Petals Plucked from Sunny ClimesBrooks, A. M. (Abbie M.)
History
Petals Plucked from Sunny Climes
Brooks, A. M. (Abbie M.)
Cuba -- Description and travel; Florida -- Description and travel; Florida -- History
The privilege of doing as one pleases is not to be overlooked in
Jacksonville. No costumes, however peculiar, appear out of style, or the
wearers, as in some other places, obliged to seek protection from the
police. Celebrities or millionaires walk the streets without creating
any sensation. The Mormon, with his four or fourteen wives, can come
from Salt Lake City, take rooms at the St. James, enter all the
frequented resorts with the same fear from molestation that a genuine
Floridian feels of being Ku-Kluxed. Any strong-minded market-woman can
don the Bloomer costume, make and sell sugar, brown as her own
bun-colored face, and peddle vegetables verdant as the idea which
prompted her to forsake the flowing robes of her fair sisters, and
assume the half masculine attire of the sterner sex, without attracting
any more attention than the lazy loungers in the market-house. The
citizens are so accustomed to sight-seeing that nothing would astonish
them but an honest politician.
Unfortunately for all parties concerned, this winter there is a large
influx of men in search of employment, fifty looking for situations with
only one vacancy. It is well to come prepared for all exigencies, and
bring a tent to stop in, provided nothing better presents itself. The
woods, waters, and oyster-bars are free to all; but boarding-house
keepers, from the pressure of surrounding circumstances, have a
peculiarly persistent way of watching strangers closely and
_interviewing_ them frequently, particularly if there is a suspicion
that funds are running low with them. Camping in the open air in this
genial clime is pleasanter than would be imagined by persons not
accustomed to it, and is accompanied with more peace of mind than being
dunned for board-bills without money to pay them.
Pleasant places of resort are springing up in the vicinity of
Jacksonville, which furnish lovely drives behind some of the teams kept
in the city. Moncrief Springs, four miles distant, now appears to be the
most popular resort. Here the orange marmalade factory may be visited--a
recently-developed branch of industry--making use of the wild oranges
which flourish so abundantly throughout the State without culture. Many
other improvements have been made at this place--bath-houses,
bowling-alley, dancing-saloon, and restaurant--all of which contribute
much to the diversion of strangers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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