Monday, November 22, 2010

Pasco Winter Quarters, Land-O-Lakes, FL, to Sun-N-Fun RV Resort, Sarasota, FL:  Not much on TV last night but we found two great shows on PBS—one on Florida history with an emphasis on the Tampa and Ybor City area, and the other on Stiltsville, which we’d never heard of.  Stiltsville is a group of wood stilt houses located one mile south of Cape Florida on Biscayne Bay in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The structures stand on wood or reinforced concrete pilings, generally ten feet above the shallow water which varies from one to three feet deep at low tide. Started in the 30s, they reached their peak back in the 60s with around 19 homes—and even several social clubs (Crawfish Eddies, Quarterdeck Club, Bikini Club, Rod & Reel Club) attracting a lot of connected businessmen and politicians, and celebrities were seen out there all the time  Tony Roma, the restaurateur, owned one of the homes there.  The area of Biscayne Bay where the seven remaining houses stood was deeded to the National Park Service and slated to be torn down.  But a bunch of activists got together and stopped it (S.O.S.—Save Old Stiltsville).  They can only be seen from land at Bill Boggs Cape Florida SP which is just south of Miami.  We plan on heading over there when we’re staying at the Everglades.  With a permit you can actually stay at one of the houses.  Wouldn’t THAT be fun!  We left Pasco Winter Quarters around and arrived at Sun-N-Fun and were set up by .