Granny's Letters:
February 1st---I am all right today. We had a lunch today and went up and got old Mr. Turner and went over to the beach but the tide was in so we could not drive on the beach, we went south on a road for about 6 miles on the east side of the river and that was worse than any jungle we had seen yet. I think the road is between Datona Beach (that is the part of Datona that lies east of the river) and Port Orange. We crossed the bridge at Port Orange and went through the town, then out to the Old Spanish Sugar Mill, it is west of Port Orange. The walls of the building were built of shell rock, part of it still stands, the wooden part is getting pretty well rotted but the machinery looks like new only for the old gray moss like that growing on old rails at home, no rust on it whatever and it has laid there for ages. No record is to be had they tell us of this old mill. The iron kettles are still there that they cooked the syrup in, the pans of sheet metal are pretty well rusted, a tree that looks to be a hundred years old has grown up by the old stone chimney. It is a wild cherry tree and cedars have grown up over the furnace that are as tall as the wall and some almost as tall as the flue. It looks strange to see the iron looking like it does, it must be wonderful stuff and the ground was high and nice where it set. A nice camp grounds was there but no one was in it. We came back and went in to Mr. Turners and met his housekeeper stayed a few minutes and went home. We had our supper on the way home, stopped at a house and got some greens, some kale and Chinese cabbage, 5 cents a bunch. George came over in the evening. Got a letter from Carrys today, she said Carry had work and they would stay while that lasted. February 2nd---It rained last night and is cold this morning and very windy. Frank went to town this morning to get some boxes to send some persimmons home, we made three trips to Daytona and one to the orange grove before we got them ready, no wonder Carry went almost bughouse over their Christmas boxes. After dinner we went to the orange grove, we walked through the grove, the trees are budding and putting out new leaves but the old leaves are as thick and green as ever. The chinaberry and the fig are the only trees that I have seen that lose their leaves like ours do. We saw trees yesterday again that we had seen before but had not learned their name, they are the Florida plum. We saw them in bloom when we were going to Sarasota now they have plums on that are beginning to ripen, and at Deland we saw ripe plums, they are yellow, we put a leaf in the boxes of fruit we sent. We found buckeye when we were in the orange grove in bloom, the bloom is like ours only red. This grove we were in yesterday was planted in a palmetto grove, the tallest palmetto trees I ever saw and I have seen scads of them, then we went to the crate mill and got some kindling then went back to Daytona to get some cumquats, then home had some supper and went to Martins and spent the evening. Mr. Martin popped some corn, it was very tough. The Georgia people left this morning. While they were here he killed a Moccasin snake just outside of their tent. I said something about it and he said they didn't think anything about it, they were used to snakes. February 3rd---Answered Ocie's letter. It is not so cold this morning and the sun is shining again but the wind is blowing a gale. Frank and George have gone to town. This afternoon we went over to the beach but it was so cold we did not stay long, the wind was like ice. We drove up to Ormond on the beach, it is made up of beautiful homes. The Rockefeller home is there but it is very common, the house is large but very plain of frame and painted a grayish white color, it shows the lack of care. A Mr. Price has a beautiful home there, the grounds are kept up and that is what makes things nice here. February 4th---We went over to the bridge fishing. Frank took the boxes up and mailed them, cost 1.05 cents. This afternoon Frank caught 2 drum fish and we caught some yellow tails. We could have caught cat fish they were biting fine when we came away, I was just throwing them out but people do not eat them, they are salt water cats so it is fun to catch them. It is like catching craw fish at home. We had bought a mess of speckled trout from some coons so we had fish for supper and breakfast. George spent the night with us as usual. February 5th---Frank and I went with Mr. Gauts up town this morning, just to be going and got 3 letters one from Mother R one from Mother and one from Blanche. We were, then after dinner we went back again, George went with us, we looked through the curio shops and visited the casino, it is a fine place for the tourists to spend their time. We were too late for the concert, they have one every afternoon and evening. George was over this evening. February 6th---Frank and George went fishing this morning, caught several fish but only 3 that were good to eat, then Frank and I went back after dinner so that the fish bait would not be wasted and I caught 10 good fish and he caught 3 or 4 so we had a good mess for supper. They were about like a small carp in looks, they call them yellow tail. George was over this eve. February 7th---George and Frank went to pick oranges today they did not go until about 10 o'clock, the dew was so heavy that the trees were too wet unless you wanted to get soaked which they did not. Our neighbors, Smith went back to Michigan today, they sold their car and went on the train, there was the Mr. and Mrs. Vane Marcus and George. They live at Charlovoy Michigan, they have a rooming house and hotel at a summer resort. They are up to snuff to hear them tell it. I washed the blankets today. The men picked 20 boxes of oranges apiece. If they would work early and late they could make good wages. They brought home 3 dozen of oranges apiece and did not pay for them either, some were drop and some were not. We had macaroni for supper with tomatoes. Washed some more Chinaberry. George was over and spent the evening, only stayed until 10 o'clock. The dew had begun to drip off the trees before we went to bed, the fog was so heavy we could not see the fog across the river. You wanted to know about the camera, we only had one film finished and 7 were good. We have another pack about half taken. I took a picture yesterday of our tent and one of a boat on the river. I have to do something to kill time while Daddy is gone. The time is going all too fast for him, he does not like to think of going home but the time will soon be here. I don't know if we will stay here all of this week or not, we would like to go back to St. Augustine again, it will be about 40 miles out of our way but there is so much to see. That is the only place where we really have seen much, there and Deland. We had no one to hurry us there, the only way to travel is alone if you want to see what you want to see. We have not heard from Carrys for a week. I am looking for them everyday, they may fool me and not come at all. Ish-ka-bibble. I had a nice letter from Hazel, was glad to hear from them. You will get tired of hearing us talk when we get home. Will close with love to all. Mom and Daddy. February 17th---Nothing special today, Frank went up town and got a letter from mother, Blanche and Carrys. Carry said he thought they would not start until the middle of March so Frank sent them a card that we were going. I visited Mrs. Guthrie from Akron in the afternoon. We met them at three different places. We packed our junk and got ready to start next morning. A Kentucky man came and spent the evening with us. Got up next morning early and got ready to start but had to wait a while on the bunch, there are four cars leaving for the north --- 5 one more has joined us. Three Michigan, one New York and ours. February 18th---We are coming back over the same trail that we traveled last fall. Stopped at Itchtucknee river, ate our dinner there, stopped at Branford and looked at the Suwannee river and made camp 12 miles north of Live Oak. Of the 5 cars that started only 2 were left, ours and Mr. Gardener's from Michigan, he is a dentist, so we are traveling together for a while at least. Made 87 miles today. February 19th---Got started this morning about 8 o'clock, the roads were sandy from Suwannee to Madison, reached Valdosta about 11 o'clock. Our machine worked poor and we had to stop and fix the spring, while the men worked at that we went and bought syrup at a farm house. $1.00 a gallon. When we reached Sparks Georgia we took the machine to a garage and had a man work $2.15 worth and did not help it much I am afraid. Had a bad detour after that and we thought it didn't heat up so bad. Got north of Lenox and camped, it was almost dark. Made 80 miles, bought a dozen of eggs of a farmer, Whiteman, for 30 cents. We all sat around the campfire for a while. The neighbors have gone home and I am going to bed. February 20th---Oiled the car and got started at 10 o'clock the roads were good, made Cordele till noon, ate our dinner and reached Macon about 4 o'clock. Did not stop long, it was a very nice place what we saw of it but that was not much. We got on the wrong road, came back and got on the wrong road again and camped about 10 miles out of Macon in the edge of a cotton field. Before we left camp this morning Frank shot a rabbit, we gave the Doctor part of it and I had mine fried nice and their little girl was playing in the sand and threw a shovel of sand on my stove, some of it went in the skillet and spoiled our rabbit. We couldn't eat it. February 21st---Had a time starting the machine but finally got on our way. Got back to the highway and made Millegeville till noon, had a bowl of soup, cost 15 cents a bowl. Millegeville has the state prison, the reform farm for boys, the State Military School and the Normal school, they have fine buildings at all of the places. Then we started out for Augusta, got as far as Louisville in the middle of the afternoon, it began to rain and made the roads very slippery, they are of red clay and hard to drive on when wet. Camped in a pine grove about 4 miles north of Louisville. We have about 45 miles to Augusta, then we will soon be in South Carolina. February 22nd---We had an awful time getting the machine started and did not get started on our way until 11 o'clock, then Mr. Gardener had to pull us. We heated the water in the radiator and heated the oil but could not get the thing to go. At the first town we stopped and drained the old oil out and got new oil in, ate our dinner and we are now in Augusta, the men have gone for directions to get out.