Historic Micanopy, FL

Mary and I traveled to Micanopy, FL on Sunday (11/1/09). Honestly, we had never heard of this town until a few weeks ago when we saw that one of Steve Rajtar's historic walking tours would be held there on 11/1, and that there would also be a craft festival in town the same day. It sounded interesting, and we're glad that we took the chance to go.

Micanopy is a very sleepy and quaint town, and is the oldest continuously settled "inland" town in Florida. It is a small town (pop. ~653) , most of which is listed on the National Register since 1983. After taking the one and a half hour walking tour with Steve - about 3 miles round trip - we spent several hours visiting the booths set up for the fair, several of the stores in town, and the museum in the old Thrasher General Store building. There are several antique stores, at least 2 used book stores, a few restaurants, and stores selling arts, crafts, and collectibles. It is also home to the Herlong Mansion, which is a popular bed and breakfast that is also on the National Register. Micanopy also boasts that 2 movies have been shot in the town - Doc Hollywood and Cross Creek.

After leaving the main part of town, we drove out past the old cemetery that we passed during the walking tour. Here we stopped and spent another few hours. Mary and I both enjoy walking through old cemeteries, and the earliest recorded burial here was in 1826. It continues to be used today.

We plan to return for the day sometime soon when there is not a festival happening to get a better feel for the town and to visit more of the stores and sites. We also plan to visit the Paynes Prairie State Preserve at the same time, which is located in the same general area. This is well worth the trip if you are either a history buff or just want to browse the antique and collectible shops.

One of the fine old homes in town. You will find a wide variety of architectural styles here.

Old commercial building now housing an antique store.

The gate and fence fronting a former estate in town - the previous homes have since burned. Built from bricks used as ballast in old sailing ships.

The former Baptist church - now used as apartments.

Stewart-Merry house. Has been expanded several times, but the base structure is the oldest existing home in town.

Walking Tour of Sanford

We have had a Sanford mailing address for the past 3 years, and keep our boat at the Monroe Harbour Marina in downtown Sanford, yet we have never truly explored Sanford until we took a recent walking tour sponsored by the Florida Trail Association. This was another tour hosted by Steve Rajtar.

This walk lasted about 3 hours and covered over 6 miles of historical buildings and sites. It really provided a sense of Sanford's history, and we were amazed at the number of restored beautiful homes in the area. There are also several parks in the downtown area, and many churches which also have a wide range of architectural styles. The downtown area has many older buildings as well, and there is a nice variety of restaurants and shops in the historic shopping district.

Downtown Sanford is located on Lake Monroe, which is part of the St. John's river. The waterfront area is nicely done and well maintained - it's a nice place to walk along the water or just sit in one of the swings and just relax. Other points of interest along the tour are a former ornate hotel now being used by a missionary organization, the national guard armory, the Elks Club building, and many other sites. It was great to learn some of the history and to see many of these buildings, etc. that we otherwise would not have known were there.

One of the many nicely restored and well maintained older homes in Sanford.

One of the many interesting church buildings along the tour.


Another of the older churches.


Building housing the Sanford Museum on the shores of Lake Monroe. Interesting to note that the tops of the columns (green part) are formed in the shape of celery stalks, one of the primary crops for the area in years past.

One of several parks in downtown Sanford.

Historical Tours with Steve Rajtar and the Florida Trail Assn.

In July Mary had seen a mention somewhere of a guided canoe tour of the Winter Park chain of lakes with a historical emphasis. We decided to check it out, and were thoroughly pleased that we did. In fact, during the past 2 weeks we have been on walking tours of the Greenwood Cemetary (night tour), the Lake Eola area in downtown Orlando, and a canoe tour of Lake Ivanhoe.

The tours are sanctioned by the Florida Trail Association, and are conducted by local attorney Steve Rajtar. Steve had done extensive research on many areas and towns in Central Florida, and he (often with his wife) has published many books and articles on the history of the area. When conducting tours in person, he blends history with a perspective of modern day, and does so in an entertaining manner. If you have any interest in the history of various places in Central Florida, it would be well worth your time to check out Steve's schedule and plan to attend one of his tours. The Florida Trail group also sponsors many other hikes, canoe trips, bicycle rides, etc. led by a variety of volunteers. We hope to attend some in the near future, and will write about how those go!

The historical tours with Steve are completely free. While he typically has available a variety of books for sale, as well as a patch for each tour available for $4.00, there is absolutely no pressure to purchase anything. You can find the upcoming schedule on the local Florida Trail website at http://www.central.floridatrail.org/. The is also a website that lists all of Steve's tours and links to the self-guided tours and directions that you can download, but that website will be going away in the near future - here is the link: http://www.geocities.com/yosemite/rapids/8428/historicalseries.html.

The group starts the canoe tour of Lake Ivanhoe.

View of downtown Orlando from Lake Ivanhoe.

One of the many interesting homes we saw in the neighborhoods around Lake Eola.

Fountain along the edge of Lake Eola

View of downtown at the end of the Lake Eola tour.