OCALI COUNTRY DAYS

 My grandson Corey King asked me what I was doing on November 13 - 14, 2010 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. I said nothing, why? He asked if I wanted to go to what was called Cracker Days, now Ocali Country Days. I said sure. What is the admission? He said he didn't know so I told him I would look it up online. He asked me to text him if I found out. I told him I would. Well, I looked for about 45 minutes for information. I finally found it and promptly text him that it was $3.00 over 6 and US military free with ID. He said awesome, pick you up in the morning on Saturday. I told him I would be ready. When we got to the gate, it said $5.00 over 6 with US military free with ID. I told the lady about how much trouble I had locating any information on the event, and that the cost was stated as $3.00. She promptly called a gentleman over and told him what I had told her. He immediately got defensive and said that's  not my post. I don't have any control over anyone's but mine. I wasn't complaining, I just thought they should know about the difference in cost of admission. I also told the man that it was a post about the Silver River attraction. I was very surprised there wasn't more advertisement about this very interesting and enjoyable event. I hope there will be more information and promotion about this the next time.We walked in, and began our visit into "The Florida of Yesteryear."

The first thing we saw as we entered was a small building where the children were to put the mortar between the logs of this "room" using a mixture of tree moss, sand and water. We then came across a vendor that did wood carvings. He had taken a section of a tree, and carved different animals on it. He then preserved it and put a finish on it. It was really Beautiful! There was a dear on the top and an owl on one of the sides, and many other woodland animals. We saw an authentic old-time telegraph station, went through some one room school houses, log cabins furnished with authentic furnishings. Watched the making of sugar cane syrup, and even bought some sugar cane stalks to chew on!! Yum, Yum! Hayden, my great grandson who is 9 months old, sure enjoyed it!! Lol! Several crafts were on sale, including items made by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Also other vendors were selling their wares and showing how the people of yesteryear lived. We saw the Black Smith and how he used some of his tools, watched some men recaning chairs, a man working with wood using the old tools. We watched a man weaving cloth using a loom. A woman making thread from the fur of a live rabbit, and the spinning wheel would make it into thread to make other things. She said the rabbit didn't feel the fur being pulled out cause it was molting. She said she was helping the rabbit cause it would have to lick its fur to remove loose fur out. She said that a rabbit couldn't vomit and some times the rabbits would die from the fur in their systems in the wild. Corey was soo excited because he got to get some sugar cane! He remembered it from a school field trip, but has not gotten any since. He may not have remembered much of the exhibit, but he sure remembered the sugar cane and wanted more! Lol!

                             

                       Tree Carvings                 

 

Weaver                                                                        Black Smith
                                        

Ashley and Hayden eating sugar cane

                                  Corey in the kitchen
                                  










All in all, the day was a GREAT day! It was really fascinating to see a portion of what it was like to have lived in the yesteryear!

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