Loading...
April 13, 1995 - Exploring Spring on the Journey HomeGA, • The Suffolk Tithes, • April 1 �, 1995' Exploring Spring on the Journey Home By Paul Stoutenburgh We left for home on the 30th of March. Our first stop would be to see friends on Florida's west coast. As we drove along the main highway, just off the Gulf, we felt out of place with our camper amidst the plush Mercedeses, Lincoln Town Cars and spotless red con- vertibles. I longed to see just one old Ford or Chevy that would let Focus on me know the world had not as yet been taken over by the rich Nature and famous. We finally found our friend's condo with hand- some old oaks and royal palms spreading out in the courtyard. Needless to say, it had its visitor parking but none of it was arranged to accommodate a camper. We ended up in a dead -end street, which made it difficult maneuvering. Finally we got in and met our friends. It was good to see them and we celebrated the occasion by a long walk on the powder -sand beach with its condos, motels and hotels as a backdrop. This is where the action was. Joggers in every size and shape, fast and slow, exercise walkers, sunbathers and yes, even a few biking along the hard - packed beach. I was ready to sit down and enjoy the spectacles that passed by but we had plans for the "best crab cakes in town" at Capt. Kurk's. Well, you know the rest. The food was more than we should have eaten and talk with friends made the evening go all too quickly. The next day we left there and headed north, taking the back roads. At one time we passed Myakka State Park where we had a wonderful show of wading birds and even sandhill cranes feeding right at the edge of the road. Our next stop would be at a co -op farm where all the produce was being raised organically. A friend from up north had started it after being involved with a similar farm on the south shore operated by the Peconic Land Trust. It was great to see the enthusiasm people had for something that had meaning and merit without the goal of a dollar at its end. Revisiting Okefenokee After saying hello to friends in Homosassa Springs, we headed to Stephen Foster State Park in the Okefenokee Swamp. Years ago we had visited this huge, wet area and were glad to be back for it holds many wonders. We got out early one morning on our bikes and saw young raccoons feeding waist -deep in a wet area and a grey fox digging out mice in a field nearby. When we got back to our camper a pair of pileated woodpeckers cavorted around a huge pine tree. We're always on the lookout for plants and saw the familiar blue -eyed grass we have here at home, but the most striking was the yellow pitcher plant that dazzles you with its color and trumpets. These are insect -con- suming plants, similar in size to the ones we have here in the north but, of course, much more gaudy in color. It * was nice to have the bikes along so we could get about more easily. On our third day it was clear again and sunny, too good to waste on the road; so we decided to rent a canoe and paddle the Suwannee River that flows through this strange and wonderful Okefenokee Swamp. It was chilly in the early morning hours and the metal paddle handles made our hands tingle. The water was like glass and the canoe slid through its surface effortlessly. We no sooner got out into the river when an alligator swam slowly across our path. This was the first of many we'd see along our way. The big cypress, which this swamp was once noted for, had all been logged off years before. Today, only young trees with an occasional "big one" could be seen. Old stumps were evi- dence of the logging that once devas- tated this area. We paddled slowly and without a sound. We had the river and all of its charm to ourselves. At one spot we had to stop to photograph a clump of wild, purple iris that stood Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh JACK -IN -THE- PULPIT —We saw this harbin- ger of spring in the Great Smoky Mountains. It could have been right here on our East End. three feet tall with flowers the size of your palm. They would rival any garden variety. Alligators were common all along our way but we waited for a good one to photograph. The one we chose was sprawled out on a log absorbing the warm morning sun. Once we were startled, or should I say we startled an alligator and it charged into the water like a re- trieving dog after a downed duck right in front of us. What a splash and turbulence there was! And then — silence. It had disappeared. At one point we paddled into a cove covered with spatterdock, a large - leafed water plant, and here we had a snack of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Cokes. We both got off our paddling seats and sat in the bottom of the canoe to indulge in utter relaxation. Everything around us was green and mirrored in the coffee - colored water of the river. More paddling, more photographs and soon our morning jaunt was over. AOmit I_AAL ummu 75 Years Ago April 9, 1920 Mattituck to Have Movie Theater: Library Hall in Mattituck has been leased by a Long Island Amuse- ment Corporation to be used as a motion picture theater. After extensive alterations are made the theater will be opened Saturday, April 17. The house will be under the per- sonal management of F.C. Menendez, who has built and operated theaters on Long Island for the past eight years, among them the Central Theatre in Greenport. Shelter Island News: We proved ourselves strictly up to date on the 28th when all the clocks in town were moved ahead one hour. The general opinion of the commu- nity, however, seemed to be in favor of the good old days before daylight saving came to pass. 50 Years Ago April 13, 1945 Roosevelt Dies: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Ameri- ca's wartime president, died at the Warm Springs Founda- tion at Warm Springs, Ga., at 3:35 p.m. on Thursday, April 12. President Roosevelt not only headed this nation during World War H, but he had the unique honor of having been elected President of the United States for four terms. President Roosevelt, who was 63 years of age, was born Back in the camper we headed north to General Coffee State Park in Georgia, where we spent the night but not before a long walk where we could see large, endangered gopher tortoises at the entrance of their burrows in the soft sand. It was spring all about us. We thoroughly enjoyed Georgia. Perhaps it was the time of year or perhaps just the thought we were heading home. Peanuts, Pigs and Pork The fourth day we had a bit of business to take care of in Fitzgerald, where we stopped, and then it was off again, driving through the peanut and hog country. We stopped and shopped at a local country store where Barbara couldn't resist buying a slab of local country bacon. On we sped, passing little creeks called Bee Creek, Hog Creek, Bear Creek, Hunters Creek — all with the warmth of spring around us. It was a wonder- ful drive through Georgia with its dogwoods, redbuds and azaleas all in blossom. We were back in hilly coun- try and green trees, away from Florida's flat land. We even `it was great passed under the Jimmy Carter g Highway, which meant we to see the were in our past president's country. Next day for sure enthusiasm we'd have to make some miles. We'd been lingering too long people had heading north. The fifth day we stopped in for something the foothills of the Great that had Smoky Mountains, where wild- flowers absorbed us for an hour meaning and or two on a long walk through this up- and -down country. May merit.' apple, trilium, jack-in- the -pul- pit, blood root, wood anemone, yellow and purple violets and great mats of small, white violets greeted us as we walked through this wonderland of streams, woods and greenery. The next day we put some miles behind us and got into Virginia, where we dined outside our camper at one of the Army Corps of Engineers' Lake Lanier Island Parks that are spread along this vast waterway. We ate dinner outside amongst the dogwoods that sprinkled the woods around us and later we sat around our campfire as evening slowly took over. The last day we put 672 miles behind us, passing through Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and then on to the congest- ed west end of our island. It wasn't until we got 'around to Patchogue that we really felt we were head- ed home. We arrived in the evening and were able to see tulips, daffodils and hyacinths that had waited for us before they broke into their spring splendor. It was good to be back! at Hyde Park, N.Y., and began his political career as State Senator from Dutchess County. He resigned the office of Senator to become assistant secretary of the Navy under President Wilson. In 1920 he was the Democratic candidate for Vice President. He served two terms as Governor of the State of New York. He was first elected President in 1932, reelected in 1936 and again in 1940, and defeated Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York last November. 25 Years Ago April 10, 1970 Anniversary Party: As we looked up one morning last week, there in the office door was "Porky" and his grandson. "I've just remembered," said he, "next Wednes- day is the 20th anniversary of the restaurant and we're going to give a party." "Porky" wanted to give a party, but the community gave Walter Sledjeski one instead. By noon last Wednesday the flowers were all over the Greenport restaurant. There were so many that son Richie Sledjeski was placing them on tables in the bar. Porky "rolled back" the bar prices to those of 1950 — a beer for 25 cents, a scotch and soda for 50 cents.But the diners who filled the restaurant until the morning hours had not come to save money on a drink. They had come to celebrate the anniversary of Walter Sled - jeski, a real friend to this community.