Ocala National Forest Florida

The Silver Glen Springs

The Ocala National Forest holds the distinction of being the only National Forest within the National Forest System that is sub-tropical. It comprises almost 400,000 acres, and is located in Central Florida just above that tourist “mecca” Orlando (aka Disney World and Co.). The Ocala National Forest was established in 1908.

We have been to and through the Ocala National Forest several times before. Most recently, in 2007, we paused for a brief hike/excursion in the Juniper Springs area. This past fall, we stopped at the Silver Glen Springs area and hiked from the springs out about a mile to Lake George.

We ate lunch, where else, alongside the Silver Glen Spring. It was a beautiful spot and the spring was, well, pretty much like several other springs I have seen in Florida. The water was clear and appeared to have a blue-greenish, almost a turquoise, tint. It was warm enough that there were swimmers in the swimming area. I know that most people think about beaches and amusement parks when they think about Florida. But I would suggest that they need to be like the early Spanish Explorer, the purported “discoverer” of the place, Ponce De Leon and go searching for its springs. You may not find "a fountain of youth" but you surely will find some beautiful scenery!

Next we hiked along a trail which left the spring area, climbed a short distance over a hammock, and then began a slow descent toward our destination, Lake George. The hike was unlike my earlier hikes in the Ocala forest. At Silver Glen Springs we were walking through pure forest and not following a spring, creek or any type of water-course. Further, the vegetation around us was decidedly sub-tropical.

The highlight of our time on the trail however, occurred about ½ out to Lake George. We had heard an unusual bird call, and had stopped for a moment. I was looking around attempting to locate the originator of the sound, when all of a sudden, a large brownish bird took flight from a nearby tree. As it became airborne, I saw the unmistakable white patches that mark the colororation of the American Bald Eagle. Of course it quickly flew away, but nevermind, I had been very close to it, the closest I have ever been to a Bald Eagle in the wild. It was an awesome sight.

About a half mile more and we walked through a low marshy area and finally arrived at the shores of Lake George. Lake George is just one of many lakes that are located along the course of the St. John’s River. The St. John’s River, is, in reality, an ancient intracoastal lagoon system. As it flows northward along its 310 miles up through the eastern part of Florida, it enters and leaves several lakes. Because of this, it is often called “The River of Lakes.” Lake George is the 2nd largest lake in Florida (Okeechobee is the largest), and the largest of the lakes in the St. John’s system. Lake George is noted, among other things, for its bass fishing.

After a few minutes spent admiring the lake, (for we had no tackle, nor did we have a Florida Fishing License) we returned from whence we came and continued our journey on to the north, Jacksonville Florida (and co-incidentally up the St. John’s River).

Ellenton Florida

First off, my apologies to all my “regular followers” (all 3 or 4 of you), I have been away, gathering new material for my blog, and so I haven’t posted in a while.

All the Bells and Whistles

As my “regulars” know, this is not a blog devoted to food and fine dining. While I am beyond the mere “fast food joint,” I do not consider myself enough of a connoisseur to evaluate food, its ingredients, preparation or presentation. And this particular blog does not deviate from my intention. For even though today I am blogging about a Restaurant, The Roaring 20’s Pizza and Pipes (Ellenton is near Bradenton FL) I am not blogging because of the food. Rather, I am blogging because their “entertainment” a “Mighty Wurlitzer Theater Pipe Organ.”

Their instrument was originally installed in 1931 in the Paramount Theater in Oakland CA. The theater lasted only a year. The organ was finally “resurrected” in the early 1960’s in a restaurant down the coast near LA. Next it was moved to Indianapolis IN where it also played in a restaurant for a while. Then, there was the chance that it would go to Germany, however, these plans fell through, it was sold again and ended up here in Florida playing for the crowd of “Seniors” who live and visit in the Bradenton/Sarsota area.

The figures concerning this instrument read almost like the specs for a new car:
20 Horsepower Blower, delivering 3,000 cubic feet of air per minute 42 ranks of pipes, 3,000 over all with the largest 16 feet tall; 14 " diameter
26 miles of wiring
350 controls with 278 tabs
31,250 lbs in weight
In short, it is one big, art deco machine!

And the organists concerned know how to play it, all of it, not only the pipes, but all the bells, whistles, horns tweeters, celestas, “birds” etc. It was a lot of fun to listen to Chattanooga Choo Choo, songs from Phantom of the Opera, and other like-minded pieces.

Oh yes, the Pizza, well, I guess it’s okay. But as I said above, this is NOT a food blog.

Bradenton Florida

The Gamble Plantation State Park

I had wanted to stop by this small park for some time, and thus, in planning my route to and from the DeSoto Monument I made sure that we went past this park.

There is not really too much to the park. It is just a tabby house that was obviously built in sections during the 1840’s (it is, however, the only Ante-Bellum house in South Florida) after the conclusion of the Second Seminole War. Robert Gamble was the man who built the house. He was the son of a wealthy sugar planter from the around Tallahassee area, and claimed 3,400 plus acres. He worked the plantation with about 180 or so slaves for about 10 years. During this period of time he raised mostly red ink, as opposed to sugar, his supposed crop. Consequently, he began selling off portions of the property to satisfy his creditors.

Finally, he moved away just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. Consequently, during that conflict his property, now abandoned, was taken over by the Confederate Government and used as a “commissary.” Thanks to its location, close to a waterway leading off of Tampa Bay, the house and its surrounding buildings were used by the blockade runners. It is reported that one of the Blockade runners, Captain Archibald McNeil moved into the house in 1865.

It is also believed by many that Judah P. Benjamin, the Confederate Attorney General, Secretary of War, and finally Secretary of State made his way to the Gamble Plantation House after the fall of Richmond VA. Reportedly Benjamin stayed here a few weeks while he arranged passage for himself to England. Whether it was from this house or not, the fact remains that Benjamin was one of the very few members of the Confederacy’s Executive Branch to successfully flee to Europe in the immediate aftermath of the war. Shortly after he landed in Victorian England he passed his Bar Exam and became a successful, albeit somewhat quiet, lawyer who even tried cases before the House of Lords.

For us, this trip also had a family interest as well. Since Benjamin was one of our family names, I thought I needed to find out a bit more about the man on the off-hand chance we might have been distantly related. However, after a few short minutes with the Ranger at the house I found that it is very unlikely that Judah P. Benjamin was one of my Benjamins. Judah was born into a family of Sephardic Jewish settlers, and had to detour with his family to the West Indies on their immigrant voyage to America owing to the outbreak of the War of 1812. I already knew that my Benjamin family came to this country from England to work for Lord Fairfax in Virginia during the middle 1700’s. Thus, I have determined that if there ever was any relation between our families it would have been way back, particularly since Judah P. Benjamin’s folks traced their heritage to Spain.

Family issues aside, the house was very interesting. Despite the imposing-looking Doric Columns across the front, the Gamble Plantation House is basically a tabby structure with many features that were designed to make it more livable during the hot times of summer of which this area has a lot. Out in back of the house there was an old cane press that had been used for making sugar in ante-bellum times. We examined this machinery after touring the house. There is also the ruins of a sugar cane mill on the property, however, the press of time, it was near closing, precluded a side trip to the mill.