Wednesday, January 13

Finally, a day that we feel comfortable getting out to explore! With temperatures getting up to 60F and the sun warming us up, we head east of Orlando to find Fort Christmas. The construction of this fort was begun on Christmas day in 1835 as a protection for the troops during the Seminole Indian Wars. The fort consists of a reconstructed stockade that houses a good museum about the Seminole Indians and the homesteaders that cleared and farmed Seminole and Orange Counties from the 1870s to the 1950s. Several buildings have been moved to the site from around the area as representatives of the various eras.
In the early days, the homes were plain and simple with cracks in the walls and floors that must have let in bugs and mosquitos as each bed, though simple, had mosquito netting over it. Each building was well furnished for that period. I was chagrined to see the 1950s farmhouse with several items that I remember from my own childhood! Am I becoming a museum piece myself? Makes one feel a bit dated for sure!