Having left our winter quarters on March 28, we stopped for a few days in Perry Florida. Perry is near the bend heading into the panhandle. It is about a 45 minute ride to Tallahassee.
Thinking it would be a good idea to stretch ours and the dogs legs we took a ride to a nearby rails to trails hiking trail. We found the Tallahassee-St Marks Historic Railroad State Trail. As the name indicates it runs from Tallahassee to St Marks. Throughout the early 1900s, the railroad along here was used to carry cotton from the plantation belt to the coast for shipment to textile mills in England and New England. We covered around 6-7 miles (overdid a little) with the dogs and decided to drive down to St Marks afterwards. Below are some pictures of the coast and lighthouse which resides there.
Took a ride into Tallahassee one day and visited the Mission San Luis. This mission was a Spanish Franciscon one built in 1633. It was built as part of Spain’s effort to colonize the Florida peninsula and to convert the Apalachee and Timucuan Indians to christianity. The original mission was evacuated and destroyed in 1704 to prevent it from falling into English and Creeks hands. Reconstruction began in 1996. Below are some pictures from the reconstruction.
An additional place we visited was the Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science. The museum provides learning experiences about North Florida’s natural environment, rich history, and diverse cultural community. It contains living exhibits of wildlife, nature trails, and nature gardens. It was a nice place to see some wildlife native to Florida, some cultural history, and some interesting dinosaur exhibits.
The final place we went to was the Tallahassee Auto Museum. This museum is way more then just an Auto Museum. They have collections of antique automobiles dating back to 1894 (the Duryea). They also have an 1860 funeral hearse reported to have carried Abraham Lincoln. Beyond autombiles, there is a huge collection of antique Americana. These include case knives, outboard motors, and fishing lures as well a complete vampire killing kit. While we were there, they had a large collection of Batman vehicles on display as well. For my fellow RVers, if you happen to be a Harvest Host member, you can boondock on the property for free so long as you tour the museum. See some of the many items they had on display below.
Next stop Pensacola Florida – catch up soon!
Fran and Jeff’s Retirement Adventures 