A Slice of LIfe
Bill LItes
Day 17 – 7/28/2021 (Continued)
In another 20 miles south on US-17 I visited the Barberville Pioneer Village located on the grounds of the Barberville Central Highschool in Barberville, FL. This settlement is the culmination of years of work to move a number of restored historic buildings to this location, to help visitors visualize and understand the way pioneers, to this area, lived and worked. Some of the 11 structures include an 1875 log cabin, an 1885 Post Office, an 1885 Depot, an 1890 church, and an early 1900s country store.
It was only another 5 miles to the Lake George State Forestry Station located on US-17 at the edge of the Lake George Forest. At one time in his young life our son, Billy, had wanted to be a Forest Ranger and he was lucky enough to climb one of the Ranger Station towers with a Ranger during a tour of their facility. After that experience, forestry stations had always interested my too. I really didn’t want to interrupt the folks at the station, so I just stopped long enough to give my back a rest and to take this photo. Then I continued south.
My next stop was just down the road on US-17, to visit one of my favorite family campgrounds, now known as DeLeon Springs State Park located in DeLeon Springs, FL. From the early 1970s to around 2000 our family fell in love with camping. Most of our camping took place up and down the central part of Florida at the many fresh-water springs. One of our favorites was DeLeon Springs campgrounds, with its 1930s Old Sugar Mill Restaurant. In the 1970s the property was privately owned, and we got to know the owners quite well. Now every time I pass thru DeLeon Springs, a family camping memory pops into my head. Oh, what fun we all had camping at the springs!
It was another 10 miles south on US-17 & east on US-92 to where I visited the Deland Naval Air Station (DNAS) Museum located on the southern end of the Deland Municipal Airport. This small museum is housed in the former Chief Master-at-Arms house and is dedicated to the honor of the men and women who have served our country in U.S. Naval Aviation. The museum displays U.S. Naval military training artifacts and memorabilia dating from 1942, when the Naval Station was in operation.
I drove around to the north end of the Deland Municipal Airport, where I was hoping to visit the Commemorative Air Force Museum (Florida Wing) and get photos of their restored (flying) AT-6 Texan and restored (flying) T-34 Mentor, and talk airplanes with CAF members that might be there. However, that part of the airport was closed off and Greta (my Garmin) couldn’t find the hanger. I had to be satisfied with the photo below.
Now I got back on US-17 and drove 20 miles south to visit the last museum on this road trip. This last stop was to visit the Florida Postal Museum located in Orange City, FL. This small museum is housed in the old restored 1876 Heritage Inn, which just happens to be the very same building where the first Orange City Post Office was established in 1876. Yep, the post office was moved several times over the years, but the museum ended up in the very same building where it had all started. The museum has a variety of postal artifacts, along with a collection of framed envelopes, lining both sides of a long hallway, with dates from the inception of the U.S. Postal Service to the present.
Now it was finally time to head southeast the last 50 miles on I-4 & SR-46 to my home in Titusville, FL. I had called DiVoran to let her know about what time I thought I would be home, and she had a great ‘Welcome Home’ meal ready for me when I got to the house. It was great to eat a home-cooked meal for a change and sleep in my own bed. As much fun as these road trips are, I always look forward to getting home and relaxing in familiar surroundings with someone I
love and appreciate.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about my adventures on this road trip as much as I have writing about them. Putting these museum visits and traveling experiences into words always brings back visions of all the amazing things I have seen during this trip. Thank you for riding along with me on this road trip, and I hope you will join me on the next trip for some more new and exciting museum adventures. Be safe out there!
Photo Credit: https://www.clipartmax.com/cartoon-driver-waving/
—–The End—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 64 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is: John 10:10
Old Things R New 
That was a great one because I was familiar with the places you went to. Those were for sure lovely times with the kids and us.
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