Tally Ho!

At last it was time for our long awaited trip to Tallahassee to visit Dianne's cousin Bruce and his loving wife June. We had discussed this visit for a few years and finally found a mutually agreeable time. As a special treat, Bruce's brother Steve and his wife Betty planned to visit at the same time.

As we so often do, we letterboxed a little on the way down to help break up the trip. The most interesting box we found was "An Elephant Never Forgets" at a cemetery in Moultrie, Georgia.
According to the clue, back in 1950 (the year Bruce and Dianne were born), a local man, William F. Duggan, Sr. fulfilled a life long dream of owning a circus when he purchased the Pan American Animal Exhibit and transformed it into the Hagen-Wallace Circus. Sadly, he died of a heart attack before the first performance. There was a baby elephant in the show which Duggan had named “Nancy” after his granddaughter. Duggan’s son sent a photo of Nancy to the Georgia Marble Company to have a monument made for his father’s grave. The 5.5 feet tall and 7 feet long sculpture is an exact replica of baby elephant “Nancy”. The grave marker lists Mr. Duggan's name and his birth and death dates, along with the inscription "Circus Owner." After a rainy trip, we arrived at Bruce and June's beautiful home in Tallahassee. The house is so perfectly situated in its wooded surroundings that the home is very private even though neighbors are not so far away. The recent renovations were brilliantly conceived and executed, causing us to search around for the HGTV camera crew. Bruce and June are the epitome of gracious hosts, making everyone who visits feel welcome and pampered. June had just completed a week of training in healthy eating and lifestyle at Hallelujah Acres in Plant City, FL, and shared some of what she learned with us. She even set up stations so that we could have the hands-on experience of trying some of the recipes she brought home with her. Steve and Ken mixed up some yummy green smoothies. Other healthy foods we helped prepare and enjoyed were: walnut pate, portobello burgers, dairy-free cheese, a moccachino drink, and a delicious apple crisp dessert. All were vegetarian and non-dairy. Portions sizes were appropriate (unlike the supersized portions restaurants so often serve) and filling.

In discussing the foods we had been eating for two days on Sunday morning before we left, we four guests were all surprised when we realized that none of us had even thought about having a snack between meals. There was no hunger to feed.

On Saturday night, Bruce and June's son Adam came for a visit with his charming wife Jessica and the adorable Reese. Listening to this little one talk, it's hard to believe she turned two only two months ago. Staying with Bruce and June two days each week, she has developed a close bond with them. Sometimes she has to help "Big Daddy" by showing him how to do puzzles.Thanks mainly to the efforts of that fabulous carver Kirbert, Tallahassee is a letterboxing haven. We couldn't just ignore all those boxes calling to us, so we persuaded Steve and Betty to let us take them on their first letterboxing adventure. One of the places we visited was Lichgate on High Road. A Florida State professor bought three acres of land in 1955 for the express purpose of saving a live oak tree on the property. She built a Tudor-cottage home situated to allow her to look at the tree.
The tree that attracted her passion is now called the Lichgate Oak. The tree stands about 60 feet tall, has a 22-foot circumference and spreads its limbs 130 feet across. Its age has been estimated at 175 to 200 years, though some believe it to be older.
After a wonderful weekend in Tallahassee, we were treated to blue skies and definite signs of spring on the way home. Wisteria was out in full force.
At the Georgia Veterans State Park in Cordele, Georgia, we encountered an impressive stand of bald or pond cypresses skirting Lake Blackshear. Curiously, most had limbs on only one side of the tree, which happened to be the side facing the water.
We knew we had seen this same phenomenon before and dug up this photo of some other trees which we thought were a type of cypress along Elder Lake in Kilgore, Texas. We've searched the internet without success to find information about this and to discover what specific kind of tree it is and why the limbs grow in this manner.