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Waterlooville's Parish Magazine

ON HOLIDAY IN FLORIDA WITH KENT AND GRETCHEN, PART 5

The last days

I was now well into the last days of this idyllic holiday where the sun shone all day and life so enjoyable and relaxed, at home one is so reliant of the weather but here you could swim every day and plan anything knowing rain would not spoil it. I got used to this quickly, and found it very easy to laze in the sun. As our kind hosts had to return to work for some part of the day I found I had a morning or two to myself. It was fun to find yourself alone in this amazing home where everything was ready for use and mostly at the press of a button, and a delicious bowl of strawberries and chunks of melon and fresh pineapple would appear. I wandered around the complex enjoying the quiet, the many different trees and shrubs and flowers growing everywhere, a real paradise. It was all kept in good order, grass cut although the drought kept it short, and hedges were trimmed.

We met up with friends in the evenings when I was introduced to a different restaurant each night. One I remember well was called the Cracker Barrel old country Store which was popular all over the States. The music was mainly Country style, the shop was magnificent, there was everything you could think of on sale and one could browse round for as long as you liked. Again we had a wonderful dinner, with music that you could enjoy as it certainly didn't stop one from talking as is often the case at home. Driving back, once again we saw the sun setting over Mexico Bay. This is a most beautiful sight, one never could get tired of seeing the blue sky, the sun like a golden orb dropping to disappear in a stretch of a liquid gold sea, and always a crowd of people silhouetted against a strange light, looking out across the Bay.

Another day we visited the Heritage Village for a look round Pinellas County's past. This historical collection is set in a very large park of 20 acres and has a collection of the early days in Pinellas County. It was opened to the public in the year 1976. Amongst many exhibits was an early railroad depot and caboose, also an early 1900's mercantile store and service garage, a doctor's office from the 19th century and a 13 roomed Victorian House, also a one roomed school-house! There were many other places one could visit but they were not all open. We spent some time with a guide who was most interesting and saw some craft demonstrations, visited the library and then there were the archives which would be for another time.

Tony outside Walsingham Park
Tony outside Walsingham Park

I was also very interested in the oldest existing structure in the county which was the Log House of circa 1852, a one roomed structure. This showed what living must have been like for those early settlers and pioneers many of whom came from Europe and some from England in the very early days of Florida's history to escape from the tyranny of the times especially religious persecution and of course the adventurers. The Church was the first Methodist of 1905, a rather large wooden one storey construction with some of the original furnishings, very plain, more like a large church hall. It was called Safely Harbor. The road at the front of the church was called Walsingham Road and the large house in the park was Walsingham House. With my interest of English History I wondered if the name of Walsingham had come from the English family of that name, one of whom was a courtier and trusted advisor of Queen Elizabeth I. But time was getting on and the lady in question was really wanting to close up, so now I suppose I shall never know. I expect there are many stories connected with all the 23 exhibits in this interesting village. As the houses were now closing we went for a walk around the grounds where many plants were raised. For anyone interested in horticulture this was very interesting as many of the plants we take for granted at home had been cultivated in this peninsular and brought back to England by enthusiastic botanists. There was so much to see here it really deserved more than a cursory glance. This is the fascination of America, everything is so big by our standards, you would never see it all if you spent a lifetime of holidays trying to.

So ended my holiday in Florida, it was wonderful, meeting up with Gretchen and Kent again, and meeting their family and friends, it seems as if it was only last week they were here with us in England. I send my love and thanks to them both and also to their friends and family for giving us such a lovely welcome, which we would love to return if any of them were over here at any time.

A happy Christmas to you all.

Ruby Bullock

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page last updated 1 DECEMBER 2000