Old Florida

outside The Yearling Restaurant
Hawthorne, Florida 

Often, celebrations are not restricted to just one day on the calendar, and especially if the special things you want to do cannot be scheduled on that particular day. Such was the case for our 3rd anniversary, which was the topic of my previous blog post, "Celebrations." 

We wanted to tour the home of the late author, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (The Yearling, Cross Creek, South Moon Under, The Sojourner, The Secret River, and more) which is now a state historic park located about 25 miles north of us.  The tour through her home was not available on our anniversary, but two days later 'her calendar' and ours could agree and so we made a day-date of it.

Before I go further, I need to tell you that there are terms used around here, that may not be commonly known in the rest of the USA: "Old Florida" and "Real Florida." On Google that is defined as "anything from the mid-20th century or before." Or to update the term, "anything before Disney and all the other big-money theme parks invaded this peninsula." (my words)

entrance to the park

Don't get me wrong, the theme parks have their place. Years ago I spent a lot of the green stuff there and even enabled the dream of one of my children to move to Florida to work for The Mouse for nearly twenty years. I do have an appreciation for the incredible ingenuity and awesomeness of Disney, Universal, Sea World, Legoland, Busch Gardens, and so forth. I don't know about today, but back in the day, the expectations made of the Disney Cast Members (what they called their employees) was excellent.

entrance to the home

It's not unusual for seniors like us to enjoy looking back into history. Visiting the home of this author was an opportunity to be in the Real Florida, the Old Florida. 

approaching from the parking lot

Entrance to this state park is free but we did have to pay $3 for all-day parking. We arrived at 9am, giving us time to wander about the grounds freely and as you will see, there was a lot of opportunity for photography. (I'm not sharing all of my pics; there were just too many.)

me with our docent in period dress

Shortly before the tour of the house began at 10am, our docent came outside to greet us. Caroline was very pleasant and knowledgeable. To prepare for her volunteer position, she did a lot of reading research and sewed her costume.

Gary in the barn

The tour began in the barn where we signed the guest book and met up with the rest of the group, about a dozen adults total.

This gorgeous Oldsmobile sits in the car port of the home, although it is not the original vehicle. We didn't catch the year but somewhere in the roaring twenties is my guess. 

The house is more long than wide because the rooms have windows on both front and back to allow the breeze to flow through in an era before air conditioning became the norm for Florida. 

front of the house

There were lots of flowers on the property including Vinca, Oleander, Nasturtiums, Queen Anne's Lace, and more.

just inside the front door

This may be my favorite room of the house because of the huge screened windows providing inspiration for the typewriter on the table. While I could never go back to this old-fashioned method of writing, I know my laptop computer would perform well in this setting.

living room

This room was the kitchen at the first, but Ms. Rawlings converted it to a living room. The closet in the corner originally served as the kitchen pantry, but later the area inside and above the closet was designated as the storage place for liquid spirits during Prohibition. 🤭

one of the bedrooms

I have lost count how many bedrooms (2 or 3?) but was more interested in the beautiful quilts. Although I have my own long history of quilting, I did not want to slow down the material the docent needed to cover before the next tour group, so I did not ask about these quilts. They may not be original to the house, but rather donated from that period and/or popular style from that day.

an example of period dress

We don't see style like this much these days unless in the theater. The details and modesty of design are tasteful and lovely.

formal dining room

The formal dining room was another of my favorites. We were told the original dining table was much bigger than this one with seating for 15 guests! Yes, they surely must have been sitting elbow-to-elbow, but I've heard Ina Garten on the Food Network say that a close dining experience helps conversation to flow better. 

the kitchen stove

This is the only snapshot I took in the kitchen. Not the original stove, but one very similar, it's what Ms. Rawlings used to perfect her enjoyment of cooking. One of her popular books is Cross Creek Cookery, of which I happen to have a copy right here beside me as I type! Good friend and blog-reader, Ona, has loaned me her copy. Maybe I'll try some of the recipes....

the first toilet in the home

One of the charming stories shared in our tour regarded the first toilet on the property. The outhouse in the back is still standing but don't you know this porcelain upgrade was most welcome! 

As the story goes, Ms. Rawlings loved to entertain and hosted a party after the bathroom was completed. Her uncle was not able to attend the party but sent a bouquet of roses. Visitors would be walking through the bathroom to see both the toilet and the bathtub, so our hostess placed the roses in the toilet, where they got all the water they needed and beautifully displayed the new convenience! 

These flowers for our tour were cut from the gardens outside. Speaking of flowers and gardens .....

the vegetable and flower garden

My snapshot of the garden, just steps from the house, does not do it justice. In person, this was beautiful and so well plotted out. On an interesting note, you see the wire fencing surrounding the garden. Every few feet a half bar of Irish Spring soap was in a plastic bag and tied to the fence, surely meant as a deterrent to animals wanting to dine on the fresh edibles.

street view of the restaurant

We thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the house and grounds, which lasted just under one hour. Lunch time was approaching, so we drove less than a mile to another well-known (around here) landmark, The Yearling Restaurant. 

Well-known for serving local exotic carnivore edibles, as well as the usual fare, we wanted to give it a try. The place has quite a reputation.

rustic in appearance

Nestled among huge Spanish moss-laden oak trees with a lot of shade and dense undergrowth, we nearly missed our destination. I'll frankly say the outside appearance is not impressive.... but maybe that's because that's what "old Florida" looks like! 

 

grilled pork sandwich with a side of collards

Although the outside decor made us wonder, inside did not disappoint. Taxidermy animals watch the diners enjoy gator bites and other entrees that are outside of the norm for city folk. We both are not quite that adventurous, so Gary ordered the fried pork sandwich while mine was grilled. He enjoyed fries but one of my goals for the day was to enjoy old south collards (which I have come to love since moving to Florida). 

In addition to the restaurant, inside the building is a gift shop and other merchandise throughout, including used books on many topics, some of them by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (of course, since the restaurant is named after her most famous novel). 

Before leaving for home, we found this 13-foot long gator in one of the many dining rooms. It was hard to get a clear snapshot of him with so many other eye-catching aspects of this room, but I could not leave him out of this report.

Sister's Basset Hounds

To close out this blog post about celebration, I want to tip my hat to Sister, who is having a birthday this weekend. We live some thousand miles from each other, so the only cake I can send to her is a photo she sent to me of her two Basset Hounds on their birthday a couple of months ago. These were doggy-edible treats, but I'm sure Sister will enjoy something suitable for humans. 

Mama and [my] Sister

Sister looked after Mama for many years as our mother's health dictated needed changes, moving from living in Chicago by herself to her new home closer to Sister and more family in a rural setting. Then there was the transition to assisted living and eventually to a nursing home. The adaptations Sister made with our mother's changing needs were many and sometimes baffling. This past October Mama's earthly story came to a peaceful end.

With some chagrin I share with you the terribly self-centered, childish request I made to my mother well over 60 years ago when I said I didn't want to have a little sister any more. I wanted to be an only child. While Mama listened to my reasons (none of which come to mind now), she let me know I would have to be content with things as they were, and the conversation was concluded.

All these years later, I'm really glad to have had Sister in my life, and still do! Our family moved A LOT of times during our school years and so by default at least, we were the only friends we each had with every new location. 

Happy Birthday, Sister! Have many more! I am thankful for you and I love you!

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is

for [sisters] to dwell together in unity!

Psalm 133:1

Easter 1957
Left to right: me, Mama, Sister

Until next time, grace and peace.