Stephen Foster Museum and Park

We are on our last day at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Camp near Live Oak, FL. We drove over to White Springs, about 15 miles northeast, to visit the Stephen Foster Park. This is Ellen in front of the main building that houses the museum.

Inside were 10 dioramas depicting some of the composers most famous works. The dioramas were about 7 feet wide and 5 feet high, with great detail and moving parts (racing horses galloping along a track for "Camptown Races".

There were lots of pianos and period furniture, along with some old photos and descriptions of Foster's life, as well as manuscripts of his work. He died very young, when at 38, he had fever and chills, and passed out while at a washstand. He fell breaking the washbowl and cutting himself badly. He later died from loss of blood and the illness. Another tidbit about his life was he never went 'way down upon de Swanee Ribber"...he was in Pennsylvania and asked his brother to help complete a new song. He asked his brother for a two syllable name of a Southern River. His brother looked in an atlas and found the Suwannee.

Foster had over 200 songs published in his 20 year career as a songwriter. It is still a puzzle to me why these folks made this big museum and center for a guy who never showed up down here. Oh well, the grounds are beautiful and it is very peaceful. There is also a huge carillon tower that gongs out Foster music at the top of the hour.

Here is Ellen at the banks of the Suwannee, on one of the hiking trails at our park. This park is over 800 acres, with all sorts of trails, and lots of horse trails and stables. Sister Patty would like this.

Facebook

I am getting hooked on Facebook, after joining my high school group. We are having our 45th reunion this summer, but Ellen and I won't be able to go. Su Stern-Bitenc has put in lots of work on the reunion and she has started the class group on Facebook. It is somewhat addictive, finding out about friends from the past, seeing what they are doing now, and reminiscing a bit too.

Way down upon the Suwannee River...

And that's where we are, at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in rural Live Oak Florida. We have yet to see the famous river, but it is at the end of a couple of hiking trails. Before we do that (maybe tomorrow), we had to get some house stuff taken care of, like cleaning and sorting out our storage. I also took time to do some woodcarving, working on a Santa figure that I started before we got to Jacksonville.

This park has live music Tuesday and Friday (for free), and a $10 band on Saturday night. All this sounds great, as we just dusted off our dancing shoes Saturday at Flamingo Lake. Had a great time at the dance (thank you Marshall and Lucy for coming out our way). Dinner with the Kendall's was also mighty fine, and we really enjoyed visiting with our friends from NH. It is nice to know we have a place to stay in Freedom NH!!

The Spirit of Suwanee Music Park is huge with hundreds of hookups and a ton of land. Loads of trees with Spanish Moss hanging all over the place. Aside from all this, the biggest difference from Flamingo Lake is the absolutely LOW noise level. It is so quiet...after being next to I-295 it is like dead silence! I slept like a baby.

Love is in the air...

Anybody out there reading this, I want to remind you it is Valentine's Day...So do something romantic!!! We are having a nice quiet morning here. Actually, it kind of feels like Valentine's Day every day. Love is in the air....

We will be going to a Valentines dance tonight here at the RV Park. It is good to occasionally dust off the dancing shoes and try to remember some steps we learned from Harold at the Eagles Club in Fort Dodge. Good ol' swivel hips Harold. Cha cha is still a bugger for me, and the two step is my favorite.

Had a nice call last night from Matt, Ellen's son teaching in Colombia. He called to congratulate me on getting through the proton treatment. It is always fun to visit with Matt, maybe because he laughs at my jokes. No seriously, he is a great guy with a free spirit, and fascinating interests like scuba diving and parachuting.

We were finally able to see an Oscar movie yesterday, Slumdog Millionaire. The good guy wins in the end, but throughout, it was tough visual voyage through the slums and ugliness of Mumbai, India. We are so cleanly removed from that kind of squalor. It kind of puts a new perspective on the 'terrible' and 'horrible' financial crisis our country is going through. I don't have a clue what doing without means, and what kind of miserable life I have never come close to. I understand there are a lot of Americans hurting, out of work, and unsure what will happen next....and my heart goes out to them. I have been out of work and unsure of what might happen next, but I cannot imagine being one of millions without food, begging, barefoot, without family.

Hey, if anyone is reading this, I sure would like to know. Please leave a comment, or if you like, email me and let me know. I appreciate it. I am having a good time writing this blog, and I hear from time to time from others reading it, but I am interested to find out who and how many there are looking at this. Thanks!

Fini

Yahoo!!! I am now finished with my proton beam radiation treatment! After 2 months and 39 treatments, it is hard to believe I am done. My treatment was scheduled for 2 pm Tuesday, but upon arriving at the UFPTI my gantry was running 25 minutes late. Then within a couple of minutes it was 45 minutes late...

Waiting in the lobby at the proton institute is never a difficult or trying task. There is always somebody to visit with. Ellen and I fell into a conversation with 2 couples, one from PA, one thinking seriously about RVing fulltime. So that wait time turned into a nice conversation. One of the best side effects of the proton treatment is that we have made some great friends while waiting for my 15 ounces of water to make its way to my bladder so I would be 'ready' for treatment.

One couple, Marshall and Lucy Kendall from Freedom, NH, is having us over for dinner tonight. Marshall's hooby is woodworking, notably lathe work, and when the Kendall's traveled to Jacksonville, he brought along a bunch of his woodshop equipment, including a table lathe! He has turned some bowls and chalices in the garage of his condo. Lucy does floral and decorative painting on Marshall's creations, so she brought her paints and brushes.

I finally finished my treatment at almost 4 pm, so that was actually an hour and a half delay, but no big thing, the main thing is we can now do whatever we want from day to day. It was a sad/fond farewell to the great folks on my gantry crew, hugging them all, with them wishing us the best. We also parted ways with Marquita, the sweet receptionist who always met us with a big smile. We will be back in August, for a 6 month checkup...so hopefully we can see some of these great people again.

Last night we had dinner with Jon Dahl, former teacher we knew from Fort Dodge. He was fixing to fly to Colorado to see his first granddaughter. Had a great visit with him (Cindy was already in CO) at a Longhorn Steakhouse near the JAX Airport. We're pretty sure we will have a place to stay when we come down for future check ups. Thanks John for the invite!

Time flies when you're having fun...and company!

Well, I have not posted for a week and a half...time is indeed flying. Between counting my proton treatments down and hosting friends and relatives, time is indeed flying!

After Don and Connie Sarver hooked up and traveled west, friends from Ames, Barb Peterson and Jere Maddux arrived for four days of fun. The weather was not good, with rain, fog and chilly temps...but the friendship was sunny. We visited a lot, played some bridge, and our guests spent most of a day at the Florida Proton Therapy Institute, including the weekly lunch and a tour of the facility.

The day before they left, daughter Erin and her kids plus family friend Babbs Dawster flew in from Iowa. We surprised them at the airport, and that was an exciting time! It ws fantastic to see Erin, Jaiden, Mason and Ethan again, and getting to meet and know Babbs.


The weather was uncooperative most of the week. We did manage one day at Jacksonville Beach, although it was pretty chilly. The hearty northerners were still able to get in the water...actually they were the only ones in the water besides some surfers with wetsuits! brrrrrr!!!







We also made it to St Augustine, and the kids really enjoyed the historic fort, complete with the cannon firing and the walls made of cochina (sea shells + mortar). On the 4th, the kids organized a surprise birthday party for Ellen on Wednesday...complete with cake, gifts and flowers! Ellen was really tickled.


the family at the zoo, Tim, Jaiden, Erin, Mason, Ethan and Ellen

We spent one day at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, having a great time at a great zoo. The zoo is laid out very well with loops stringing out from a main walkway. It is not huge, so that you can do the whole thing easily in one day. Note the name was Zoo and Gardens. The plantings are fabulous and the whole thing was like a lush rain forest or Florida swamp. The most fun was feeding the Giraffes and watching the black jaguar trying to catch a fish in the pool.

The last full day of the visit we all went to a Children's Museum on the south side of Jacksonville, where there were all kinds of stations, like the fire truck, the post office, the puppet theater. Lots of fun opportunities for creative play. We really enjoyed the visit from the kids Erin and Babbs...we are thankful they all were able to come down.

I am down to two treatments at Proton...It is amazing that so many treatments have passed by so quickly!

Fernandina Beach

We had a fun day yesterday, traveling to Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island with Bob and Bonny Herman. Fernandina Beach is a very historic town, as it was the beginning point of the first east-west trans Florida Railroad in the 1850s. Fernandina Beach had a very natural harbor, and apparently this was a boon for the area, as this port was booming in the 1800s. There were at least 2 forts guarding the waterway, Amelia River, into Fernandina Beach.

There is a great walking tour (we drove for part of the route) of historic homes, and there are a ton of them... Doctors, tug fleet owners, ship chandlery owners, and yes, even saloon keepers built magnificent mansions. Lots of gingerbread and wrap around porches. And those great painted lady color schemes.

The photo above shows us in the rear courtyard of the Florida House, Florida's oldest hotel that is now a B & B and a bar/restaurant. Lots of galleries and unique shops throughout the pleasant downtown area. We also had a lunch at the wharf area on the Amelia River. Had to get a shot of this painted hippie van.

Earlier in the day we went through Fort Clinch State Park also on the island, checking out the camping amenities. It looks like we will try to stay there a few days before leaving the area. One RV loop is right by the dunes of the Atlantic, and it looks great.
Afterwards we ate at Sonny's BBQ, and learned how to play Farkle at the Herman's trailer. Today we had a "catch up day" at the trailer. It was the first day in quite a while that we had 'to ourselves', and we got a lot of work, cleaning and sorting done at home.

Thought for today: No man is ever too busy to tell you how busy he is.

Full day

This was indeed a full day. We had breakfast this morning with Don and Connie Sarver, and then saw them off at about 11 am. It was so nice they were able to visit for a week. We truly enjoyed our time with the Sarvers. They are on their way west now--safe travels!


We then met with Bob and Bonny Herman to visit the Kingsley Plantation, a National Parks System Historic Site. The plantation is on Fort George Island, east of Jacksonville and bordering the Atlantic. The plantation was a trip back into history, seeing the remnants of the slave quarters, set in an arch near the gates to the compound. The main house is under restoration, but the grounds were simply beautiful and well kept. The house faces the Fort George River, and is amid gorgeous palms and mossy oaks.

Tim stands near the ring of slave cabins, made of tabby (cochina shells + mixture, covered with a plaster)

Zephaniah Kingsley moved to Fort George Island in 1814 with his young freedwomen wife from Senegal (he freed her and married her in 1811 when she was 13). The plantation produced Sea Island Cotton, sugar cane and Indigo, and had 80-100 slaves at its peak. As Florida became a state, its legislature made laws more stringent for slaves. This irked Kingsley, as his view was that slaves were part of the plantation 'family'. He ended up moving to Haiti where he could function without such repressive (for his family) rulings.



We had a picnic on the grounds, thanks to Bonny for packing some dynamite chicken salad sandwiches, tea, cherries and chips.

After touring the plantation, we went on to the Herman's campsite at Little Talbot State Park, touring the park and part of the seashore. Bonny fed us once again with spaghetti and snacks. It was a very full day.

A view of the main house looking towards the Fort George River