We drove over to the Heritage Village in Largo this
morning. It is located adjacent to the
Botanical Garden we
previously visited and is also a Pinellas County Government Program. The Village is essentially a living history
museum of Pinellas County’s history and heritage. There are 31 historical structures and
features in the 21 acre park. There is a
visitors center with exhibits featuring historical furnishings and antiques of
Pinellas County residents from the 1920’s and earlier as well as an exhibit of
Florida tourism, citrus growing, and other economic activities during later years.
We started our
tour of the grounds with a visit to “The House of Seven Gables,” a 13-room
Victorian home typical of upper middle-class residents. A volunteer docent led a tour of the house, describing
it as once belonging to a wealthy businessman from Illinois who used the house
during winter months – an early snowbird.
All the houses
and structures in the village have been relocated from their original sites in
Pinellas County and many have been extensively restored. Most of the furniture and belongings in the
buildings are not original, but have been included to represent typical furnishings
of that particular type of building and time period.
We toured most of
the buildings open to the public while we were there. Some were closed, still being restored or repaired. A highlight of the tour was a house used by a
local quilting group, The Cracker Quilting Guild. There were many excellent
quilts on display as well as examples of the different types of quilting,
weaving, and other fabric art equipment and tools.
The Village is
an excellent educational resource for Florida residents and visitors that has
preserved a glimpse of Florida, and especially Pinellas County’s, history and
cultural heritage. Even the dark days of
segregation and Jim Crow laws have not been ignored and the exhibits offer a
balanced look at Florida’s past history.
After the
visit, it was then time for a late lunch, so we drove over to nearby Indian Rocks
Beach and ate at Crabby Bills, a popular restaurant across the street from the
beach. It is a typical beach restaurant
with inside and outside eating and bar venues.
I had an excellent grouper sandwich and Judy had she-crab soup and a
salad.
After lunch, it
was getting late in the day but we still felt pretty good and decided to visit
the Largo Nature Preserve, about 5 miles away.
The preserve is part of Largo Central Park, a city park in the middle of
the urban sprawl between Tampa and St. Petersburg. A natural lowlands area, it
is an oasis for many different types of birds, wildlife and human activities.
We took the ½ mile nature walk on a trail along a canal, water ponds and
through wooded areas. The trail was
actually a wide, paved access road marked for walkers, runners and bicycle
riders. We saw several types of birds, a
large turtle and several fish in the shallow water. We didn’t see any gators but we assumed they
were there and could have been watching us.
It was a pleasant walk and another good example of Florida’s natural
habitat - a good way to end a busy day of sightseeing.
After returning
to the RV we skipped dinner again, since we had had such a late lunch, and
settled for drinks and hors d’oeuvres instead.
Baseball again tomorrow.
Day 41 Pictures
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