It was inevitable that the Spanish, French, and British would fight for hundreds of years over control of the New World, and the place we now know as Florida was one of the most hotly contested. Whoever controlled Florida controlled the rich shipping lanes coming from the Spanish Caribbean, and those world powers bathed the […]
Theirs was a love that could never be. A passion that had to be hidden from the cultural mores of the time. But even death could not deny them their devotion to each other. The proof lives on in a simple tombstone in Tampa’s Oaklawn Cemetery. Virginia native William Ashley arrived in Tampa in 1837 […]
It was inevitable that the Spanish, French, and British would fight for hundreds of years over control of the New World, and the place we now know as Florida was one of the most hotly contested. Whoever controlled Florida controlled the rich shipping lanes coming from the Spanish Caribbean, and those world powers bathed the […]
We love lighthouses and have toured them from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Northwest coast, so we were excited to discover Florida’s tallest lighthouse, near Daytona Beach. The 175 foot tall Ponce De Leon Inlet Lighthouse is one of the best preserved and most authentic historic light stations in the country. The lighthouse construction […]
The story of early American expansion in Florida was written in blood. For years whites and Seminole Indians had clashed in quick, violent confrontations over land, cattle and slaves. These ongoing conflicts helped justify the United States government’s policy of removing native peoples to reservations far away from their homelands. Washington decreed that all Seminoles […]
Until you’ve been in old town St. Augustine, Florida on Halloween evening, you just have not seen Halloween! We spent the day playing tourist in America’s oldest city, and saw everything from pirates and soldiers to zombies, witches and werewolves. I think they were dressed up for Halloween? Maybe that’s just the way folks roll […]