They call it  the “Good Old Days” when our grandparents lived off the farm, and what they could not grow or make they did without.  When I look at how they lived and hear their stories of times past, it makes me thankful of the age we now live in. 

The Panhandle Pioneer Settlement has demonstrations throughout the year on how things were done in the past such as hog butchering, butter making, blacksmithing, candle making, basket weaving, quilting and more.                                                                                              

 Hog Butchering
Learn how pioneers seasoned, smoked and prepared their food for survival and more. 8:00 am to 1:00 pm, January 15, 2011. (For a fee they will be serving lunch)

I love to go to the Pioneer Settlement with my two nieces.  They get a kick out of play acting which of course gives me lots of photo opportunities.  The old “Shiloh School House” (early 1800 two room structure) got their imagination running wild.

She is a stern teacher so you had better watch your “P’s” and “Q’s” or you will be in trouble.  I had a couple of  teachers like that when I was growing up.

The wall was painted and used as a chalk board.  The boys made sure there was plenty of wood to keep the heater going in the winter.

This is the reading room.  These girls love to read.

Here is an old steam engine.  I would hate to keep it fed.  As you can see by the lady standing beside it, it is very large.

Can you imagine the hardship of taking a journey in this covered wagon?  It would be cold in the winter and hot in the summer. I’m sure the camp fires at night kept families close together.  I’m glad we have the comforts of cars to travel in these days.

I think this is an old grinder.  Can anyone tell me what kind?

The blacksmith shop is very interesting with all the things you can do with a piece of hot iron, hammer,  and an anvil.  The iron has to reach a temperature of 2300 degrees to be able to bend it into a horseshoe.

My neice would love to try her hand at making a horseshoe.  The Settlement will be giving blacksmith classes  in September and December.  They will be shaping heated iron and steel with hand tools such as hammers, tongs, and chisels on an anvil.  A date has not been set.

The cobbler shop is where people had their shoes repaired or remade because most could not afford new shoes.  It usually included a small general store.

Bailey’s log Cabin was built around 1860.  It is a 375 square foot round log  building with deep front and back porches and roof over side steps.

In 1849 Jason Gregory built a cotton plantation at Ocheesee Landing across from the park’s current location.  After the civil war, the house stood empty. Sitting in the flood plain of the river it was flooded many times and was deteriorating.  In 1935 they numbered all the lumber in the house and moved it piece by piece to the park across the river where it stands today.

Old Photo of the Gregory House before it was moved.  It sits on the mantel in the house.

This is the back of the Gregory house as it stands now in Torreya State Park.

It is a lovely park with a birds eye view of the Apalachicola River.  There are hiking trails that will lead you down to the river.

They got the name of the Park from a rare tree that grows in the area.

 The “Torreya Tree” is very lovely.

This is the front of the Gregory House which overlooks the river.  It is a large house with very high ceilings.

You can view a lot of interesting antiques inside the house, some are original and some has been donated.

This old sewing machine sews from right to left instead of up and down like they do today.

I’m glad the “Dating Candle” is not used today.  My dates would have been very short.  When a young man comes to visit their daughter they set the candle to the length of time they want the man to stay.  The candle can be adjusted up and down.  When the candle burns down even to the first ring it time for him to leave.

An old square piano.

A ladies spittoon, although I don’t think spitting is very lady like.

Torreya State Park is located near Chattahoochee Florida, in the Florida Panhandle.  It is about an hour’s drive west of Tallahassee, Florida and less than two hours from Panama City.

Before you get to the lighthouse there is a picnic area on this very pretty little inlet beside the road.  It has live oak trees with their large limbs outstretched with Spanish moss waving in the wind beckoning you to stop.  We stopped on the way back  with our sandwiches and chips.  We set the food out and then it happened!  We were attacked by millions of “no-see-ums” that were all teeth.  Needless to say we ate in our cars after we got through scratching.

If you like history, you can find 465 years that includes the stay of the first two appointed governors of west Florida, cannon fire, pirates, sunken ships, Indian wars, Friars, executions, invasion forces, and a place that twice served as a temporary seat of goverment.

The tower is 73 feet tall with a focal plane of 82 feet.  The tower is attached to the 1 story duplex/brick keepers quarters, constructed in 1843. The station was established in 1831.  The exsisting tower was first lit in 1842 and is still operational.  It became automated in 1960.   The tower is white with a black lantern.  Its shape is conical.  It presently has a 5th-order lens.  The foundation is made of stone and the tower is made of brick.

Confederate soldiers tried to blow up the tower during the civil war to keep it from serving as a navigational aid for Union forces on the St Mark’s River.  Repairs to a large hole in the side of  the lighthouse were completed at the end of the war and a keeper’s dwelling was attached.

There were a lot of hungry birds looking for a hand out.  My daughter put crackers on her grandpa’s hat but they refused it until it was put on the ground.

The alligator wanted to joined in, but I just took his photo and told him it was against the rules.

The path down can get slippery so wear tennis shoes.  The cavern is about 1600 feet long with quite a few twist and turns. 

My nieces enjoyed the trip down under also.  We had a good guide that explained how the cave formed and what the formations were; such as stalactites, stalagmites, columns, soda straws, flow stones, ribbons and draperies.

You can also see fossils like seashells and a sharks tooth in the walls.

This bat was posing for its photo.  But I think the creature just want to sleep.

I have been to the Marianna Caverns in Marianna Florida quite a few times now.  I always find it interesting and continuing to add to my photo collection of the Marianna Caverns.

To see more photos of the Marianna Caverns, go to my Dot Photo Gallery.

It was late but I had to get a photo of it.  It looks like some one went to sleep on the job!

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You can Rely on Bateman Learning Inc – Continuing Education and Training for Career Professionals

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You can Rely on Bateman Learning Inc – Continuing Education and Training for Career Professionals

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Most people go to the Dead Lake for the fishing. Not I! I’m going for the photos. The lake encompasses about 80 square miles. I have not seen very much of the Dead Lakes and I would like to go back there to explore, but I would not want to get lost in them.

I was really amazed at the size of  some of the stumps.  So were my nephews.

The dead lakes were formed where the Apalachicola and Chipola Rivers met on a cypress swamp and resulted in the flooding of this low lying area.  I have read a couple of theories as to what happened;  one theory is years ago a temporary flood of salt water killed the  cypress trees; another is the Apalachicola river’s current made a sand bar where the Chipola empties out and blocked the river and flooded the swamp.  (Which I think is what really happened).  I have also heard that the dam that was built caused the death of these majestic cypress trees.  Now, only the stumps are left to rot away.  That is how the Dead Lakes got its name.

The purpose of the cypress knee is not yet determined, but they sure add a lot of character to the cypress tree.

To see more photos go to my DotPhoto Gallery.

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You can Rely on Bateman Learning Inc – Continuing Education and Training for Career Professionals

The front half of a hermit crab does have a hard exoskeleton, but it is the longish abdomen that is soft and can  change its shape to fit into a spiraled snail shell.

Hermit crabs have stalked eyes and very good vision. They also have two pairs of antennae, one of which is used for feeling, while the other is used for smelling and tasting. They have a large left claw, which they use to grab onto things, to defend themselves and to balance.

They make interesting tracks in the sand as they move along draging their shell.

This shell was so big and pretty I picked it up to keep,  but it was already taken.  I didn’t have the heart to take him out of his pretty home, so I left it.

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You can Rely on Bateman Learning Inc – Continuing Education and Training for Career Professionals