The Flora Of Florida with a Little History

Earlier this week we visited friends Mona and Jerry, originally from Pewaukee, who are now Florida residents for six months of the year. They have a beautiful home near Koreshan State Historic Site and treated us to a tour of this interesting place in Estero.

Cyrus Teed, head of the Koreshan Unity Settlement, started a utopian community movement in New York. He eventually moved to Florida (it was still a frontier in the mid-1890s) to avoid hostility because of his group's religious, scientific, and cultural beliefs. Teed took the name of "Koresh," a very loose translation of Cyrus. The word means shepherd or leader in Hebrew. (Maybe you recall another Koresh who called himself a shepherd - David. His compound in Waco, Texas was wiped out by the FBI back in the 1990s.) The Koreshans in Florida were a more peaceful people and believed in equal rights for women long before women won the right to vote in our country.

However, their science was a bit strange. Teed believed that the entire universe existed within a giant, hollow sphere. One saw the sun, moon, and stars by looking inward rather than outward.

The Koreshan community did reach out to the people living in Estero. The Koreshans put on plays and musicals and created elaborate Victorian gardens. Back in the day, the locals paddled down the Estero River and took in the Koreshan culture from their boats.

Unfortunately, when a community believes in being celibate, the only way to add members is by recruitment. Therefore, its future is somewhat doomed. And so it was with the Koreshans. By 1961 only four women remained and, wisely, they deeded their land to the state of Florida as a park and memorial. The Koreshan Unity Settlement is now on the National Register of Historic Places with 11 restored buildings.

Okay, that's it for the history lesson. Now on to the flora that is in the park....

This tall skinny tree is a Washingtonian palm or hurricane palm. It bends in the winds that oftentimes lash the Gulf coast of Florida.

The tree starts out life wearing what looks like a tutu. Not sure how long it takes for the palm to reach stratospheric heights.

Bromeliads are plants that attach themselves to other plants such as palm trees. At first glance it looks like this tree has a full crown of leaves. A second look reveals hundreds of individual bromeliads.

The blossoms on this silk cotton tree were a welcome sight in the middle of winter.

Another interesting tree was the sausage tree. Notice the brown "sausage" hanging about one third of the way down a little to the left of center.

While our tour was about the history and the trees in the park, we did see this gopher tortoise that came out of its burrow just for our little tour group!

The Florida state parks' tag line is "Real fun in.....the Real Florida." From what we've seen so far, the phrase is right on the money.

More Florida Nature

More nature in Florida...and maybe a decision on what to do next February. We were at Oscar Scherer State Park, Osprey, and toured the campground. The sites reminded me of Peninsula State Park, only the trees between the sites were palms rather than pines. Osprey Lake is at the far end of the park. 

But swim at your own risk....alligators in the area.

The volunteer force at the park paid for WiFi (always a requirement for Rick) and they host a variety of daily activities just like at the private RV resorts we've seen in the area. Apparently Florida is known for its state parks.

We also checked out Myakka State Park, Sarasota, but were not as impressed with the campsites in that park. However, the Myakka River is beautiful. Last year we went on a boat tour to see the many alligators and birds that make the park their home.

Later in the week, we were at Linger Lodge. Bradenton. Our Englewood friend, Randall, recommended the campground at the Lodge. Turns out we were at the Lodge two years ago but didn't pay that much attention to the campground. "Rustic" would be the best description. Maybe a place for a couple of nights but no more. For a private campground, at least the price is right.

Many camp sites are on the Braden River. The restaurant at the Lodge overlooks the river. (This picture  was taken through the screened in porch.)

The Linger Lodge restaurant is definitely bizarre. Lots of dead animals mounted on the walls. This little fox greets guests as they enter.

As for the decision for next year, Rick is thinking about bringing his Argosy (basically a painted Airstream) trailer to Florida. Florida uses Reserve America just like the state parks in Wisconsin so we would have to be Johnny-on-the-spot to get our reservations in eleven months in advance.

Music Abounds

Saturday night we attended a play presented by The Suncoast Players, a group that performs original plays and music. The play,The Case of the Golden Girl, was a benefit for the Lemon Bay Historical Society and part of the Lemon Bay Fest this past week.

Fictional Englewood FL detective, Billery Dean, has a sister, Hillary, who ends up in Las Vegas and is hired as a security guard at the Golden Girl Casino in 1958. Two chorus girls from the casino are murdered. In between lounge acts (including a "George Burns/Gracie Allen" bit and a You Bet Your Life show episode with "Groucho Marx"), Hillary figures out who the perpetrator is. 

Not only could the cast members sing, but several of them wrote the original music that was performed. The play was funny and even included audience participation. The audience members who ended up on stage had no inhibitions and got into their roles with lots of enthusiasm.

The Suncoast Players is a division of the Suncoast Writers Guild which was organized in 1990. I'm not sure how many writers belong to the Guild, but it looks like a very active group of authors, playwrights, poets, and song writers. In general, this area of Florida seems to have a thriving creative culture. 

And a live music scene. On Sunday afternoon we went to Laishley Park in Punta Gorda for a concert with the Country Express Band sponsored by the local Kiwanis Club. Fortunately, we had camp chairs with us and found a shady spot to sit and enjoy the music. We also met a couple from Indiana and had a nice visit with them. 

I learned from Sandy (the woman from Indiana) that one can substitute the words for Amazing Grace to the melody of The House of the Rising Son. Who knew? And when the band played her House request, I substituted the words. Sure enough, it worked!

A lot of live music venues here and we hope to hear a few more local bands at neat outdoor venues in the next three weeks.

Into the Heat

A record high temperature of 88 degrees was set on Tuesday in Fort Myers, a little to the south of where we are in Englewood FL. I'm not sure if our community set a record, but it sure was HOT! Reminded me of July.

The other reminder of July was the Charlotte County Fair. It was free on Tuesday for us senior citizens so we took advantage of our age and attended at no admission charge. We had also attended last year. This year it seemed like more people were there.

I always appreciate the exhibits of the school kids. This one was from Liberty School in Port Charlotte.

Lots of talented high school kids, too, as evidenced by their art projects - paintings and drawings.

The 4-H members also exhibited various animals. I guess it wouldn't be a county fair without the chickens, rabbits, goats, and cows. I wonder if the kids get the week off from school to be able to care for their animals at the fairgrounds.

Rides seem to be a lot more exciting than when I was a kid at the fair. Not sure what "Rock 'N' Roll" was all about, but it sure was loud!

It was neat to see how many rides were specifically for little tykes - mostly those that go round and round rather slowly. One of the rides had a few high spots on the track, went a little faster than most, so the kids were throwing up their hands in the air as if they were on a roller coaster. Even heard the requisite screams.

Earlier in the day we stopped at Nokomis Groves. This fruit company has been run by the same family for 65 years. One could smell the oranges in the air at the store. We had a creamsicle afternoon treat - delicious and well worth a short wait in line. The mural on the side of the store caught my eye.

We now have a couple dozen oranges, a few limes and lemons, and a half dozen tangerines in the fridge. No excuse for not getting enough vitamin C for the next several weeks!

One more photo I'll share with this post. This was the scene at the Cedar Point Environmental Park not far from where we are staying. A pair of bald eagles have built a nest in the park and have hatched two eaglets. We saw one of them stick its head out of the nest but I was unable to get a good picture for my blog. 

The heat is predicted to break in a few days - highs only in the upper 70s! Better enjoy it while we can.

Out of the Cold

What a difference two days...and 1400 miles to the south make! About 100 degrees! When we left Wisconsin on Friday morning, the temperature had fallen to below zero during the previous evening. On Sunday the high in Englewood FL was 87! We'll take the 80s and no snow, thank you....

Here's a view from Fisherman's Village in Punta Gorda on Sunday afternoon. Lot of white fluffy clouds in the sky.

We spent our first night in the South in Macon GA. A winter storm hit the area earlier last week and signs of snow were still visible when we set out on the second leg of our trip on  Saturday morning.

People abandoned their cars on the side of the highways. We saw a few remaining on I 75 as we passed through northern Georgia.

Our first stop on Sunday morning, after breakfast at Sweet's Diner in Port Charlotte (where I drank my coffee out of a mug commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Cascade WI State Bank), was the Farmers' Market at the History Park in Punta Gorda. It was so nice to be able to wander around the various vendors. Flowering plants were a welcome sight.

Along with the farmers in the Punta Gorda area, a few artists plied their creative wares....

Big birds (no, not THE Big Bird from Sesame Street) were evident at Fisherman's Village.

Of course, we finished up the day with two trips to mobile home parks where the residents have to be over 55. It's really not a bad way to retire. There are lots of activities during the week with people who are enjoying leisure and are mostly from the MIdwest. Maybe next year....

Rick said I would  update my blog daily while we were in FL. Maybe not that often, but I'll do my best to keep you abreast of these Wisconsin wanderers who are enjoying Florida for the next several weeks.

Holiday Cheer (with music and food)

One of the best things about the holidays is the music. During December Rick and I heard a terrific concert by Midwest Vocal Express at the Greendale High School auditorium. One of the members of MVE, an all-male a cappella chorus, works with Rick and invited us to attend. Not only did MVE sing great Christmas favorites, but the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble and the Epix Quartet, a foursome from the Crosstown Harmony women's a cappella chorus, performed a few numbers as well.

The men of Midwest Vocal Express sported red and green ties - appropriate for Christmas.

Handbells are the perfect holiday musical instrument.

This quartet placed 25th in international Sweet Adeline
 (the women's equivalent of a barbershop quartet) competition.

The chorus must have heard my wish because they performed my favorite Christmas carol, Do You Hear What I Hear, as the final number. This brought back memories of singing in my high school chorus.

There were snowflakes both on the inside and the outside of the auditorium that day!

After the show, Rick and I went to Mazos for burgers. It's in a tiny storefront across the street from Leon's Frozen Custard. We were extremely pleased with the great value. For $20 (tip included) we both had burgers, fries, soup, and split a strawberry milkshake made with real strawberries!

We'll definitely return the next time we're on the south side of Milwaukee.

Drive-ins, Diners, and Dives on the Food Network has visited a few places in Wisconsin including Franks Diner in Kenosha. We met our friends, Greg and Laurie, there the weekend before New Year's for a late breakfast. 

That's Rick going in to find our friends.

The food was good, service was fast, and the staff was fun. Even though the line was practically out the door, customers did not have a problem waiting. Everyone was having a good time.

Diners like Franks have a sense of humor.

Customers need to obey the directives on the wall!

After breakfast we ventured to the Civil War Museum. The focus of the permanent exhibit is on the experience of soldiers from the Upper Midwest. Wisconsin sent more than 91,000 troops to fight in the Union Army. They fought in every major battle of the Civil War. Camp Randall (now the location of UW Madison's football stadium) was Wisconsin's major training facility. Confederate prisoners were also housed there. That's why 140 southern soldiers are buried so far north in Madison's Forest Hill Cemetery.

These were the lucky ones who returned to their families.

The Civil War lasted nearly four years to the day it began.
We are in the midst of the sesquicentennial commemoration
of that horrific war. 

Our day in Kenosha ended with a ride on the electric trolley - a loop nearly two miles long. Again we were entertained by a barbershop quartet singing Christmas carols. It was one of our warmer winter days and a splendid way to spend a Saturday afternoon with friends.

The holiday season is over but the memories remain. Happy New Year to my readers and to your families as well. May 2014 be a joyful, prosperous, and successful year!

The Chandelier Ballroom

A few weeks ago a friend of Rick was married. The reception was at the Chandelier Ballroom in Hartford WI. What a beautiful and interesting place. The Ballroom also held a few memories for Rick, but he'll have to tell you about those!

The Chandelier Ballroom opened as the Schwartz Ballroom on October 20, 1928.

Dance halls were popular in the 1920s because of the big bands. Their music was broadcast on the radio and soon the "new urban sound" became a craze of the nation.
     
The Schwartz Ballroom was designed by Milwaukee architect, Robert Messmer, and funded by local brewer Joseph Schwartz, Jr. The octagonal "Great Hall" rises 36 feet at its center. 

This one-ton wrought iron art deco chandelier hangs from the center of the ballroom.

The unobstructed dance floor can accommodate 1500 dancing couples (or about 350 people seated at tables for a wedding reception). 

From the entrance looking left....

and to the right.

Major performers of the time came to the Schwartz Ballroom and in 1931 local Milwaukee radio station WTMJ broadcast live via CBS, giving the Schwartz coast-to-coast recognition. Guy Lombardo (of New Year's Eve fame) and his Royal Canadians drew a record crowd of 6000 who jammed the Ballroom while several hundred more listened from outside. 
        
The ballroom was pressed into wartime service from 1944 to 1946, serving as a Prisoner of War camp for 300 or more German POWs. Prisoners provided labor at local factories, making up for labor shortages created by the war. Following the close of the war, the Schwartz went into bankruptcy. Marty Zivko, who had performed at the Schwartz with his "Polka Boys" purchased the building at auction and it became Marty Zivko's Schwartz Ballroom.  

Zivko brought rock 'n' roll bands to the Ballroom in the 1960s and the bands attracted thirsty young people from Milwaukee. The drinking age in Milwaukee County was 21 but only 18 in Washington County were Hartford is located.

The Ballroom had several owners after Marty Zivko until it was bought by the Hartford Rotary in the late 1990s. Rotary members planned to generate revenue from the Ballroom that could be returned to the city. They also wanted to ensure that the building would remain in Hartford for future generations. It was at this time that the Ballroom became the Chandelier Ballroom. The Ballroom was renovated and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. The Chandelier Ballroom is now owned by the Hartford Historic Preservation Foundation. 

Lights throughout the Ballroom reflect the design of the main chandelier.

Thanks to the vision of those 50 Rotary members more than a decade ago, the Chandelier Ballroom is a magnificent piece of history that still stands today.