Only 330 Days Until Christmas (January 29th)

David had been back at work for more than a week and we were growing restless from our daily routine of schoolwork and swimming. We decided it was time for Christmas... Christmas, Florida that is.

In Christmas it is...you guessed it...always Christmas.

Just outside of town is Fort Christmas, built on Christmas Day 1837, for use in the Seminole Indian Wars.  The Fort is now a museum within an Orange County Park.  This was our first experience at an Orlando area park and boy were we impressed.  The exhibits were great, the park clean and well maintained and admission was FREE. (perhaps Disney tax dollars at work) 

Next to the fort is a collection of historical buildings, including a pioneer village- Florida style.  It was fun to explore and look at the differences between these early homes and the homesteads we had seen in the Dakotas.  Most notably, mosquito netting, no explanation needed.  Plus, the homes were much larger with huge breezeways between rooms.  And no wood piled high to last throughout the long winter.  The lack of winter blizzards sounds appealing, but I can't quite get past that mosquito netting and these fine specimens in the mudroom.

Of course some things never change. 

Completely unrelated to Florida history, Christmas is also home to the worlds largest Alligator, "Swampy."