Sleeping Indian Style

You all know by now that The Colonel and I like history and on a recent trip we were able to spend the night in a historical hotel.

 

Maybe it was fitting that we stayed in a wigwam (a tipi really) as we have portrayed Calusa Indians and I, a Seminole Indian.

 

 

We stayed in Wigwam Village # 2 located in Cave City, Kentucky.

 

 

Frank A. Redford designed the wigwams and was granted a patent for his design. He began building Wigwam Village # 1 in Horse Cave, Kentucky in 1933. He built seven villages between 1933 and 1949.

 

The other five villages were built in: Louisiana (#3), Florida (#4), Alabama (#5), Arizona (#6) and California (#7). Today only three villages remain in existence: Arizona, California and of course Kentucky.

 

The wigwams' bases are 14 feet in diameter and they are 32 feet tall. They are made of concrete. We stayed in wigwam number twelve (there are fifteen in all).

 

 

The large wigwam is now the office and a gift shop but in the early days it was a restaurant.

 

 

The semi-circle of wigwams faces a playground and beside each wigwam is a parking space for a single vehicle.

 

 

The Colonel and I were eager to see the interior of our wigwam. Upon entering, we were surprised that it was larger than it appeared from the outside.

 

The furniture was the original furniture from the time the village opened in 1937. It is rustic and made from hickory and cane. The bed was a double (we are used to a king) and it made for a close and restless night of sleep, but we forgave the bed because of the novelty of spending the night in a wigwam.

 

The ceiling was flat to accommodate a fan/light and not conical in shape. The wigwam was also air conditioned.

 

The main room: 

 

                                 

 

 

The bathroom (the shower was roomy):

 

 

 

 

There was no telephone in the room but there was wireless Internet access and a television.

 

 

The Colonel and I loved our opportunity to "Sleep in a Wigwam". When we made our reservations we were told that this was a heavily booked time of the year and many people wanted to experience a night in a wigwam. We were fortunate to have gotten the reservation.

 

 

This picture is from a postcard. The two small tipis flanking the large tipi were the restrooms for the restaurant in the early days. 





Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Eos, My Greek Slave/Goddess



I have a little area in my back yard that has not been kind to any plants I have tried to grow there, like banana trees and a corn plant (the pictures below are from the Web because my plants were mere shadows of these; what healthy banana trees and a corn plant should look like).

I finally decided to not torture plant anything there again. I began to think a statue set among the coral rocks that were still there would be a nice (and non-living) thing.

I had initially thought I wanted a mermaid statue. I saw one at a little garden shop across the river. The Colonel and I went to check her out. Up close and personal, she wasn't quite what I expected or wanted (or her big price tag either). We walked around the garden center and saw two statues that were possibilities: a lady with a flowing dress and flowers and a semi-nude woman with manacles on one of her wrists.

The Colonel and I were immediately smitten with the manacled woman statue. She reminded us of the "Bound Woman" that can be found upon a grave in the Key West Cemetery.

I asked the woman working at the garden shop what was the significance of the manacled woman and she did not know but would go and look her up in a catalog. She came back and said she could not find the statue in the catalog. Even without knowing "who" she was, I had to have her for my yard.

When we unloaded her at home we showed her to Yam. She said the statue reminded her of one called "The Greek Slave" by Hiram Powers. He sculpted his statue in 1847 and it created quite a stir during its world tour.



 

I have decided Yam is correct in her observation. This is what my "Greek Slave" looks like.

 

 

Here are close up details of both statues and see if you do not agree with Yam (no matter how loosely my Greek Slave is based on Mr. Powers').

 

 

My Greek Slave statue may not be as pretty or finely sculpted as Mr. Powers' but I think she is wonderful.

 

 

I have decided to name her Eos. Eos is the ancient Greek Goddess of dawn. I searched for a Greek goddess of sun/sunshine (because of living in The Sunshine State and I wanted a positive name...the woman is in chains...she needs a ray of sunshine) but I could not find one.

 

Helios is the Greek Sun God and Eos is his sister; the closest thing I could get to a Greek Sun Goddess.

 

I had thought of calling her Antheia, the Greek Goddess of flower gardens, but nothing grows well in that area of my backyard and I for one don't wish to court the wrath of a Greek goddess.

 

Who knows, maybe if I did name her Antheia, something might have half a chance at growing well there.



Wordless Wednesday