Tallahassee Day Five

Our final day in Tallahassee began the same as the previous four... an early breakfast on our own.

Then we all met in the lobby for an early trolley ride to do some more sightseeing.

First stop...A local church that has an old Rosenwald school building on its grounds. These schools were built in the South to educate African-American children in the early twentieth century. Julius Rosenwald who was part-owner and president of Sears Roebuck and Company gave the seed money for these schools. Over five thousand were built.

Behind the church and to the side of the school was a small graveyard. The director of our museum network has family buried there. We toured the graveyard.

The Colonel noticed that our network director was holding her hands in an unusual way behind her back...she had her thumbs tucked inside her fists.

We asked her why she was doing that. "Out of habit", she said. Why would a habit like that start we asked. "When I was a little girl, I was told never to point in a graveyard or your fingers would rot off, so I hold onto my thumbs with my fingers so as not to point," she said. The Colonel and I had never heard of this practice. I am sure the next time I am in a graveyard I will remember this.

Second stop...The Old Pisgah Church, one of the oldest remaining Methodist church buildings in Florida. It was built in 1859.

The white planters allowed their slaves to join the church and attend services with them, but the slaves had to sit up in the balcony.

We visited the graveyard of the church. The oldest burial there was dated 1817 (J D Hodges).

Our final stop for day five and our Tallahassee trip was to Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy. It is known world wide for its fire ecology and game bird management. Tall Timbers is on more than 100,000 acres, some of which reach into south Georgia.

Henry Beadel once owned this land and built a house (1896) on it to use as a quail hunting plantation. He had no heirs, so he left the house and all the land to the research station.

This is the view from the front porch. In the distance you can see Lake Iamonia.

Mr. Beadel had the Jones family, who were black tenant farmers, living on the property; they helped with the management of the quail hunting plantation. We rode a wagon pulled by a truck through the wooded areas to see the tenant farm buildings that have been refurbished and made into a history park of sorts.

It was soon time to get back on the wagon (no pun intended) and head back to the research center building for a Bar-B-Que lunch catered by Sonny's. Deeelicious.

After lunch The Colonel and I took a tour of the Beadel House!

It was time to get back on the trolley to head back to Tallahassee and the hotel, our trip was winding up. The trolley's transmission had other ideas. The Colonel, two other network members and I were able to get a ride back with one of the Tall Timber workers.

Even with the little hiccup at the very end of our Tallahassee trip, The Colonel and I thoroughly enjoyed it and wouldn't mind going back there one day, but next time take it a bit slower and see more of what Tallahassee has to offer.