Broward College. George died of cancer and if anything, Stephanie and I have grown closer together over the years. Whenever I’m on one of my trips and I pass close by, she always puts me up for the night and cooks me dinner and we catch up on each other’s lives.
This trip, I got to meet her boyfriend Brent. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting him and I feel we hit it off right away. I’m happy for Brent and Stephanie. I think they are very good for each other. It was good to catch up with the both of them. Hopefully, next year, they’ll make a visit south and I’ll get a chance for some payback.
Brent cooked a delicious salmon and Stephanie had corn-on-the-cob, a great quinoa salad, and sweet potatoes. Let’s just say the wine and conversation flowed freely and the food was great!
Tomorrow, I head home to see what’s been going on at the house in my absence. It’s about a 7 hours drive.
My wife was saddened that you got to eat at Steak and Shake and sample the joys of Tallahassee that she thought were unique to her experience. I reminded her that you did not dine at The Wharf or Bahn Thai or Lucy Ho’s or Barnacle Bill’s
or the Silver Slipper or share a brew at the Nicholson Farmhouse restaurant. All told, Holley still holds the record for Seminole joy.
I concede nothing!