Tallahassee Trip! (6/2/23)

Howdy howdy!

I am back with more for y'all to read and today was quite eventful, especially considering I'm still riding solo everywhere I go. With some help from a special recruit (Pinterest), I found more things to do and see in Tallahassee since it's so close to where I'm staying. I managed to fit in 3 different places today so there will be quite a bit to go through, but it'll be worth it!

First, I had to drive to get to where I was going (duh) and today my GPS gave me the scenic route, which was absolutely stunning. There were so many trees along the road I took and I felt like I was in a movie. Y'all know how it looks in The Notebook? Or even O Brother Where Art Thou? Yeah, it was like that and it was awesome. One thing I noticed was that there wasn't a sign when I crossed into Florida, there was nothing saying I was even in Florida except a little line on the map on my CarPlay, which I thought was a railroad track then got confused when there wasn't a railroad track crossing the road. Another thing that stuck out to me, especially as an animal science student, was the number of equine facilities on the way. I probably passed at least 5 just in Florida and I was only driving for 30 minutes. One of the properties had a beautiful paint horse out front, but don't ask if it was tobiano or over because I still can't remember which is which and I forgot what the horse looked like by now. The last thing I'd like to mention from my drive is passing a funeral procession. Well really, they passed me because I pulled over out of respect. That was the first time I'd run into a funeral procession and it got me thinking about how many cars there were and how those inside those cars were impacted by that person being in their lives. I hope that everyone can have that one day and look down on their family and friends knowing they did something good in the world before they left.

Now that we're getting deep, let's move on to discuss my first destination, The Tallahassee Automobile Museum. HOLY COW, this place was amazing. I went right when they opened so there weren't people in the way and I saw some beautiful cars. One of which nearly made me cry, but we'll discuss that later. Despite "automobile" being in the name, this museum hosts various other collections such as Steinway pianos, cell phones, calculators, and so many Case knives. Like, a concerning number of knives. One of the first areas I browsed was the doll collection. I don't know why, but I felt like I should look at it even if it was a little creepy. Y'all will never believe the number of Barbie dolls here, and so many that I didn't even know existed. One of which was Dolly Parton and it was so perfect and looked just like her it was insane. Another highly intriguing item in this museum was President Abraham Lincoln's hearse. Yes, that is correct. The actual (alleged) carriage hearse that transported the President's body after his assassination. Also displayed alongside the hearse was a replica of John Wilkes Booth's gun, glad it wasn't the real thing because it's probably haunted. Now, back to me tearing up by looking at a car. Not just any car, they had a 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, just like the one from Smokey and the Bandit, except the one in the movie is a 1977. As soon as I saw this car, I instantly teared up and stood there for a solid 5 minutes just staring in awe. If only they'd had a General Lee too that would have been epic. Too bad I don't have $100,000 to buy my own.

Our second destination for today was the Goodwood Museum and Gardens, which is one of the first plantation homes built in the area. Although it isn't the original 2400 acres, it was still a beautiful home and amazingly kept. House tours weren't being held today as the staff was doing maintenance, but I plan on going back whenever it reopens. This property is also used as an event center, and I got to see a bridal party getting ready in one of the houses, which felt like I was interrupting, but happy for them nonetheless. What I found interesting was the unkept look of the gardens, since that was how gardens were back in the day according to the signs posted. Honestly, I liked the vibe of having low-maintenance gardens, especially since I have more of a brown thumb than a green thumb. In the visitor center, I learned about the history of the property, which I recommend looking up if you're curious, but I'll skip for now since there is a lot. One of the owners, Fanny, was a very boujee girlie back in the 1920s, and she made just about all of the changes to the home, including adding a skating rink and pool. If you visit now, the house is kept as she left it, with some changes from the owners who bought it from her. The next owners, Senator and Mrs. Hodges, utilized the aviary to hold macaws, monkeys, and the occasional peacock. From what I understand, the Senator was a quirky guy, and I think we would have been great friends despite the fact that he married a 17-year-old when he was in his 40s. As I strolled through the gardens, I noticed that there are a LOT of lizards in Florida. Don't know what that's about, but pop off I guess.

One thing I should mention is that the roads are not built for trucks. At all. I felt like I was going to die trying to get some lunch. I definitely upset some Florida folks because I was confused.

Okay last part, yay! Apologies for the long post, but thanks for sticking with me. The last place I visited today was the Tallahassee Museum for their adventure course because I thought I could girl boss my way through it. Ultimately, I girlbossed too close to the sun today and got stuck on one of the zip lines. Basically what happened was I didn't slow down enough, hit the tree, and zipped right back to the middle of the zip line. Shoutout to Ken for helping me and sticking with me for the last leg of the course. While I was stuck though, I couldn't tell if I was gonna throw up, pee, pass out, or all three. Turns out I am not in good enough shape to do that much in one day. After I left the course, I walked around to the old plantation home, school, and church. Visitors can actually walk through the house and go upstairs and there was a display to highlight how much slave children were expected to carry, and let me tell you, it was way too much to expect from a child. Being there really got me thinking about how blessed we are to live the lives we do, and how awful slavery truly was. There were also animals to check out, including dingoes, which were so cute that I wish I could have pet them and given them treats. Don't ask me why, but I did go look at the snakes, which I was fine with because they can't bite me, but I want to know how they got a water moccasin in there. Like, you can die from them. Why would you do that?

Anyways, that's pretty much all I've got to share for today, so here are some pics I took while I was out being a tourist.