Friday Foto Friends - A Visit to Micanopy

I am writing this on Thursday evening, and praying now for the people in the path of Hurricane Florence. They have a rough weekend ahead of them, and I pray that God will spare their lives and homes. I do pray that those in harm's way have gotten to higher, safer ground ahead of the storm. As I heard many people on the news saying, "Your lives and the lives of your family members are more important than things. Things (stuff!) can be replaced, but people can't. So be safe! Take care of people first"

Speaking of "stuff",  I've been looking around at all my "stuff" lately, and am feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all. I envy those who are able to downsize and walk away from too much stuff and begin anew with a cleaner slate.  I am truly praying about this, and seeking God's help in "letting go" and beginning the process of "downsizing". One thing at a time. Gotta start somewhere. I look around and really don't know where to begin, but I pray that God will direct my path and give me the courage to do this.

Again, speaking of "stuff"...last week we spent a very enjoyable day with our son and his sweet wife, a.k.a. "The Newlyweds", on a little day trip to the very interesting historical town of Micanopy.  If you have never been there, you might want to add it to your day trip list, for those of you who live in Florida. I would advise going in the fall or early winter or spring...not summer. Not only is it too hot, but many of the stores are not open in the summer. They open back up in the fall as they anticipate more visitors and shoppers when the weather cools down a bit.  But, even though it was a warm day, we had a wonderful time, and it was well worth the time spent.  So here are some pictures from our day:  (Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away...there are quite a few pictures!)

Each of these old buildings had unique and interesting kinds of stores. The one above had antiques and also sold guitars and other musical instruments.

Most every store had some kind of antiques and other decorative type of merchandise. Here's my family pondering the architecture of the buildings around them..

Interesting...

I want one of these:

"The Newlyweds"...this week they celebrated 10 months of married bliss!!

I told the family that this is what I want for Christmas...

 Or maybe even one of these...

This was the little cafe' where we ate a very delicious lunch...Their chicken salad is delicious, and they make their own salad dressings...

An old Hoosier Cupboard...it was a bit worse for the wear, but still a "treasure"

I thought of all my coffee drinking friends here...but they did also sell tea...(I had iced tea, of course, on this warm day)

This is the outside of the building where the cafe' is. We could have sat on the porch to eat, but it was very warm, and there were bees buzzing around, so we opted to eat inside where it was cool...maybe next time we'll eat on the porch...

Next was a house full of many antiques, dishes, dolls, books, teacups, etc....I refrained from buying anything for myself.   Anyway...the walk into the place was through a very tall butterfly garden. Most things weren't blooming right then, so it just looked rather weedy. But I can imagine it being beautiful while in bloom...

This was one of the flowers blooming there...

Here's the old Stage Coach stop...

 Just another view of the town and one of the many beautiful old homes...

It says Private, but I wanted to explore...

I love the old brick buildings and vines...and we wondered about "Seminary" Avenue...not sure what kind of Seminary they had there...need to look that up.

Another colorful shop

This little garden was behind that shop above...

 I know my sister would be in plant heaven here...

Next we visited the Micanopy Historical Society Museum.  Micanopy is a very old town, originally home to the Potanos and Timucuan tribes, and later the Creek Indians and Seminoles.  Micanopy is the first inland town, (not on a river) and it is the first United States town in Florida. For more information on the history of this town please go to www.MicanopyHistoricalSociety.com     You will be amazed at all the history of this little village.

Here are some pictures from the museum:

This is a picture of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.  Her home at Cross Creek, Florida, is not very far from this area.  You may remember her as the author of the story "The Yearling", which was also made into a movie , and many of the scenes were actually filmed here in the Salt Springs area where I live. Some were also filmed in Micanopy.  She also wrote the book, "Cross Creek", which also became a movie of her life story.

Here are pictures of some of the Indian Chiefs from this area.

Some of the flora and fauna written about by the famous botanist William Bartram, as he traveled inward to Micanopy back in the 1770's.

These are some old farm implements discovered when they cut back the brush and found the trees growing up inside the implements. So they left them that way for the display at the museum.

 Sort of an old farm tool cemetery...

It was a hot and thirsty afternoon... Royal Crown Cola, anyone?

It truly was a delightful day. For me, the best part was spending time with our sweet adult "kids"...enjoying them and rejoicing in the fact that we have them nearby to be able to do this occasionally. That is a true blessing for us "old folks."

I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of the little town of Micanopy. If you are looking for it on the map, it is just off of highway 441, a little south of Gainesville, Florida, and northwest of Ocala.
You might also be interested in the Herlong Mansion, which is a Bed & Breakfast in Micanopy. Here is a picture...I didn't take this picture, but it gives you a glimpse of the beauty:

Now let us travel over to Deb's place at Breathing in Grace  and visit our other Friday Foto Friends and see what they've been up to.  Have a blessed and wonderful weekend, and if you are in the path of Florence, we are praying for you right now.