2015-2016 Florida

New Adventure – The Beginning.

In October we decided to submit applications to Florida State Parks for volunteer positions.  As it was very late in the assignment process we thought we might get a place for March or April 2016, but if by chance we were offered a place earlier we would leave home before Christmas.

In early November we received a call from Koreshan State Historic Site in Estero, Florida.  The ranger wanted to know if we were still interested and available.  He said he would get back to us in two days.  Well in two days he called back after checking our references and offered us positions.  At first we thought it was for a docent position for Judy and Jon would work maintenance.  Several days later we received an email and it turned out that both of us would be docents.  The “Volunteer” Volunteer Coordinator sent us information on what we needed to study and information on securing proper attire – special collared shirts with sleeve patches. 

 

We began studying the material and making preparations for departure after Thanksgiving, including making an appointment with a military Vet for Lilly’s annual checkup. Only location we could find was at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station so we made an appointment there.

Wednesday December 2^nd we left home.  The weather was good, until we hit Charleston, WV.  It began to rain, not hard but steady and as we moved further south it began to get foggy.  By the time we left Wytheville, fog was so dense you could not see more than 100 yards.  We got into the campground at Charlotte Motor Speedway about 4 and then went into Mark’s for dinner and to see everyone.  It was 6:15 when we pulled out on Thursday morning and there was still a lot of traffic on I85 and I77.  The weather was much better and got warmer as we moved south. About 3:30 we pulled into the Famcamp at Jacksonville Naval Air Station.  The next morning we got Lilly to the Vet and she had her full checkup and got her heart worm/flea medications for the next year.

Saturday we got on the road about 7:30 for the 350 mile drive to Estero.  After several rest and one re-fuel stop we pulled into the ‘Volunteer Village’ at 20950 South Tamiami Trail. We were greeted by Chuck, a volunteer and found our spot, number 11, and set about to get parked.  It was not an easy task. 

Though the space was wide with lots of room to maneuver, they had received about four inches of rain over Thursday/Friday and the ground was very soft.  After much pulling forward and backing we decided to just stay put. We met Ron and his wife Joan (the Volunteer Volunteer coordinator) and found out about some coming activities to attend and get ourselves familiar with our new tasks.

This will be our ‘home’ for the next several months.

Sunday morning we found our way to Our Lady of Light for church, about 3 miles north of the campground.  It is in a big new modern facility with seating 345 degrees around the altar. At communion time there were twenty Eucharistic Ministers plus two priests. We only recognized one of the music pieces. 

Next week we will try a church south of us at Bonita Springs.

After church and a stop at Walmart for a few things we headed over to the historic area, referred to as ‘the settlement’ by the park staff and other volunteers.  We were to ‘shadow’ Ron and his wife who were serving as docents in the two main buildings.  After talking to Joan some about The Planetary Court, she suggested we hook onto a ranger lead formal tour.  It was an interesting hour and a half and the tour ended in the industrial area of the settlement where Stan (another volunteer) was showing of some cooking and a blacksmith was working on making some hooks.

 

On our way back to the village we stopped by the weekly Farmer’s Market in the park and picked up some fresh vegetables.  An experience trying to ride out bikes back carrying a big cantaloupe!

Monday we took a driving tour down through part of Bonita Springs and out to the islands and back in through Fort Myers Beach and back home again.  We were looking for a place for lunch and spotted a little place between two RV parks that had lots of cars in the lot.  We had to go further and make a U turn and come back to it, but it was worth it.  The place was called “Marko’s on San Carlos” and it was only open 7AM to 2PM.  Had a good lunch and it came with all you can eat soup….real homemade chicken noodle or cream of mushroom.

Tuesday we had our meeting with Ron who took the “new” docents on a two and a half hour tour of the facilities and into some areas the public does not see.  He gave us more information on the settlement and some additional information and sources where we could learn more.  He also went over our duties in each facility and how to arm and disarm the alarms and lock up the buildings. We certainly have a lot to learn about Cyrus Teed and we start our duties tomorrow!

We were preparing dinner when another docent couple (Evelyn and Bob who just happened to be from Salem, Ohio) asked if we wanted to join them for a trip to a local Mexican place.  They had been here for four prior seasons so it was good to learn some nuances from them – and had a good meal too.

The real test begins at 1 tomorrow afternoon – or docent tour starts.

 

Koreshan – The First Weeks

Even though we were to have the afternoon shifts and therefore lock the buildings we still had no keys.  So in the morning we rode our bikes over to find Albert (Assistant Manager) and get keys.  We found him working in the settlement as they trimmed trees.  He said he would get keys to us later that afternoon.  So a little before 1, we both took over our buildings.  We had decided that Judy would start with the Planetary Court and Jon would be in the Art Hall. 

Judy had maybe 10 and Jon about 7 people come through during the four hours the buildings were open.  Only significant incident occurred in the Art Hall.  As Jon was relating how the inner circle of the Koreshan Unity group were to remain celibate, a sudden crash sounded from the stage area.  The upper sash on one of the big windows fell – but no glass broke. The small twist latch used to hold the windows closed let use and because the weights had been removed from the windows – it fell.  A few minutes later Albert came by with the keys – and called another volunteer to make a temporary fix to hold the window.

Thursday was another slow day but we did get to shut down early to attend a docent meeting.  A couple of things though, it seems that not only will be working Christmas eve afternoon and Christmas Day morning, we have to work the afternoon of the staff/volunteer Christmas party.  That and the lousy keys and boring time between visitors makes this a not to pleasant environment.

Ah, Friday and we are done for two days.  Before work we did find the Post Office, Library and pick-up a few groceries at Publix.  The afternoon did not go very fast but we made it through.  The highlight for Jon was the first 90 minutes of the tour was taken up hearing a string quartet followed by a pianist on the one hundred and thirty year old Steinway.  Yes, the piano in the Art Hall is that old.  It has been completely refurbished and has only 85 keys.  Seems that Steinway did not go to a ‘standardized’ 88 keys until the 1890’s, this instrument was made in 1885.

Saturday morning we were up early and loaded the bikes and headed for Sanibel Island.  It was not too long a drive, but there is a $6 toll charge to cross the bridge.  Luckily we still had our active Florida Sun Pass.  First stop was the Chamber of Commerce where we picked up some brochures and got information on where to park and so on.  As we were early, there were still a few spots in the Chamber lot where we could park for free. We headed our first to find a beach, which we did but it was on the bay side with  few shells. Next we headed for the light house and the beach there.  This will be a return spot to look for shells.  In our rush to leave we had forgotten the camera so all we have is this shot from the phone of Judy sitting on the beach.

 A group of ‘tourists’ arrived and walked all around, getting their photos without any consideration of what others were trying to do. 

From the lighthouse we decided to head for one of the good eating spots the man at the chamber told us about.  We rode and rode and rode!  The bike/walk trails are all paved but the map we had was not all that good and the intersections not marked.  We finally found our way back to Periwinkle, the main street and located the Island Cow in time for lunch.  It was a very busy place but the food was good and plentiful.  By the time we got back to the truck, our little ride had taken us 15 miles.

After some rest we headed to church in Bonita Springs.  It was St Leo’s, basically a Polish parish.  Unlike last week at a very modern building, this facility was a beautiful new, but old looking structure with wooden beams and lots of stained glass. 

 

On the way home we decided to have pizza, so we stopped by a Pizza Hut and ordered one.

Sunday we took in the park Farmer’s Market and bought some vegetables.  We also spent some time with Stan at the “Cowboy Cooking” area.  They were making Mexican Cornbread and gluten free pancakes.  Judy bought a cookbook of “No Knead” bread recipes.  After lunch we drove to Fort Myers to a BJ’s Warehouse to take advantage of a free 90 day membership and also stopped by a Bealls (like a department store) before heading back home.

Monday was cleanup day. Judy was working on the inside of the Open Range and Jon gave the Ram a bath. Alfred (Asst Manager) stopped by.  Jon had mentioned to one of the maintenance volunteers about maybe doing some window re-glazing in the Art Hall while waiting on visitors.  He said that most likely after the first of the year Jon would be doing some maintenance projects as well as some fill-in docent tours.  He also said that we would close the two buildings on Wednesday afternoon for the staff Christmas Party.  We had been scheduled to work that afternoon so that was a nice break.

We finished our second round of shifts on Wednesday.  Jon ‘volunteered’ to take part of one of the lady's docent tours so she could work on preparing for the Christmas party.  So Wednesday morning Judy worked on preparing her cheesy potatoes and Jon finished hanging out door lights before heading to work.  While Jon was in the settlement, Judy helped to cleanup and decorate the Rec Hall for the party.

There must have been 35 folks at the party and lots of food and good times.  Drew, chief maintenance ranger, had smoked two big turkeys and a number of turkey legs (a big thing in the south).  We got to meet rangers and other volunteers.

At the party, Alfred told Ron (“Volunteer” Volunteer Coordinator) that after the first of the year Jon would be working some in maintenance.  He was none too happy but Jon did volunteer to work some weekends when Judy was scheduled.  We'll see how it goes.

After some thought, we thought it best to just stick with the docent thing for Jon.  If he were in Maintenance and Judy doing docent, they may not have the same schedule.  Jon will also do some computer work/typing for Brittany.

KSHS

Time to tell about the Koreshan Unity group that was the subject of our docent duties while at Koreshan State Historic Site. 

The group was started by Cyrus Teed in the late 1800’s.  Cyrus was born in 1840 in Delaware but his parents soon after moved to upstate New York.  He married and after service in the Civil War, where he was discharged after suffering from heat stroke, he studied medicine at the Eclectic College of Medicine in Brooklyn, New York.   He was an inquisitive man and experimented with static electricity and alchemy – trying to turn lead into gold.  Though he did not write about it for some years after, he had what he called an “illumination” after one such experiment. 

In the illumination he saw that God was both man and woman, that if one was celibate the reward would be eternal life, we live In not On the Earth and that he and only he was given the ability to “scientifically” interpret the bible. 

This is the model of his “In not On” theory.

Below is the last remaining what they called a ‘Rectilineator”.

To prove his strange theory, Professor Ulysses Morrow devised a the huge instrument that he dubbed the Rectilineator, which would measure the curvature of the Earth. The weird contraption consisted of ten huge, double T-squares made of seasoned mahogany, set horizontally on ten carefully balanced mounts. In January 1897, it took nearly a month for Professor Morrow and a dozen workers to setup and calibrate the big apparatus on a stretch of beach at Naples, Florida.

It took several more months but they did ‘prove’ the theory and so his “In not On” became a centerpiece of the Koreshan philosophy

They failed, however, to consider gravity and what might be called ‘slop’ when connecting the sections.  There was no allowance for the millimeter distance between the bolt holding the sections and the brass connections.

But back to Cyrus.

He was successful in his medical practice, but he was forced to move his family (wife and young son Douglas Arthur) often because of his beliefs.  In the late 1880’s he was invited to speak at the National Association of Mental Science convention in Chicago. He spoke during the convention which lasted a week and at the end, was elected president of the group.  This led him to remain in Chicago and form the start of the Unity group.  His wife was suffering from tuberculosis and remained in Binghamton, New York with Douglas.  Using his charismatic persona, Teed found a following of wealthy, cultured, educated women.  He travelled about recruiting new followers and his group grew to more than thirty in Chicago and he even formed a small group in California.  In the early 1890’s he made a trip to Florida seeking land for his vision of the “New Jerusalem” but found the property too expensive.

Cyrus in a formal pose.

  

He did leave some hand-bills and information and one of these interested a German immigrant living with his family on the banks of Estero River.  Gustave Damkoehler wrote Teed and invited him to visit.  In January 1893 Teed and his small contingent (including Berthadean Boomer and two other women) arrived in Punta Gorda and took a small boat to meet Gustave.  After visiting with Gustave for some time, Teed either, purchased; swindled or somehow secured title to the 320 acres owned by Gustave. Thus began the establishment of the Koreshan Unity at Estero.  They set about clearing the land, building a saw mill, printing plant, bakery and buildings to house and support the group.  He renamed Annie Orday as Victoria Gratis and she was to be the moon to his sun and he felt he would be reborn through her.  He also named seven ladies after the seven known planets of the time to run the business end of settlement activities.  A special building called “The Planetary Court” housed these special ladies.  These ladies along with others were to remain celibate so that they too could enjoy immortal life.  Women were housed apart from the men and children were ‘given’ over to the unity to educate, nurture and train. 

This is the historically restored Planetary Court.
It was the residence of the seven ladies who managed the businesses run by the community.  It had seven bedrooms, a sitting room but no indoor plumbing.  A brother of one of the seven lived on the top floor of the building.

Below is a photo of a rocker in one of the rooms in the Planetary Court.  It looks very much like a rocker we have.

The settlement continued to grow but slowly. Cyrus would go off on recruiting trips and those left behind would sometimes squabble and have discussions about the women running everything.  At its peak the settlement boasted a population of 225.

 

Their general store was for years the only store between Fort Myers and Naples and the bakery produced 400 to 600 loaves of bread a day, much for sale to local farmers and families. Local families enjoyed the bread baked with yest and was a real "loaf" rather than the flat bread the settlers were used to having.  In addition to being a general store, it also served as the Estero Post Office.

They also generated their own electricity using a two cylinder diesel similar to this one.

It was not until the late 20’s when Florida Power ran lines down US 41that they shut down their generator.

The Koreshan’s were big believers in education, the arts and music.  The “Arts Hall” was constructed in 1905.

This is where concerts and plays were held as well as it served as a location for ‘church’ services.  One of the special items is an 1885 Steinway piano.  It only has 85 keys. The two upper and one lower key are missing.

The building also contained a number of paintings, some by Cyrus’ son, Douglas Arthur Teed.

The one above is of the Tibre River and Rome.

Cyrus died on December 22, 1908 and the Koreshans gathered waiting for him to rise from the dead.  When after nearly a week he had not, the county health commissioner said they must bury him so they did – in a fashion.  They placed his body in a bathtub and on Estero Island built a mausoleum to hose the bathtub and body.  They did maintain a watch for some time, hoping he would arise, but he never did.  A hurricane in 1923 washed the mausoleum away.  After his death the community began to break apart.  There we some who stayed on but many left and melted into local communities. In the 1940’s Hedwig Michel migrated from Germany to join the group. Under her guidance there was a bit of resurgence but by the 1960’s there were only five left and Hedwig was now president.  They decided to donate the remaining property to the State of Florida to be a Historic Site. This was done with the stipulation that survivors could reside on the property until death.  Hedwig died in 1982 and is the only member of the community buried on the property.  This was done because at the time of her death, the Koreshan Cemetery in what is now Pelican Sound Golf and River Club (a gated community) was under water from a hurricane.

 For more details on the Koreshan’s, just Google “Koreshan” or “Cyrus Teed.”

Back to our time.

We took the Sea Eagle to the boat ramp in the park and did a paddle east on the Estero River up to US 41.  It was a good run, except Jon forgot to install the drain plug.  We had only gotten a few feet from the launch when we saw the water filling the bottom and returned quickly to shore.

On our next two days off we used one day to visit the Edison/Ford compound in Fort Meyers.  We opted for the self-guided audio tour.  It was a very interesting place and we learned that Edison’s second wife was born in Greentown Ohio and they were married in Akron….small world.

              

On the week before Christmas Ron published the schedule for January, and we really felt the sting.  Not only were we working Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and then Saturday, Sunday off Monday, work Tuesday and off Wednesday; we  then we were slated to work New Year’s Day, (a Friday) and the following Saturday and Sunday, be off on Monday and then work Tuesday the 5^{th .}  We sent an email to Ron with copies to Brittany and the park manager expressing our displeasure and that we would be departing at the end of January.  Well, Ron adjusted the schedule and covered the Tuesday after Christmas and took away the Sunday after New Year’s Day.  But by then we were too soured to stay through the Ghost Walk weekends (last weekend in January and first weekend in February.

We took a day trip to Ave Maria, a new town being developed by the founder of Domino’s Pizza.  He started a university and built one of the only private Catholic Church in the US.  A very interesting structure.

  

On the way into town we stopped by an area being developed by Del Web – a 55 and over “community.”  Nice models but very expensive and the cheapest monthly fee is over $300.  In town we visited the models of another builder in what would be a mixed area.  Also very nice, but when we got home Judy did some Google searches, found some serious issues with the entire community development. 

When we left Ave Maria we drove to Immokalee.  It had at one time been an agricultural town, but the Indians built a casino on the south edge of town – the major attraction.  We found a neat little local place for lunch and then headed for home.

Two other day trips we made were to Everglade City and to the historic Ringling compound near Sarasota.  Everglade City is the southernmost town on the west/Gulf coast. 

We drove south on the Tamiami High Way ( Route 41) through all the towns and cities, finally reaching open country  near Oscar Sher State Park.  We had heard it was a nice park and a good place to volunteer so we stopped in.  When we arrived the campgrounds were all closed for renovations but we did get to see some of the park and walk around this large machine.

  

                    

It was a specially built excavating machine designed to build Route 41 through the everglade swamps.  It scooped out material along each side of its tracks and deposited it in front and then would ‘walk on’ this material.  Thus, building an elevated road bed though the everglades.

We had a good time in Everglade City with their small museum and old Florida feel.  Had a nice Grouper sandwich at a local eatery. 

We then drove I75 back north to Estero.

Another side trip was to Sarasota to visit the Ringling museum.  In addition to circus museum it was the home of John Ringling.  The first building contained a miniature three ring circus complex.  Everything from the tiger cages to the food tents and fun house.  Everything in it was handmade and to scale.  We then got a walking tour of the house and grounds.  The building was something else to see.  Here are a few pictures.

  

                                

It was decorated for Christmas as it would have been when the Ringling’s lived here.

More volunteers have arrived but this still is not the experience we had wanted.  We plan to work our last day, January 31 and then be on our way to MacDill February the first.

The weather has been so warm we took the Sea Eagle out again.  This time we headed west toward the gulf.  We paddled for 45 minutes and then headed back.  Looking at the map we made it nearly halfway to the bay.  One of these days we are going to deflate it and take it to Lovers Key State Park where we can launch into the bay.

Well we never did get out to the bay.  Things got busy and the weather was not very cooperative so we just put in our days and Judy helped prepare for the Ghost Walks.  Each year the volunteers put on, over two weekends a ‘Ghost Walk’ through the settlement area.  Volunteers play prominent characters from the height of the Koreshan Community.  We were only there for the first weekend, so we were not cast but helped out with the tours and parking.

On Sunday morning January 31 we turned in our keys and exit interview forms to Brittany.  Monday morning after the traffic rush we headed north to Tampa and MacDill AFB.

Going “Home”

It was a nice two and a half hour drive from KSHS to MacDill and as we drove in the “Tanker Gate” we both remarked that it was like being home again.  Pulling the RV we must enter through the large vehicle gate where sometimes they do a complete inspection of the truck and RV.  This day we were waived right on through after checking our ID’s.  When we arrived at the Famcamp we knew we would be going into dry camp for a while and sure enough, off to the field.  We stopped and filled the tank with fresh water and found a nice spot not too far from the Coultraps.  Lynn and Arnie showed up with their generator so we are set.  The office staff tells us it may be up to two weeks in the field.  Ah well at least we have a generator and TV and are among friends. We had several folks stop by when they saw us setting up so it is like being home.

Lynn and Arnie asked us if we wanted to go off base to a new restaurant called PDQ that specializes in chicken tenders and salads.  As we were borrowing their generator we went and it was good and on the first Monday of the month, military eat for half price.  I bought and the four of us ate for under $20!

Tuesday Judy went over to Quilting and Jon went to the Airman’s Attic.  We were just ‘checking in’ and getting ourselves set up for the next month or two.

We were just getting ready – to get ready for church Saturday when the office called and offered us a partial site.  Site 333 was open and we jumped on it.  

(That is our unit on the bottom of this Google Earth capture)

No more generator and we will have both water and electric.  It was too late for church by the time we got moved, so it was Sunday morning for us.  Sunday’s are a bit more crowded with kids and families.  A family in front of us appeared to have seven kids, that’s right 7.  They appeared to range in age from the mid-teens to a baby about a year old.  They were well behaved with the older helping with the younger ones.

We signed up for the ‘Fat Tuesday’ dinner on February 9 – what a way to fit in. 

The folks on site 332 are from the Carolina’s, he is a retired Navy pilot and his wife plays the dulcimer.  They plan on just staying on the partial site for their first two weeks and then for two more, which you can do, if no one in is the field’ wants a partial site.  We may do the same.

We are into our routine now.  Judy has passed on the thrice weekly early morning exercise program and instead is just walking Lilly and ridding the bike.  Quilting takes up her Tuesday’s and Friday we both go to the Airman’s Attic.  We’ve signed up for the annual fitness challenge at the HAWC – Health And Wellness Center (pronounced "hawk")– again this year.  They’ve updated the fitness options other than just walking. Cycling is a bigger item this year so we should be able to meet our goals.

On our thirteenth day in partial we got a call about going to a permanent site in the "Annex".  The Annex is actually the former base trailer park.  It’s about half mile from the main campground but the sites are much further apart and we will have lots of room.  So we made the move to site 624(?) and a new neighborhood.  Once we were setup we ventured off base to the Brighthouse (local cable company) to get WIFI.

 

    

At the back of our site is the south course of the base golf course so we have a big back yard.  Two sites to our south there is a big dead tree near the golf course berm and we have a couple of eagles that use the tree as a hunting perch.  They will land in the tree ad watch the small lake on the golf course and swoop down and grab a fish.  They are fun to watch and they do have a special call.

One day we loaded the bikes and drove to Ballast Park, a short distance north of the Bayshore base gate.  We then rode Bayshore Boulevard from the park to the bridge over the Hillsborough River as the river enters Hillsborough Bay.  Round trip the bike ride is about 9 miles and it seems like on some portion of the ride is both directions you are ridding into the wind.  For another ride one day we took the bikes to Davis Island and parked near the airport and rode around the streets there.  We had done this last year and had even stopped at a little coffee shop in town for a roll and coffee.  This time we just rode around the residential streets.

Another interesting day trip was to the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary in St Petersburg. 

Lots of interesting birds that had been rescued along the shore.

None of the Famcamp dinner trips interested us so we went off on our own some.  We did hit the Fourth Street Shrimp House and made it to “The Crab Shack” a couple of times.

Angelo and Carmine from the Airman’s Attic decided to throw a little thankyou BBQ on the beach on Tuesday.  All of the volunteers brought a dish and they provided dogs and buns and other goodies.  Unfortunately the weather was not all that cooperative.  It was sunny enough but the wind was gusty and so it was chilly.
                                  

                                  

In early March we decided to head home in time for Easter.  Mark’s boys would be on spring break the week after Easter and Mark and Kyra would be in class.  So on March 11 we departed MacDill for the drive home.

As we have done in years past or first nights stop was at The New Green Acres campground in South Carolina and then moved on Wytheville, Virginia. As it was Saturday we found an old church in Wytheville.  Well we found it was an old church that had a new sanctuary.  It was a small church with a Filipino priest.  It was an interesting service and the folks were very nice and friendly.

Sunday it was the last leg of the trip and home. Scot and Robert came by and helped us unload and get some things put away.  We then enjoyed some Pizza Hut pizza/

Good to be home and settle ourselves back in.