Florida's Big Bend

Feb. 23 - March 2, 2023

Perry, FL is located in the Big Bend area of Florida where the peninsula transitions into the panhandle.  The first item on the agenda after arriving in Perry was to find a post office.  Sherry, a lifelong friend of mine, has a longarm quilting machine and had offered her talent to sew together the top, batting, and backing of the twins’ quilts.  I couldn’t resist her kind offer.  As I dropped the package off at the post office, I kept thinking what a climate shock the quilts were about to go through.  Sherry lives in Minnesota!

Our stay in Perry was a quiet, laidback visit.  We camped at the KOA in town, which offered a nice pool we took advantage of a couple of times.  It was a good place to hang out and finalize our camping locations and make reservations for the remainder of 2023.  Our reward when done was a dip in the pool and then some time in the hot tub!

Forest Capital Museum State Park was less than a mile down the road from our campground, so we spent an afternoon taking in what the park had to offer.  In their museum, we learned all about the process of chipping pine trees to gather sap and then processing the sap into turpentine.  There was also a wooden map of Florida inside the museum.  The interesting thing about this map is that each of the counties of the state are made from a tree native from that county.  My dad’s hobby was woodworking, so I couldn’t help but think how cool Pops would have thought this was! 

There is also a “cracker” homestead located in the park which was interesting to tour.  Crackers were independent individuals who liked to keep to themselves and were quite content to be self-sustaining on their farms.  The term “cracker” is thought to have come from the early Floridian farmers who cracked their whips to drive their cattle and oxen!

Perry offered a couple of short walking tours of the city.  The two trails overlapped a little, so we were able to hike both of them on the same day.  One of the trails took us through Perry’s parks while the other showed off some of the locations and buildings that founded this city.  It was interesting to learn of the Hampton Springs Hotel where people would come for the healing water, enjoy the gardens, golf, and relaxation.  Today, it is a park filled with wild azaleas.  I couldn’t help but wonder if they are left from the hotel gardens.  

Original fountain from Hampton Springs Hotel

We made a couple of trips to Immaculate Conception Catholic Church while we were there.  One was for Stations of the Cross, offered on Friday evenings during Lent, and then again on Sunday for Mass.  It is such a small, intimate church!  I really appreciated the message in their bulletin on “the gift of boredom”.  I tend to keep busy, moving from one project to another.  I generally have a list of tasks for each day that are often impossible to accomplish in a single day.  Boredom doesn’t often have a chance to find me.  This article suggested boredom can actually be a good thing, giving one time to explore new interests, develop unrealized talents and daydream about our hopes for the future.  It was compared to living in a desert where there is little to distract us, giving us the opportunity to dream about what is ahead of us.  It makes sense that Jesus went into the desert before he began his ministry.  It was a beautiful article.  I’m going to make shorter lists – who knows, maybe even a day now and then without a list!

Next up: Panama City