You can dress us up (kind of)…but you can’t take us just anywhere…

Mary Clark, Kayla Herl, Terry Nickerl, Cheryl Evans

You can dress us up (kind of)…but you can’t take us just anywhere…unless… it is to the “fish camp”… in a trailer park…on Dead River…in Tavares. 

As we turned off the highway all I could think was OMG “Where are we going?” Although I had been thoroughly warned about what to expect,  there are truly no words to describe that “oh crap” feeling when we pulled off the highway passing by rusted out trailers that have seen better days,  grungy unkempt small cabins and “once upon a time-but not any more” bungalows. The only thing missing were the “Dueling Banjos” from the movie “Deliverance” playing in the background!

However, once seated on the dock in mismatched lawn chairs around a rusty metal table, under huge ancient cypress trees with giant clumps of Spanish moss hanging just above our heads the attitude was obviously relaxed easy old Florida at its best.  This place even displayed its outrageous colorful characters you could only find in cheesy movies about the South!  One indescribable fellow, that I never determined if he officially worked there or not, darted back and forth between the outdoor grill and the docks, shooing away the coots, egrets, herons and all of the other water birds that gathered looking for free handouts.  He looked to be in his 50’s and wore knee high glow in the dark yellow socks with big red polka dots, dirty high top keds, plaid shorts and a baseball cap!

AHH…. This is the Florida I remember as a kid. This was the real Florida “experience” that you could not possibly duplicate at an amusement park. This is the Florida where 3 slightly tipsy old high school friends and one delightful young lady can look out over a lazy river, sip cheap wine, swap old stories, had some of the best steak I have ever tasted and celebrated Mary’s 60 something birthday!  It was so much fun! 

"The Kind You Can't Afford"  Madeleine Peyroux