Palatka

Ocala, Florida

Weather: low 72 degrees, high 92 degrees, partly cloudy skies

This was the day that we were going to be back on the road, seeing what was around the next curve or over the next hill. As I wrote in yesterday's post, leaving has been postponed for a couple of weeks. At least when we do get away, the leaves should be changing colors in Tennessee, and the weather should be cooler.

Speaking of cooler weather, we are starting to see some moderation in the temperatures here in Ocala. The average high temperature is about five degrees cooler. It is especially nice in the late afternoon, as the humidity is lower and light breezes help make it pleasant to be outside.

We decided that we needed to get away from the RV for a little road trip today, and ended up going all the way to Palatka. Many times when we're out exploring, we never know where we'll end up going until we get there. Today was one of those types of days. We headed north through Citra, Lochloosa, turned east at Hawthorne, passed through Interlachen and finally arrived in Palatka. This route we took is not that densely settled, and it seemed even less busy with the kids back in school. As we passed through Interlachen, I noticed that the little town has several of the old Cracker houses that were so prevalent when I was growing up in Florida. Here's a Cracker house that we saw in Interlachen. If anyone's interested, it is for sale.



These houses were built in a style that took advantage of open windows and doors before the use of air conditioning became wide spread.

We were surprised to see how many lakes there are in this northern part of central Florida. It seemed like we were almost never out of sight of a lake during our trip. It would be interesting to know how many lakes there are in Florida.

By the time we arrived in Palatka, it had started raining and it came down in a deluge. As a result, I was unable to get out and take pictures like I usually do. The town has a population of about 15,000 people, but it seemed much busier than that.

The downtown area is really attractive, and I saw a lot of murals painted on the sides of buildings. The courthouse and city hall have a definite Florida accent to them. Here's the Putnam County Courthouse.



Here's a picture of Palatka City Hall.



Note that the sun is shining in these pictures. It was raining cats and dogs when we were there, so I got these pictures from Wikipedia.

Palatka is famous for the vegetables grown in the area, including potatoes. Most of the economy is based on agriculture and tourism. The St. Johns River flows by the east side of the city, providing some of the best fishing around.

I would have liked to walk the downtown area to explore the history and sights, but it looked like the rain was set in for awhile. I have got to find the time sometime in the future to go back and look around a little more.

By the time we got back home, our wander lust had been scratched for the rest of the day. Knowing how easily we start getting nervous feet, it won't be long before we get out and see what else we can scare up.

More later, be safe.

Today's Town - Interlachen, Florida: Between The Lakes

Not all who wander are lost.