Candid Florida » Small Towns

Cellon Oak Park

Sandra Friend — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:03:52 +0000

Florida’s largest live oak is just south of the tiny town of LaCrosse in rural north Alachua County. Known as the Cellon Oak, it’s so expansive that the cover of “Big Trees in Florida” shows 30-some-odd people linking hands to approximate the width of the tree’s crown. It’ll help you put yourself in perspective!

Citrus time in Oviedo

Sandra Friend — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:45:51 +0000

The warming effect of Lake Jesup, shallow and broad, preserved the fruits of growers labor in Oviedo, where Black Hammock is an important historical agricultural district. What a delight to see giant grapefruit dripping from trees in residental yards and to pick tangerines from my friend Joan’s tree. More than 30% of Florida’s crops were destroyed last week due to the freakish cold weather, according to news reports. So please support your local growers this season, they need you more than ever!

Hometown 4th of July in Geneva

Sandra Friend — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:56:13 +0000

Having fun at the Geneva 4th of July Parade

I had a wonderful 4th of July weekend vist with my friend Joan, who introduced me to the delights of small town Americana, Florida style, at the annual Geneva 4th of July Parade. This was as mom and apple pie as could be, including a parade where local children rode their bicycles and ranchers rode their horses – and virtually everyone in town who wasn’t on the side of the road was in the parade. Children sold lemonade, parade participants tossed candy to the crowd, antique planes did a flyover, and it was capped off with a community celebration at the town park, where you could join in a cake walk (which Joan did), bob for apples, take a pony ride on a trail through the woods, or just relax with a hot dog and listen to the local band play patriotic tunes. What a heartwarming experience !

Hernando Beach isn't

Sandra Friend — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:47:14 +0000

Swimming area on Jenkins Creek

One of the conundrums of naming a place is that people DO expect to find what’s in a name: Silver Springs, for instance, or White Springs, or Lake City … logically, those landforms should exist in those towns, and they do. Hernando Beach is a different animal. I remember after a 60s visit to Weeki Wachee, going in search of a beach and being disappointed at a rough spit of land with sand and pine trees on the Gulf, down at the end of SR 50. But Hernando Beach, I think, was a marketing ploy by a developer who carved canals out of estuary and sold lots at sea level. Shoal Line Road is lined with some fine restaurants, but this is a mostly residential area to the west of SR 19.

You can’t see the Gulf of Mexico from Hernando Beach, even from the top of the tower at Jenkins Creek, but you can smell the salt air and drive along stretches of highway in the middle of a salt marsh. Pedersen Park at Jenkins Creek is a pretty little place for fishing or swimming, with picnic tables and pavilions and a man-made beach along a crystalline palm-lined creek, a slice of Old Florida at its finest.

Fudge frenzy at Denny Lynn's

Sandra Friend — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:25:24 +0000

Hernando’s got a rim of chocolate around its mouth, and it’s all Denny Lynn’s fault. This candy factory has been a fixture at the junction of SR 200 and US 41 as long as I can remember. When they moved from the strip mall to their own little building under the oaks, things just got better and better. Now, with room to move, they’re moving out creative candy like never before. I was barely off a fudge mix direct from Mackinac Island when I stopped here with my friend Phyllis to savor the possibilities, among them seafoam – a crunchy chocolate-dipped candy – and yummy maple walnut fudge. They offer so many creations, you just can’t go wrong!

Denny-Lynn’s Fudge Factory
2746 N Florida Ave, Hernando
(352) 637-3438

A Taste of Lake Butler

Sandra Friend — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 16:18:06 +0000

Now Lake Butler is truly a Florida backroads town, huddled along the shores of a beautiful cypress-lined lake that they keep all to themselves. It’s another railroad town dating back a century and more, and quiet as the day is long. I know of it mainly since the Florida Trail cuts right through the middle of town, and hikers are encouraged to ask for permission to camp in the city park along the lake. I’ve stopped here before and dined at the Butler Seafood House to my satisfaction before, but this visit had a challenge attached – we were warned the food wasn’t as good as the last visit. And I learned my lesson. Don’t order beef in a seafood restaurant! The burgers, sadly, were uninspired. But the country buffet sure looked good. If it weren’t for all the eager teachers swarming across it, we might have ordered it. I’m not giving up on them yet, especially since the cashier was nice enough to give us a discount for waiting so long for the clouds of young teachers to clear the room. I’d suggest, however, sticking with country favorites and fried seafood.

Butler Seafood House & Grille
315 N Lake Ave, Lake Butler
(386)-496-3700
www.butlerseafoodhouse.com

Meander through Macclenny

Sandra Friend — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:10:00 +0000

It’s not often I’m up in the upper tier of the state, pressed against the Georgia border, but a recent visit to Charleston, SC set up the conditions for us to meander through Macclenny and a few other backroads communities. Along US 90 and the railroad tracks, this is a quiet Florida town, the county seat of Baker County, with a small historic district, a genealogical library, and a historic courthouse that now serves as an education center: the public library.

Early in the morning, there wasn’t much going on, but I was sorry to see that the antique shop where I’d bought a copy of the WPA book on Florida for $10 was now gone. There’s a yarn store – the Local Needle – and one other long-standing antique shop in a historic home, plus a corner shop filled with fancy fabric purses, but otherwise all’s quiet in downtown Macclenny, and I bet they like it that way.

Movies a Cheap Date in Okeechobee

Sandra Friend — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:46:25 +0000

One of the things I really like about Okeechobee is the Brahman Theatres. I’ve been here for many a film with friends during the annual Big O Hike, as it’s a nice cool getaway after a morning on the trail.

But more importantly, for my budget-minded traveling friends, is how cheap it is for first-run films. Yep, we’re talking take the whole family to the movies cheap: adults $6.50, 12 and under $5.

Matinees are Wed, Sat, Sun at 2 and 4:15, and Mon at 3. Evening showings, too. As I recall, they need at least 6 people in attendance to show a movie. I’ve seen several Harry Potter releases here, and as you can see by the marquee – a photo taken several weeks ago – they don’t skimp on quality!

1500 S Parrott Ave, Okeechobee
(863) 763-7202

Crackerhouse Books

Sandra Friend — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:39:21 +0000

Groaning under the weight of used paperbacks – more than 12,000 books stuffed into this little 1908 white and yellow Cracker cottage – Crackerhouse Books in Arcadia is somewhere to stop if you’re bibliophiles like us, especially if you collect paper ephemera. They’ve got it! Hours are a little offbeat, but call ahead if you’re headed to the heart of cattle country.

Crackerhouse Books
236 N Brevard Ave (US 17)
(863) 993-1445

Chillin' in Micanopy

Sandra Friend — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:37:43 +0000

Here at the Herlong Mansion enjoying breakfast while looking out over orange trees and azaleas. Starting a few days of meanders through North Florida in search of geocaches along some of the region’s most spectacular trails, with the La Chua Trail at Paynes Prairie first on the list. Stay tuned!

Herlong Mansion B&B