June 13, 2015—Did you know there is a town in Florida called
Two Egg? Actually, by its website’s own description, it is not a town, because
it does not have a tax base, a government, a mayor, or anything else that would
make it a town. It is actually a wide spot in the road in Jackson County, whose
county seat is Marianna.
That wide spot in the road claims to have its own ghost and
is near a ghost town called Parramore. (We didn’t see either one.) We did stop
to take a picture of the town’s sign. (How many times do you find a town called
Two Egg?)
Our main destination today was visiting Falling Water State
Park. The park boasts the highest water falls in Florida. When water falls
(only after rains), it cascades down the falls and drops into a 100-foot sink
hole. Quite impressive—the hole more than the falls. The state park, which is
not very big but does have camping and swimming in a sinkhole, spring-fed 2
acre lake, is located in Chipley, just outside of Marianna. This state park
would be a great place to camp with kids.
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| Falling Waters |
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| Water fall and 100-foot sink hole |
We had heard that this area had been home to many different
Native American tribes for several hundred years. One of our neighboring campers,
who lives about an hour from here, said he is constantly digging up arrowheads
on his property. Given that knowledge, we thought we would like to find out
more, so we hunted for a visitor’s center.
It is Saturday. Everything is closed. Don’t these townsfolk
know that tourist actively tour on weekends? That’s when a visitor’s center
should be open, not closed.
Although the region’s welcome center was closed, we decided
to take a chance that the the visitor’s center in Marianna would be open.
Although it was closed, perhaps it would have some brochures available.
We pulled up to the historic building in which the center is
located...and discovered it was open! Not officially, however. It was hosting a
birthday party. We “sort of” crashed the party by snooping around the various
rooms of the old Victorian house. Very nice. Oh, and we picked up a few
brochures.
Turns out the self-guided walking tour really only featured
several old houses. Not really our cup of tea.
Another of the brochures was the Jackson County Visitors’
Guide. One of the highlights in Jackson County is Greenwood, a town featuring
Pender’s Store, founded in 1869 and “remains the oldest operating store in
Florida” (according to the brochure). We found the store. But it is no longer
open. It must have closed sometime after 2014 when the Jackson County Visitor’s
Guide was published. Bummer.
The guide also had pictures of Service Drug, a pharmacy established
in 1906 in Graceville. Apparently this drugstore still has a real soda
fountain. (I remember going to a Walgreen’s in Gary, Ind., that had a soda
fountain.) We were on the opposite side of the county, so before heading out
that way, I decided to call. No answer. Again, what’s with these small towns? If
they want to attract tourists, they need to keep their tourist attractions open
on weekends! At least the number I called did not reach a disconnected number.
As I was researching some of the areas attractions on my
cell phone (aka my pocket computer) I found that the town of Wausau, not to far
from Falling Waters State Park, boasts it is the possum kingdom of the world.
The state legislature in 1982 proclaimed the benefits of the possum, a humble rat-like
ugly but apparently very nutritious creature. The state erected an monument to
the possum in Wausau. That’s about all there is in this small town. Oh, the town
does have a possum festival the first weekend in August. Darn. We’ll be in
Indiana then and will miss it. Darn!
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| Monument to the humble possum |
All in all, it was a great day and a fun vacation. It was
nice getting away. Tomorrow it is back home.
Until later,
Your Reluctant RoVer,
Linda
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