Photos from the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse

 We spent yesterday at the Ponce Inlet lighthouse for the annual homeschool day. This 175 feet hand-built lighthouse is the tallest in Florida. It was first lit in 1887 after many difficulties with the construction, including the death of its engineer Orville E. Babcock who drown in the first attempt to transport bricks into the inlet by boat. Two other boats hauling bricks subsequently sunk as well. This historical site is open to the public.  It is both a museum and an active lighthouse. Here are some photos we took.

My littlest is not afraid of heights or climbing towers.

A spectacular view of the ocean and Ponce inlet. 

The preserved buildings contain artifacts that were used in early life at the lighthouse.

This little soap cage was used for sudsing up water for washing laundry and dishes.

The glass bottles and metal tools and containers really give a good idea about kitchens before the invention of plastics.

Here is a collection of old time medicines, one of which was Choroform liniment!  Eek!  

This was the medicine chest provided to the Light House keepers by the Coast Guard which contained the medicines listed above.

There were also herbal medicines on site.

Popular herbal medicines from the 1800's.  Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound and Atwoods Jaundice Bitters.

One building contains a stunning collection of Fresnel lenses from other lighthouses.  

Below is my favorite lens from an Australian lighthouse. It reminds me of a big insect.

Hope you liked the photos. What fun lighthouses have you visited?

Trip to the Florida Agriculture Museum

I spent Saturday at the Florida Agriculture Museum near Palm Coast.  The Museum hosted a holiday event with the Florida Etsy Street Team.  After shopping for some wonderful handmade holiday gifts, the girls and I took a tour of the museum.

The museum is on 400 acres which was donated for the creation of the museum by Flagler county.  The museum was started with a government grant.  There are currently 2 employees and many volunteers who operate the museum.

On the tour we saw these short horned Florida Cracker Cattle, like this bull.  We also met this talkative pig.  Tessa said 'he's beautiful... very pretty momma.'  That was the first time the tour guide had heard the pig described as beautiful.  

These two buildings are what would have been the ranch owner's living area complete with an outdoor kitchen (left) and the living area which had 2 bedrooms.

The garden looks neat and orderly.  The pig and cattle enjoy the mustard greens and volunteers take home some vegetables also.

There were some lovely chicken coops at the Museum for ducks and hens.  This pen had 5 or 6 chickens including Rhode Island Reds and Buff Orpingtons.  The chicken wire had a beautiful grape vine growing up it to provide shade to the birds during the hot weather.  

The girls enjoyed seeing the horses. The museum also offers riding lessons and trail rides.

The museum is definitely worth a visit!