This past week end was an event at Silver River called, Ocali Country Days, formally known as Cracker Days. They have this event every year about the same time, just before Thanksgiving. The admission was $5.00 per person and children under 6 and US military free with ID.
My grandson, Corey King and his family wanted to go, and asked me if I would like to go with them. I said sure! This event is a visit to the Florida of Yesteryear. Corey remembers going on a field trip when he was in school, and eating some sugar cane. He said he wanted to go and get some more! Ha!Ha! (It is GOOD!) For those who have never had it, you have to cut the bark off the sugar cane, and then cut the heart into pieces. You chew this like gum, and the award is sugar syrup! Yum Yum! It looks a little like Bamboo when it is growing.
The first thing we saw after entering the grounds was an area where they had put up some logs to make a cabin. (Just a small area). The children were to put the “mortar” made of sand, tree moss, and water. The next thing we saw, was a vendor that made beautiful wood carvings. Among his items, he had taken about a 3 foot section of a tree and carved different animals all over it. He preserved it and put a finish on it. It had a deer on the top, an owl and many other woodland animals on the sides. It was really Beautiful!
As we walked around, we saw an authentic old-time telegraph station, went through log houses furnished with authentic items.
We watched the making of sugar cane syrup, and bought some sugar cane stalks to chew on! Yum! Yum! Even my 9 month old great grandson liked it! LOL! Corey was so excited because he got to get some sugar cane!
We watched some men recaning some chairs, a women using a spinning wheel making yarn out of a live rabbits fur! When asked if it hurt the rabbit pulling the fur out, she said no because it was molting and it helped the rabbit because the only way it could get rid of the loose fur was to lick it, and sometimes the rabbit would die in the wild because of the fur in its system in the wild. There was several crafts available to buy from the vendors, including crafts from the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Vendors were busy selling their wares and showing how the people of yesteryear lived. We saw a Black Smith and how he used some of his tools.
A gentleman showed us how the weaving loom worked. He was making a dresser scarf with it.
Saw a man working with wood using the old tools, there was a black history exhibit, and learned about Civil War items from both sides.
All and all, we had a beautiful day! It was a great treat. It was fascinating to see what it was like to have lived in the past!
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