Here was my plan for the Florida pleasure/research trip.
- Thursday, May 3: Drive, ride and fly, fly through the night to reach Florida the morning of:
- Friday, May 4: Get my rental car and drive, drive, drive to Cassadaga, the Spiritualist Church camp. Get my room. Have breakfast. Get a psychic reading.
- Saturday, May 5: Wander the haunted streets of Cassadaga. Go on a Spirit Tour. Avoid alligators.
- Sunday, May 6: Drive, drive, drive to historic St Augustine. Get my room. Time permitting, check out the waterfront and eat dinner.
- Monday, May 7: Do Fun, Educational and Historical things. In the evening, sip wine in the St Francis Inn’s courtyard with other guests. Avoid alligators.
- Tuesday, May 8: Same as Monday except for the evening when I would meet up with Kat Hooper, our Editor in Chief and Dread Mistress of Fantasy Literature, and go on a sunset schooner cruise. Then go eat a slice of the Best Pizza in St. Augustine.
- Wednesday, May 9: Catch up on any Fun, Educational and Historical things. Sip wine, etc.
- Thursday, May 10: Get up at crack of dawn, drive, drive to Jacksonville airport; fly, fly, fly, ride and drive home to wake Spouse from a peaceful slumber sometime around midnight.
And that’s just about how it went except for the drive, drive, drive part. Florida, as you can see from a map, is a long state, but not quite as long as California, and I was only playing in the northeast corner. “Drive, drive, drive,” (even allowing for me to get lost which I did) was often only “drive, drive” or even just “drive.”
A pair of sandhill cranes.
Live oak with Spanish moss.
For instance, I got to the Hotel Cassagada an hour and a half too early to check in, which gave me a chance to wander around and take pictures.
The winter home of the Lily Dale Spiritualists.
These two gateposts mark the eastern boundary of the camp.
I had time to visit the Oldest House Museum in St Augustine the first afternoon I was there, as well as wandering the waterfront and seeing the basilica.
And I sought out some alligators when I stopped at the Alligator Farm on Anastasia Island… and I may have nearly had an encounter in Cassadaga, although I’m not sure.
The Alligator Farm says it has specimens of all 21 crocodilian varieties.