MY JOURNEY TO: Florida
Apalachee Indian house
Cowboys and Indians State capital Tallahassee didn’t look much at fi rst glance. On
the way in we passed Psycho-style motels and ubiquitous fast food joints like Arby’s and Taco Bell. An hour later, we were sipping a crisp Sav Blanc on the roof of the cool, urban-styled Duval Hotel, watching the sun set over the city’s avenues. By the time we were tucking into citrus-crusted tuna at slick downtown restaurant Avenue Eat & Drink, I was sold! Entertainment errs towards the Deep South in Tallahassee, with places like the Mockingbird Café hosting open mic nights for local artists. But the region’s best venue was a bit harder to reach. The Bradfordville Blues Club says on its website: “Just follow the tiki torches down the dirt roads till you reach the juke joint under the stars.” They must have run out of torches because it was pitch black when we turned down the bumpy dirt track. After fi ve minutes, fairy lights twinkled out of the gloom of the trees and as we stepped out of the car, wood smoke and muffl ed base wafted over to us on the chilled night air. The cinderblock shack started as a venue for black musicians in the era of segregation. These days, the musicians have become legends and the crowd is as mixed as they come. Nursing a hangover, we continued to Mission San Luis,
which shows how Apalachee Indians lived with the Spanish through reconstructed buildings, including the vast council house, an open-topped pyramid covered in palm fronds. The superb Museum of Florida History, also in Tallahassee, taught us more about the state’s fascinating timeline. Within its walls we travelled from the age of the Mastadon, onto Spanish galleons, civil war, civil rights through to the golden age of tourism
Beach time in Pensacola When we arrived at Pensacola Beach its soft sand was
tinted peach by the sunset and both the pelicans and walkers stood out like cut-outs on the pier. This was how I’d imagined Florida! Until we headed to Palafox Street and I found I’d stepped into a mini New Orleans,where wrought iron balconies shaded bars, restaurants and boutique shops. Historical architecture is a big draw in this seaside city, which has fl own under fi ve fl ags, including British, French and Spanish. The Historical Pensacola Village’s picket-fenced mansions are a snapshot of colonial Florida, where you can see how hard life was for the poor and peep into the prim and proper parlours of the rich. Northern Florida is rich, diverse and constantly surprising. A balance between the laid-back beach culture you’d expect from Florida and the dreamy landscapes and warm hospitality of the South, it’s proof that the fun-time state has depth as well as sunshine.
Bradfordville Blues!
Pensacola Historic Lighthouse
www.sellinglonghaul.com April 2013 17
Sunset at Pensacola Beach pier
Spanish-inspired Flagler College
One of the many Pensacola pelicans!
Shrimp and grits!
Laura X
Arrrrrrr! at the Pirates Museum!
The blacksmiths at Mission San Luis
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