When most people think about the Underground Railroad, visions of black families trekking nervously through the forest under the cover of darkness invariably come to mind. An elaborate system of safe houses in the late 1700s and 1800s where escaped slaves found sanctuary on the road to freedom, the Underground Railroad stretched from the Southern…
Author: Laura
As a professional writer, my job is to have fun exploring the world — its places, its people, its cultures, its histories and its mysteries — and to share what I have learned with the masses via the written word. I love what I do!
Henry Flagler Watches Over Beloved City
Alternately called cruel, philanthropic, pitiless and visionary in his lifetime, Henry Morrison Flagler (1830-1913) was a complicated man. Though a hard worker, Flagler was widely recognized as a ruthless businessman. His business dealings, along with those of partner John D. Rockefeller’s, were laid out in painstaking detail by one bold muckraker of the era, Ida…
Open for Summer
It’s here! The season of fun, flip flops and fruity umbrella drinks is upon us! In other parts of the country, spring transitions to summer subtly with fewer rainy days, longer daylight hours and the smell of wild honeysuckle hanging in the still air. In northeast Florida, summer enters with floats and fanfare. Since 1946,…
Kingsley Plantation
“It was a Southern home of the old type, yet having features peculiar to itself because of its location. Life there was far away from the rush of the world, simple, unaffected, kind and happy…” Were this description written about a homestead in another time and place, it would conjure up images of a typical…
St. Johns Harbor Pilots: The Pride of Our Port
Although I live in a coastal city, I have little knowledge of marine life and what goes on in and around Jacksonville’s major waterways, the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. Sure, I stop to watch fishermen cast their rods off bridges and piers sometimes, and I marvel at large vessels in the ocean…
Jacksonville’s Southbank Riverwalk
I don’t know if every city has a color, but Jacksonville certainly does. In conducting my day to day business, I don’t notice it much. But when I stroll down the Southbank’s Riverwalk, it hits me like a Sporty Smurf knuckleball. Jacksonville is BLUE. The Riverwalk is one of my favorite places to go when…
An Artistic Approach
Sunny Saturday mornings are perfect in Northeast Florida. I wake up at 9, stretch luxuriously and take a few moments to appreciate the Cheshire Cat-like grin on my face. Once I do get out of bed, my favorite Saturday morning ritual is driving down to Riverside to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers….
Fort Matanzas: Worth a Look
Two forts with a single mission—to defend the Spanish colonial settlement of St. Augustine—still stand for visitors to explore and reflect on daily life behind the coquina-filled walls in 18th century Florida. Most locals are familiar with the Castillo de San Marcos in the heart of the old city, but the lesser known Fort Matanzas, 15…
Color My World
For someone who has never painted before, staring at a blank canvas can be pretty intimidating. I found a brochure for “Yes You Canvas” at Visit Jacksonville earlier this month and told the girls at work about it. Since the website said you can take wine and appetizers, we decided to turn it into a…
Florida Faces and Places 