Mid week catch up

Wednesday night, we had the pleasure of joining one of my BHS classmates, Jane Dowling Fender at dinner- she has a time share here at St Augustine Beach-  Yesterday was men's lunch down at Corky Bells in Palatka, today Bette has Mah Jong, and resting up this weekend.  

Cooper said he wanted to head out to Yellowstone this summer, so I spent a couple of days lining that trip up, and we're pretty much set-  2 weeks from Greenville to Rapid City, home via Salt Lake City.  

Supposed to have our first chilly day in the morning, around 42, high tomorrow is supposed to be under 60, after several days in the mid 80's, plus 20 mph plus winds.   

October 28th Stray new plate

Caught this one on the way back to St Augustine yesterday, the only new one....

October 28th Back to the Florida routine

Started back in the Florida Routine this morning, over to Dunkin Doughnuts for doughnuts for the Liar's Club,  then a couple of cups of coffee, then out fishing with Steve.

Wonderful warm weather, and we caught 5 fish, and had some more bites, but no lands.

2 Flounder, keeper size- someone got dinner tonight: One each here 

2 Lady Fish, which around here, we call The Poor Man's Tarpon  Fun to catch, but not really edible, and they bleed a lot.  One each here

And a non keeper Jack Crevelle.   There were several feeding up on top, but Steve couldn't coax them on a fly rod a lure.  I landed this one.  

Then, on down to the storage lot, so they could deliver Wendy's old VW to the shipper, on its way to Virginia to a relative, then later tonight, it being Tuesday, it will be dinner at O'Steens!

October 27th Safely back at Coquina

Up at 7-  Then 102 miles down I-95 to Coquina-  Had the back end of an earlier wreck that had blocked up one lane of traffic, other than that, wasn't so bad.  Back home by 0920.  Buster was glad to see us.  

Friday's Trip to Palatka, another Courthouse Down

Knocked another county courthouse off my list in Palatka, which is the county seat for Putnam county Florida.  There were also 7 historic markers on the grounds of the courthouse.

The Putnam County Courthouse, built in 1909, is an historic brick courthouse building located at 410 St. Johns Avenue in Palatka, Florida It was designed by architects Robinson and Reidy in the Classical Revival style of architecture. C. D. Smith was the builder. It originally had a central cupola which is now gone. It has been extensively renovated and modernized over the years, with wings added on each side of the front portico


Found a photo of what the "old" courthouse looked like with the cupola.

2 New plates yesterday

This is BikeTober fest in Daytona this week and weekend, and the roads have been lousy with all the bikers and pseudo bikers heading to town, we can totally hear them chugging down I-95 which is about a half mile from our back door. 

Both of these were cycle plates I saw yesterday-  

Saturday October 19th To Palatka for the Trainfest

Picked up Steve and we headed over to the Palatka Train Station, which is a real Amtrak stop, and had a fun time visiting their annual Train Fest, which was a big display of their railroad museum, plus two big model layouts, and in the big family center, they had lots of train stuff for sale.  Picked up a free lapel pin from the RR crossing folks.

After a tour of the Riverside park, we headed over to Corky Bells for a terrific lunch- 


 









Nothing much on the schedule for this week, but Thursday, we are off to Beaufort SC for my 50th Reunion of my High School Class of 1964.  Yay!

Hit two locations on the National Register today in Palatka:  Also did 7 markers at the courthouse, and 1 out at the airport.   

First up was something called the Central Academy.  The Central Academy (also known as the Old Central Academy High School) is a historic site in Palatka, Florida. It is located at 127 Washington Street. Established in 1892, Central Academy became the first accredited African-American high school in Florida in 1924. The first Central Academy building was destroyed by fire in 1936. The present building replaced it in 1937. For a time it served as the school district's transportation office. The building, which the district turned over to the Palatka Housing Authority, fell into disrepair. A committee is working to raise money for its restoration. On November 12, 1998, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
I can vouch for the fact it is certainly fallen into disrepair. The roof is totally gone, can expect the interior is much better.  Probably a candidate for removal.  

Next was the Larimer Memorial Library on Main Street downtown: 

It had survived much better!  Larimer Memorial Library is a historic library at 216 Reid Street in Palatka, Florida, United States. It was given to the Arts Council of Greater Palatka in 1992, and renamed the Larimer Arts Center. On March 12, 2008, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.  It as you can see, has been repurposed as an Arts Center.

Bronson-Mulholland House and Palatka Museum Nat Register Site

Visited this fine home last Sunday on my Palatka visit-  it is and was a fine example of antebellum homes here in town.  This one was actually built in 1854, and occupied during the Civil War.  Had a 45 minute tour by a very knowledgeable guide.  

Issac Bronson gravesite

The house from the street 

The museum on the grounds very well done. 

The later family of the house

Saturday Catch up

Not to much to report on this week-  Went to see Lander ladies beat Flagler Volleyball for the first time in 5 years, took them 5 games, but we got em!

Saw this plate today on the way downtown, a first:

Spent a good part of the week planning for next summer's Maine trip, looks like we will concentrate on the Maine Coast this trip-  and not go to Mass, NH, or VT as I originally thought, except for a day trip to Meredith. 

Have some Doctor visits next week, and then Saturday is the Trainfest in Palatka.  

Also spent a good deal of time reworking my 343 class for Lander for next semester, which I found out I will be teaching.  Means I'll be spending the month of January and 2 weeks in April in Greenwood.  

Our pals the Coles have returned to the compound from Maine, so that means Tuesday nights at O'Steens!  

Sunday rambling in Palatka- 1st Presbyterian Church, Circa 1856

One of the many pretty Church Buildings in town, this one is at the end of Riverside Park:  It was established in 1856:

October 5th Sunday ramblings today

We had our first little cold snap overnight, which meant that the temps this morning were like 54, and the high today was supposed to be in the Mid 70's.  Perfect day to ramble a bit.

After Bette went to church, we strolled over to the Flea Market so she could get some kitchen things, and I got some 4/1.00 notebooks. 

Then, I decided to do or rather redo Palatka. It's about 18 miles east of us, and it is an old town with lots of historic places, and as it turned out today, several new markers and monuments for me to document. 

I wound up spending about 2.5 hours doing a slow tour, mostly of historic homes, and found several markers to post on the database as new finds. 

I'll post the findings in the next couple of days or so.

Next week is Doctor stuff, Bette's second sleep test, and some other silly stuff.  Two weeks before we head up to Beaufort for the 50th reunion.