Tag: Depot

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Blogging History Travel

The Hotel Jacaranda

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. A favorite place of mine in Avon Park Florida – aside from the historic Avon Park Depot Museum – is the historic Hotel Jacaranda – AKA “The Jac” – AKA “Queen Of The Ridge”.

Built between 1923 and 1926 along Main Street in the historic downtown district – it’s been operating continuously as a hotel with a restaurant for the past 98 years. It’s named for an estimated 150-year-old Jacaranda tree that had to be knocked-down and removed to make room for the building at its location at 19 East Main Street. The entire mile-long Main Street historic district (eastward from U.S. 27) is on the National Register Of Historic Places.

During the late-1920s and into the 1930s it housed visiting major and minor league baseball players who were training in the city. Babe Ruth stayed at the hotel, as did Clark Gable, George Burns and Gracie Allen, and other famous stars of sports and screen. During World War 2 it housed military pilots who were training at the nearby Army Airfield.

Since 1988 it’s been owned and operated by the South Florida State College Foundation. The college has classrooms within the building as well as offices and student dorm rooms. Culinary students train in the kitchen of the restaurant and create many of the meals that are served to its customers. I’ve enjoyed a half-dozen delicious meals at the restaurant, and I’ll continue to support them and enjoy the ambience of the historic hotel.

If there ever comes a time where I need to vacate my home for a night or two (power outage, no A.C. in the summertime, no water, etc.) – then I would definitely consider checking the availability of a room at The Jac. I would love to spend a night or two there.

Financial donations support continuous restoration of the hotel.

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Next #TravelThursday – Pioneer Daze is coming. I’ll tell you all about it. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging History Travel

Tasmania Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about the historic Avon Park Depot Museum – operated by the Avon Park Historical Society. It’s located about 4½ miles from my neighborhood. On a recent visit a friendly docent greeted me, and we had a nice conversation about local history – not just of Avon Park, but also of the entirety of Highlands County and beyond. Truly I could have spent several hours in conversation with him.

He told me about Tasmania (Florida) and Fisheating Creek. That led me to do some historical research on the ghost town and the natural free-flowing stream that runs alongside it.

So Tasmania is actually located in western Glades County (our neighbor to the south). It’s about 10 miles west of the small community of Palmdale, and about 4 miles south of the Highlands County line. What remains of Tasmania are foundations and a few farm buildings along what is now Tasmania Road, or Glades County Road 731. (That zigzagging road also enters Highlands County.)

Tasmania was established during the late-1880s, and it got its name in 1916. The small settlement along Fisheating Creek (its original name) was mostly abandoned during the Great Depression of the 1930s when it was bypassed by the railroad to the east (along what is now U.S. 27).

Fisheating Creek begins in the hills of southwestern Highlands County, and it flows downhill for about 50 miles southward into Glades County and then eastward into Lake Okeechobee providing the big lake with about 9% of its water (the second-largest natural source of water after the Kissimmee River). There’s actually a gap in the 30-foot-high Herbert Hoover Dike that surrounds Lake Okeechobee where Fisheating Creek flows freely through to the lake on its west side. (The dike parallels the Creek at its mouth.)

I’m glad I had that conversation with that docent on that day in Avon Park. I got to learn all about Tasmania and Fisheating Creek. I’ve driven over the Creek about 60 times over the past 18 months via U.S. 27. Now when I drive over it – I’ll be thinking about everything that I’ve learned about it from source to mouth – from swampland past settlement to lake.

As a fellow historical museum docent – I’m encouraged to know that my visitors are learning about the local area from me, and then they are leaving and telling their family and friends about their experience. They may also be doing historical research of their own. That’s a great way to preserve, protect, and promote history around us.

Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation (FWC) Commission –
Fisheating Creek Wildlife Management Area

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Next #TravelThursday – we take a trip out west to Texas. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging History Travel

Avon Park Depot Museum

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. 113 weeks ago I wrote all about my first visit (which was really my second visit) to the historic Avon Park Depot Museum – operated by the Avon Park Historical Society. It’s located about 4½ miles from my neighborhood. I visited the museum on a previous trip to the area in February 2021. I arrived at the museum. I took a couple of exterior photos. I walked-up to the front door, and it was locked shut. #COVID

What a disappointment. I immediately returned southward to Sebring. That disappointment actually led me to a big “reveal” with the Sebring Historical Society that began my relationship with them.

Meanwhile I’ve been visiting the Depot Museum in downtown Avon Park on a fairly regular basis. My friend Elaine is the Museum Curator, and she frequently updates the museum with new displays – both temporary and permanent. It’s a very nice museum to visit set in a historic train depot, and the trains keep on rolling by. (They just don’t stop.)

On some days you may even be able to get a bonus exclusive behind-the-scenes tour inside this railroad dining car (acquired in 1986) that last saw action as part of Amtrak’s Auto Train. It’s now used for special catered dining events by groups of 16 to 36 (by reservation only).

The museum is a traditional historical museum for the city of Avon Park. You can easily spend an hour or two checking it all out and allowing the docent and curator to share history with you. It’s currently open from 10 AM to 3 PM on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. It’s located at 3 North Museum Avenue right after the first set of railroad tracks if you’re driving east on Main Street from U.S. 27. Make a left at Museum Avenue, and you’ll see the museum and the dining car on the left-hand side.

The docent on duty at the museum during my visit last month told me all about Tasmania Florida and Fisheating Creek. That led me to do some historical research on the ghost town and the natural free-flowing stream that runs alongside it. I’ll share what I learned next – #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Driving Home Travel

Avon Park Depot Museum

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote all about my recent 2-day visit to my future retirement area – Highlands County Florida – located about 3 hours from my current home of nearly 35 years.

I plan to visit the area on a fairly-regular and increasingly-frequent basis going forth, and every time I visit I’ll think about my upcoming purchase in my future gated neighborhood less than 3 miles south of Avon Park, (but with a Sebring address). I’ll also visit some of my favorite places that I’d like to volunteer at during my retirement life.

One such place is the historic Avon Park Depot Museum – operated by the Avon Park Historical Society. It’s located about 4½ miles from my future neighborhood. I actually visited the museum on a previous trip to the area in February 2021. I arrived at the museum. I took a couple of exterior photos. I walked-up to the front door, and it was locked shut. #COVID

What a disappointment. I immediately returned southward to Sebring. That disappointment actually led me to a big “reveal” with the Sebring Historical Society that will lead to additional volunteer opportunities. I’ll write about that experience next week.

So I finally entered the main door of the Avon Park Depot Museum. I and 2 other guests who arrived just before me were greeted together by a friendly volunteer docent. She stopped everything she was doing, and she went out of her way to give the 3 of us an extensive tour of all of the rooms of the museum. She knew her material, and I was eager to absorb it all as she was telling the history of the once-bustling Avon Park train station from the late-1920s through the mid-1970s. (It’s been operating as a museum since 1981.)

She even gave us a bonus exclusive behind-the-scenes tour inside this railroad dining car (acquired in 1986) that last saw action as part of Amtrak’s Auto Train. It’s now used for special catered dining events by groups of 16 to 36 (by reservation only).

After the tour, and after the other 2 guests went on their way I stayed behind just to talk with our docent – Elaine. (She’s the Museum Curator.) I thanked her for the wonderful job that she’s doing. She made history come alive inside that historic building. She was a model docent that I’ll use as an example in my future docent opportunities. I told her that I’m interested in serving at the museum once I move up to the local area next year. I believe that I can help the museum out and contribute in many different ways. I’ll definitely visit again the next time (and probably every time) I visit the area. I told her that I’m a blogger (which she didn’t really understand), and that I’d be writing about the museum (and her) on a future blog post. Next time I visit I’ll share this blog post with her.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll share my unexpected experiences with the Sebring Historical Society – both in February 2021 as well as this most recent visit to the area. Looks like I’ll be very busy working inside Historical Society museums during my upcoming retirement life. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp