A Day of Discovery
Comment via blog
Check Granny's letters of the day
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Day 9: November 2, 2023 A Day of Discovery Comment via blog Check Granny's letters of the day |
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I got the day started by stepping onto the hotel's big balcony and
looking left, ahead, and right.
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I had a stop planned on the way to the museum but I made this unplanned
stop first. Everything about the
Dive In Florida Eatery (nee Diving Girl Diner) is
really cute in a beachside snack shop sort of way but the offerings are
go way beyond snacks. It was bacon & eggs
for me. When I stepped through the door, I did not realize just how
tightly this stop was tied to my planned stop. The diving girls on the
wall are copied from a sign that once stood at Reeds Motel on US-27 and
photos of which will appear here shortly. Tiffany is co-owner. Today she
was also hostess, cook, server, and delightful conversationalist.
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The real Reeds sign is on display down the street at the
Pure Grit. The Dine In's Tiffany and the sign's owner
are friends, and he made the replicas for the restaurant's walls. The big
neon trimmed sign helps out at the store by displaying a few hats.
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The ultimate destination for my morning walk was the
Avon Park
Historical Society's museum in the old Seaboard
Coastline Depot. My sampling of the museum's many exhibits includes a
collection of items from the town's railroad history, a monogrammed plate
from the Jacaranda Hotel, and a glimpse of a
display on the Tin Can Tourists organization. The TCT held large
gatherings in Avon Park in 1939 and 1940. But the best things in the
museum were Robert and Elaine who answered my many questions and provided
lots of information about Avon Park.
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Elaine verified that this is the very same bandstand that Granny mentioned
in her letters. The Robbinses listened to a concert here from the comfort
of their own car. The picture taken from the bandstand is also of
something I was quite interested in.
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While in Avon Park, Granddad did some plastering in what I am pretty
confident was one of the buildings in the area next to the bandstand.
Sadly, the block of buildings was demolished sometime in the 1980s. The
black and white photo shows the block on March 8, 1926. Learning this was
a double blow to anyone claiming to be sleeping in a room plastered by
their great-grandfather.
An indicator of the area building boom of the 1920s is the $1.25 per hour that Frank earned with little (maybe no) plastering experience. With more experience, the friend that helped Frank get the job, made $1.50. The average wage in the country at the time was $0.65/hour. |
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Continuing my walk east from the museum, I snapped a few more pictures of
the Jacaranda. The pool replaced a garden and sitting area in the 1940s.
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At the museum, I learned from Robert that what is now Donaldson Park
would have been the tourist camp ground in 1923. It was probably somewhere
in that field that Granny "found a string of white and pink
beads" that turned out to be a small coral snake.
This looks like it would be quite a nice place to camp even with some old "bones" sitting on the beach. It's pretty obvious, though, that the park's current residents wouldn't even make a decent snack for whatever left those bones. |
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Granddad went sightseeing in Sebring so I did too. I definitely curious
about that "BUCKEYE" on the brick building. The theater opened
on July 4, 1923, so would have been operating -- and very new -- when
Frank was here.
This is the southern most point that the 1923 letters mention, and I celebrated completing the retrace with a Circle Park/Pale Ale at The 301. I believe the building of the left side of the picture is the hotel that Tiffany (at the Dive In) and her husband are renovating. |
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Tiffany also operates a wine bar in Sebring and told me about a concert
taking place there this evening. It sounded interesting and was starting
early enough (7:00 PM) that I could tack it onto my sightseeing. In the
end, I had to stretch my sightseeing just a little with one of the extra
sights I saw being sunset over Lake Jackson.
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Mon
Cirque Wine Bar is just as cool and maybe just as cute -- in a
different way -- as the Dive In. I was extremely surprised to hear my name
called there twice. The first was when I walked through the door and was
recognized by Tiffany. She introduced me to her husband, Bob, and we all
chatted for a while before I headed into the bar area where I again heard
my name called out. This time it came from Chris and Terry whom I'd met
that morning at the Dive In. They were seated at the bar with an open
spot, which I soon filled, beside them. It was quite the amazing welcome
followed by great conversation.
I'd not previously heard of Wyatt Espalin but became a fan with his first song. He performed original material almost exclusively and it was all stuff I liked. Granddad was a fiddler and, when Wyatt picked up his fiddle, I realized that I had read nothing about that in Granny's 1923 letters. On the 1920 trip, she wrote about him playing several times but there was no mention of it in the available letters from 1923. Why that is, I have no idea. When I snapped a picture of bartender Mercedes, I got a bonus of a little bit of Tiffany behind her. But I also got an intentional picture of Tiffany and Bob. The fellow with the Telecaster is a local named Tom whom most of the audience knew. His skillful playing added to the latter part of Wyatt's performance. I did not stay to the very end, and left about 9:00. The concert was scheduled to end at 10:00 but it had the feel of something that could go until dawn. An all around excellent evening. |
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Back at the Jacaranda, I took one last look at Avon Park at night then
hit the sack.
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