4th Of July Photo Shoot

We decided to go on a little photo shoot on the 4th of July since we didn't have anything planned, so not much else was going on. We had a nice time visiting an old, historic sugar mill site in Homosassa, then visited a couple of spots that caught our interest along the way back home. Remember, 'Click On A Pic' to see a larger verion of the image.

This is the old mill with this image taken in a format reminiscent of the photographs taken back in the civil war days. It seemed fitting, since this sugar mill was used to make sugar, syrup and molasses for the army of the south in the "War of Northern Aggression".

There were signs around the Yulee Sugar Mill, explaining what the equipment was that we were viewing.

I was a bit surprised to discover that the sugar plantation in its busiest time was spread over 5100 acres.

This is pretty much what is left of this very mystical place. The 'park' is all of 6 acres now and only has a few bits left in it. The chimney to the left is for the steam engine that powered the rollers for crushing the sugar cane, which is explained in the following pictures.

If you look at the first picture, it looks like the sugar cane pressed by the rollers may have poured down the face of the stonework, causing the stain that has lasted all these years.

This is the business end of the boiler for the steam engine. I looked up the Stillman, Allen & Co. Novelty Iron Works and it looks like this boiler was forged sometime between 1842 and 1849 (when the mill became operational), just in time for the Civil War to set in...

This photo explains the function of the steam engine and how it drives the rollers.

On the other side of the steam engine are what is left of the cooling kettles used in the sugar making process.

You kind of have to imagine a wooden building surrounding all of this.

This image explains the drying process for sugaring and how they caught the runoff for syrup and molasses.

Even from this angle, there are stains on the side of the roller pedestal that do make you wonder if it comes from decades of crushing sugar cane.

And this is an image of David Yulee, owner of the Yulee sugar mill, brought Florida the first cross-state railroad, served on the Florida Territorial Counsel and helped write the State's first constitution (as it says in the picture above).

After we left the sugar mill site, we stopped by a nearby park, looked unsucessfully for a geocache and photographed the 'wildlife', such as this golden orb web weaver spider.

And this anhinga, which seems to be staring at its reflection in the water.

And here's a picture of a pair of green hornets that Luann got.

So, that's how we spent the 4th of July, how was your day?