cuseroc
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I Root For: Syracuse
Location: Rochester/Sarasota
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RE: Tell Us About The Areas Near Your School
(07-16-2020 07:51 AM)Garrettabc Wrote: (07-15-2020 10:44 PM)cuseroc Wrote: (07-15-2020 08:24 PM)Garrettabc Wrote: Tallahassee - the areas industry is mostly government and state related. Historically it is pretty rich. The name "Tallahassee" is taken from an old Apalachee Indian word meaning "Old fields" or "Old town". The area was a hotbed of Indian activity, it's hilly area made for good settlements, its many lakes provided fish and game. The Spanish came and settled with the Indians (Apalachee) in the late 1500s and stuck around until the English ran them out. The historical site of Mission San Luis is a hidden gem in this area. You can visit the museum and explore its artifacts, then take a stroll outside in the recreated village, talk to the historians dressed in time period cloths. I highly recommend it and it's not far from FSU campus.
Within the city, there are several parks great for showing off it's natural beauty and for people watching. The 2 you should absolutely see is Lake Ella and Cascade Park.
Lake Ella is a smallish lake, but a popular place for residence to go leisurely walking or take a break at one of several "cottages" that sell refreshments. The main attraction of this park however are the many ducks and geese that have lost their fear of humans. I have actually picked up a duck and petted a few others, but most will come just close enough to be out of reach.
Cascade Park is on the southern edge of downtown. It's really the middle park of a chain of 3 parks which should all be explored while you are here. If you don't have the legs to walk, no problem, you can rent a bicycle, scooter or segway. It's another great place for people watching that has been newly renovated over the last 10 years. Historically, it had a natural waterfall up until the early 1900s which can be seen on postcards during that period. The railroad however built right over top of it and destroyed it. Since renovations, it has added an artificial waterfall as well as fountains, an amplitheater, play areas, restaurants and it's newest addition is a hotel which should be complete soon. Walk across S.Monroe St. to Proof brewery, Tallahassee's largest micro-brewery. The beer known as the "Mango-wit" is probably their most sold and can be seen in many of the area restaurants and stores.
Wakulla springs- Just 20 minutes from Tallahassee is a deep sink hole with gushing water forming the spring. You can swim, jump off the dive platform, take a boat tour or just relax inside the old hotel / restaurant. Several movies have been shot here including Tarzan and The Creature from the Black Lagoon.
The Forgotten Coast- This might be the least touristed coast line in all of Florida. The stretch of highway from Panacea to Apalachicola is mostly inhabited by Oysterman and Fisherman. Along the this coastline you will find beaches, campgrounds and museums. My favorite town along this area is Carrabelle, the history museum was very interesting, you will also find a beach that is historically significant for training soldiers in preparation for "D day".
Sounds like some beautiful areas. I havent been to the Tallahassee area in over 25 years. Never did any touristy things there. My stepfather is from a little town called Quincy which is about 26 miles west of Tallahassee. He, my youngest son and myself were going to do a guys trip down to Quincy in October. But thats not going to happen anytime soon until theres some semblance of normalcy.
Wow! You got a connection to the Tally area, of course I am familiar with Quincy, the town made a fortune when a banker convinced many of the locals to invest in Coca-Cola well over a hundred years ago, today Quincy is a little run down and I really can't think of anything to do or see in Quincy, however a small hole in the wall called "Reynolds donuts" makes the best donuts in the area, seriously you got to stop there in the morning just once. Gadsden county (where Quincy is located) is also unique in a sense because of all of its old tobacco barns that are still standing after over a hundred years, I have not seen anything like it anywhere else in Florida. Tobacco was a big cash crop for them back in its day, Quincy and Gadsden county still does a lot of agriculture, being a huge grower of tomatoes.
I was born in Tallahassee and still live here, I sometimes take the touristy things to do here for granted as I done them several times in my life, but other people would probably like to do or see it. Of course the natural wonders is not limited to my small sample, some people would enjoy going to the "natural history museum", botanist would enjoy the Maclay gardens or rent a kayak on Wakulla or Wacissa rivers, travel 45 minutes west to Marianna and see the Florida Caverns state park.
Thats why I havent been there since 1990. Thats almost 30 years. Didnt realize it has been that long. The last time I was there was for my stepfathers, mothers funeral. My stepfather and I like to make fun of each others home town since Im from Sarasota. But Sarasota is a beautiful town, so there's not much he can say about Sarasota without conjuring something up, lol.
When I was a kid, we used to visit my step-grandmother and she lived in a house that had an outhouse on the back porch, AN ACTUAL OUTHOUSE!? It was on the back porch but you had to actually go outside to get to it. The outhouse overlooked a backyard that dropped about 20 feet and was surrounded by greenery. It looked like a scary forest. After listening to the adults share their old wives tales and having to go to the bathroom at night time in an OUTHOUSE when you're' a 9 year old city kid can be very traumatic.
Our goal in October was to visit relatives in Quincy and hangout in the area sightseeing and then go down to Sarasota for 3 days. Whenever I do get down there, I will definitely try Reynolds Donuts. My stepfather is 83 now and every time I take him to Florida, he tells me this will be his last year going down. He's been saying that for 6 years now.
(This post was last modified: 07-16-2020 10:22 PM by cuseroc.)
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