Florida Like a Native

You may or may not know that Jamie grew up in Florida.  Not only did she grow up there, but she's at least a fourth or fifth generation native Floridian.

Now there are worse places to have in-laws than Florida. 

But when we visit, it's not all trips to the beach and Disney.  It's backyard grilling and eating out on the screened in porch; informal and impromptu family reunions that inspire even me to pick up a southern accent; trips to the interior with its dry prairies and palmettos and gators; church at Covenant Mennonite - that little welcoming oddity just twenty minutes away down in Sarasota; sandals and shorts and short sleeves and sun.  It's best just to share it in pictures.

The beach on the west coast (Gulf side) of Bradenton Beach, Florida. 

Me chasing the waves.  Note the bare feet and shorts in January!

Jamie on the boardwalk headed for the Longboat Key Beach. 

This is one of the lakes in Myakka River State Park, which is east of Sarasota.

This is one of half a dozen or so alligators we saw in the park.  I have a strange fascination and irrational fear when it comes to gators.  In fact, every time I go jogging, even in the tamest subdivision, I am a little on edge...

Florida dry prairie as seen through the palm trees.  The prairie used to cover about 300,000 acres of Florida's interior.  That, and cattle used to be a leading export.  Who knew?

Jamie with Weston and Macey, her cousin's children.  When I asked how old she was, Macey said, "I'm fixin' to turn five next month."

Jamie and her mom look around the graveyard where her mom's family members (Ballard, Hendry) are buried back for several generations.  The graveyard is off a state road next to New Zion Baptist Church, established in 1866 just after "the War of Northern Aggression" as they sometimes call it down South.

Jim and Terri posing under the oak tree draped in Spanish Moss (which is neither Spanish nor moss).  Interesting stuff about that Spanish Moss: it's a flowering plant related to the pineapple and it used to be harvested - Florida alone had 35 moss processing plants.  The last one closed in 1958 (Gainesville), but before that, the moss had been used stuff furniture, horse collars, and car cushions.  Anyhow, This graveyard was the first stop on our tour of the home places - the old Ballard homestead, the church where Jim and Terri were married, the three room building where Terri went to grade school, and a drive down Ballard road.

Mr. Armadillo as seen rooting around the ditch next to Ballard Road.  Jim actually spotted it from the driver's side and backed the truck up to get me a good look and a good picture.

Jim practicing his cast in the backyard.  Here's what I learned: this is a 10 foot mullet net, and casting is an art.

 

Citrus grove - they're abundant in Florida.  Our trip was just after that major January freeze, and so trucks were speeding down roads all week, filled to the top with oranges.  They were headed for the juice plants to try to get the crop in before it rotted.