nanigans

I’ve been here maybe five or six times. I stayed once at the Herlong bed and breakfast, which is beautiful inside and out. However, it’s much more economical to stay in neighboring Ocala.

This is a wonderful town for those who love to go antiqueing. There’s an amazing little shop filled completely with Italian carved cameos, but the lady who owns it is quite eccentric and reeks of cat piss. The town was the filming site for the movie “Doc Hollywood” in the ’90s.

This is a nice retreat for those weary of “touristy Florida.” It’s definitely off the beaten path and has an old world appeal. Micanopy has a very relaxed southern pace and an almost disgusting amount of charm. Husbands/boyfriends beware, you will be dragged here (but you can always wander down to the nearby nudie bar truckstop).

Welcome to Micanopy.

excerpt from the official website:

Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site, about 2 miles South of Petersburg and about 20 miles Northwest of Springfield, is a reconstruction of the village where Abraham Lincoln spent his early adulthood… Twelve log houses, the Rutledge Tavern, ten workshops, stores, mills and a school where church services were held have been reproduced and furnished as they might have been in the 1830s.

I’ve been here a handful of times, on school fieldtrips and with my family. The candlelight walk is a great experience during the fall. Apparently they have some kind of hog slaughtering in the wintertime that I’ve yet to see (no thanks). It’s a very interactive place; you can talk to people in character as blacksmiths and storeclerks, and one cabin lets you use a spinning wheel. This was the only place I had enjoyed live dulcimer music until a few years ago when I saw a performer at Potbelly’s playing the theme song to the Exorcist on one.

Who knew?

My dad and I used to go hiking every fall here. It’s the perfect place to check out the turning leaves. There are many canyons and waterfalls, although a few of the trails were sub-par last time I went. The lodge is very nice, but hard to book during the high season.

The history is pretty gruesome. During an ongoing dispute between tribes, the Illinois tribe climbed the rock and the Potawatomi and Fox tribes surrounded the base and starved them to death. More recently, in 1960 three women were murdered in Saint Louis canyon. Just bring snacks and your dad and you’ll be fine.