Seniors Find A Best Retirement City

Dade City is popular with senior tourists for its antique stores, restaurants and historic architecture including the Pasco County Courthouse, Hugh Embry Library, and Edwinola, a quaint place to stay.

The annual Kumquat Festival is hosted downtown and the surrounding area is a large producer of the tart kumquat, a citrus fruit eaten whole. The population was 6,437 at the 2010 census.

Dade City’s downtown is mostly known for its antique shops and restaurants. Two excellent educational institutions, St. Leo University and Pasco-Hernando State College, are located in the Greater Dade City area.

The city motto reads: Proud Heritage: Promising Future and Dade City is known as one of the 100 Best Places to Retire.  So seniors are invited to check it all out for yourselves, and enjoy visiting the wide array of Dade City antique stores.

 Seniors Visit The Pioneer Florida Museum

The Tocobaga Indians, the original inhabitants of the region, had small villages in the northern part of Tampa Bay. In December of 1836, construction of Fort Dade began. Thomas R. Tucker and Sarah Tucker were the first white residents of what eventually became Pasco County.

In December 1842, James Gibbons was issued a permit for 160 acres, which later became Dade City. The community was officially incorporated in 1889. During World War II, Dade City was home to a prisoner-of-war camp. The name “Dade City” was given in honor of Major F.L. Dade, a martyr of the Seminole warfare.

Plenty to see and do in and around Dade City  beginning with the Pioneer Florida Museum that displays exhibits depicting the life of pioneers. It has an old train depot, a 1913 locomotive, a pre-American Civil War house, a school, and a historic Methodist church.

Seniors Find Historical Sites Of Interest

Seniors can enjoy the Crystal River State Archaeological Site, Dade Battlefield State Historical Site, Historical Bok Sanctuary, and Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historical State Park are several historical sites near Dade City.

Hillsborough River State Park, which covers almost 4,000 acres, offers swimming, fishing, camping, canoeing, and picnicking opportunities, as well as nature trails for hikers.

TripAdvisor lists nearly two dozen things to do and see in and around Dade City starting off with the Giraffe Ranch. I’d want to pay a visit to Hancock Groves on Blanton Road. It is a premium farm, serving the Dade City area with fresh wholesome locally grown pick your own oranges and strawberries.

Toss in your clubs, there are more than half a dozen great courses senior golfers can play. And other popular attractions include the Lowry Park Zoo, the Florida Aquarium, Adventure Island Tampa Bay, and Busch Gardens.

Seniors, set your GPS for Dade City and experience for yourself the many amenities this city has to offer. Enjoy your stay. -jeb

 

Seniors Spend Time In Colorful Cibolo

Senior travelers will find Cibolo on the north side of Cibolo Creek, 21 miles northeast from San Antonio. A post office called Cibolo opened in 1883. By 1890 the community had a church, a cotton gin, a general store, and 100 residents.

For several decades cotton was the major cash crop in Cibolo. The fertile land and the flowing Cibolo Creek in the Cibolo Valley provided ideal conditions for a boom in agriculture. Corn, wheat, oats and milo maize were all major crops of the farming city.

The name Cibolo means “buffalo” in a Native American tongue.

Seniors Will Find Historic Tree

The primary economic factors for the city today are the nearby Randolph Air Force Base and the growth of the city of San Antonio. One of the primary landmarks senior visitors will see in Cibolo is an enormous historic oak tree which is included in the Historic Trees of Texas list.

In 2015, The City of Cibolo earned a Platinum Leadership Circle Award for the fourth consecutive year for their commitment to go above and beyond in financial transparency. Quite impressive I’d say.

The Cibolo Nature Center and Farm is a community that passionately believes that our brightest future is one lived in harmony with nature. Their aim is to ensure our natural treasures are not only protected, but thriving. The Center provides nature-focused education, research, entertainment and outdoor activities for more than 100,000 visitors a year.

There were many settlers in the Cibolo area long before 1876. The Comanche’s and other tribes roamed this area before the first German settlers arrived. The community was first established when the Southern Pacific Railroad cut through the area en route to major cities like Houston and San Antonio. Over time, Cibolo, Texas developed into the colorful suburb that it is today.

 Seniors Enjoy Cibolo Creek Ranch

Be sure to take in the rejuvenated Historic Downtown Cibolo. Old Main Ice House was placed inside a 1920’s completely renovated building. Two large garage doors placed on both sides of the original building make Old Main a spacious and historic, open-air bar.

Senior visitors can take in a visit to nearby Rio Cibolo Ranch, a Longhorn cattle ranch. During their excursions the Spaniard Conquistadors introduced cattle and horses to the area.

Nestled peacefully in the Chinati Mountains, is a true West Texas experience: Cíbolo Creek Ranch. Established in 1857, this Big Bend property is equal parts resort lodging and remote getaway.

It is a luxury compound built around three 19th-century forts. It  has played host to many movie stars and European royalty who were lured by the beauty of the Texas desert. The Ranch is where Supreme Court Judge Anthony Scalia died.

Senior travelers, you will enjoy a stop in Cibolo.  -jeb

 

Seniors Enjoy Time In Farmville

You may recall that the Vice-Presidential Debates took place in Farmville. Well, I looked up the community and discovered that there were just over 8,000 folks who call it home. Seniors can find Farmville in Prince Edward and Cumberland counties  where the Appomattox River traverses Farmville.

Senior hikers can hike the High Bridge Trail State Park, a more than 30-mile-long (48 km) multi-use trail ideally suited for hiking, bicycling and horseback riding. Its centerpiece is the majestic High Bridge, (site of one of the last battles of the American Civil War), which is more than 2,400 feet long and 160 feet above the Appomattox River.

Farmville (The Heart of Virginia) was formed in 1798 and incorporated in 1912 and today is the largest municipality between Richmond and Lynchburg. Hampden-Sydney College, a selective private four-year college, was founded in 1776 and Longwood University, chartered in 1839 as Farmville Female Seminary, was the first state teacher training college in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

 Seniors Explore “Heart of Virginia”

The Heart of Virginia Festival on the first Saturday of May has grown every year since it was established in 1978.

The festival includes all the traditional fare and concludes with a fireworks show at the Farmville airport. Lots of fun times in Farmville, that’s for sure. “Heart of Virginia” refers to Farmville’s location in the central part of the state.

Facebook helps senior visitors find attractions and things to see and do in Farmville. Me, I’d have to search out The Fishin’ Pig Restaurant just to find out why it is called this name. I understand that Grady’s BBQ is well appreciated by the locals.

I like museums and would explore both the High Bridge Battlefield and Robert Russa Morton Museum, the national center for the study of civil rights in education. It was the site of the first non-violent student demonstration in 1951, leading to the famous Brown vs. Board of Education case.

 For Seniors Who Like Bird Dog Field Trials

Toss in the clubs and play a round or two at the The Manor Golf Club that features an 18 hole championship golf course. For senior dog lovers, the Dick Cross Wildlife Management Area is nationally known for hosting bird dog field trials on its 1,400 acres of diverse wildlife.

One of Virginia’s oldest and largest canoe and kayak specialty stores, Appomattox River Company, is located in Farmville. And then there is Amish Originals, where you can find fine handcrafted solid oak and cherry Amish furniture, and Mainly Clay, a gift and pottery shop.

Welcome to Farmville, senior oenophiles, and all their vineyards. Looks like there is something for everybody. Set your GPS for Farmville Prince Edward County and enjoy all the amenities this small community has to offer.  -jeb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seniors Visit York, England

 Rick Steves. my travel hero, notes that York and Bath are his two favorite cities outside of London in the UK.  Having paid a visit to Bath with my family, senior travelers, get your coffee and let’s go explore York together.

York, rich in ancient history, romantic ambience and fun activities makes the perfect holiday destination for senior travelers. Renowned for its exquisite architecture and tangle of quaint cobbled streets, York is a flourishing city, just two hours by train from London.

York lies in the Vale of York, a flat area of fertile arable land bordered by the Pennines, the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Wolds. The city was built at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss on a terminal moraine left by the last Ice Age.

Seniors Seek Out The Shambles

The first mention of York by this name is dated to circa 95–104 AD as an address on a wooden stylus tablet from the Roman fortress of Vindolanda in Northumberland. The medieval city walls are a highlight for visitors, along with York Minster, the cathedral of York.

Seniors will enjoy the National Railroad Museum, the York Castle Museum, and The Shambles, York’s most famous street that is lined with timber-framed buildings housing a range of touristy shops, some dating back as far as the fourteenth century.

It was once known as The Great Flesh Shambles, probably from the Anglo-Saxon Fleshammels (literally ‘flesh-shelves’), the word for the shelves that butchers used to display their meat. As recently as 1872 twenty-five butchers’ shops were located along the street, but now none remain.

 Seniors Find Historic Walled City

York is a historic walled city at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The municipality is the traditional county town of Yorkshire to which it gives its name. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events in England throughout much of its two millennia of existence.

The city offers a wealth of historic attractions, of which York Minster is the most prominent, and a variety of cultural and sporting activities making it a popular tourist destination.

The city was founded by the Romans as Eboracum in 71 AD. It became the capital of the Roman province of Britannia Inferior, and later of the kingdoms of Northumbria and Jórvík. In the Middle Ages, York grew as a major wool trading centre and became the capital of the northern ecclesiastical province of the Church of England, a role it has retained.

TripAdvisor notes nearly 200 things for seniors to see and do in York. You will not be disappointed in the least as it is one of the top tourist cities in the UK along with London and Bath. -jeb

 

 

Seniors Enjoy Small Town Prosperity

I was watching a bull riding show and one of the riders was from Prosperity, South Carolina.  Sounded like a neat name to me, thus this blog and this senior enjoys unusual names.

Prosperity is a town in Newberry County with a population of around 1,200. Newberry County is a progressive county, rich in history, agriculture, natural resources, green spaces, beautiful waterways and strong community values.

Newberry County is an area filled to its borders with history: ancient Indian sites, battlefields of the American Revolution, historic plantations, and beautiful homes. The town of Newberry was founded in 1789 as the county seat.

 Seniors Find Historic Places On The National Register

Prosperity, South Carolina is a small town, but it rates big with senior visitors and is loaded with history. There are several homes well over a hundred years old that have been passed down through family generations. The Jacob Bedenbaugh House, Howard Junior High School, and Prosperity Cemetery are all listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Prosperity was chartered in 1851 under the name Frog Level.  There are several fun legends as to how that name originated. Frog Level was changed to Prosperity by popular demand in 1873. Southern Railroad established a depot there in the 1870s and citizens wanted a name that better reflected the character of their town. The Town Clock and the Prosperity Depot both stand proud after all these years.

When Halloween comes along Prosperity citizenry enjoys Spooktacular in the Square. My wife and I would enjoy taking in the Prosperity Community Yard Sale. The first Saturday of each month from May until October seniors will find lots of goods in the Grace Street Public Parking Lot.

 Seniors Enjoy Arts and Crafts Fair

The first Saturday in May, Prosperity is Hoppin’ with Arts and Crafts. Along with the local arts and crafts stores, and the art center, the arts and fine crafts of over 35 juried vendors set up on the square, which is closed to traffic.  Christmas Tree Lighting and Prosperity Christmas Parade are two December highlights.

 Seniors can take a stroll along Lakewood Drive and enjoy the beautiful scenery where local folks enjoy boating and fishing.

Dreher Island State Recreation Area is located in Prosperity roughly 30 miles from the state’s capital of Columbia. It occupies all of the largest island in 50,000-acre Lake Murray, a reservoir of the Saluda River. The Park has been a haven for hiking, picnicking, boating and fishing for the surrounding communities in the Piedmont Region of South Carolina.

So you see, this small town enjoys sharing its many amenities. -jeb

 

Seniors Find An Old Mining Ghost Town In Arizona

Oatman, a small town on the National Register of Historic Places is in the Black Mountains of Mohave County, Arizona. Senior travelers will find Oatman on historic route 66, Oatman Hwy, about 28 miles from Kingman AZ just across the Colorado River and up the hill from Laughlin, Nevada.

One visitor noted that The Oatman Hotel is worth a visit. There is an ice cream counter on the ground floor and upstairs is the room where, supposedly, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their honeymoon.

The Hotel is allegedly haunted by “Oatie”, the friendly ghost of an Irish miner. Oatman, AZ is what many call…“Old West Fun!”

Seniors Hear The Town’s Story

Located at an elevation of 2,710 feet (830 m), Oatman began as a small mining camp soon after two prospectors struck a $10 million gold find in 1915, though the vicinity had already been settled for a number of years.

Oatman’s population grew to more than 3,500 in the course of a year. The district had produced $40 million (or approximately $2,600,000,000 in today’s market price) in gold by 1941. Senior visitors will see many old historic buildings in town and some contain artifacts of the mining era.

“Oatman” was chosen for the name of the town in the posthumous honor of Olive Oatman, a young Illinois girl who had been taken captive by Indians during her pioneer family’s journey westward in 1851 and forced into slavery for five years.

She was later traded to Mohave Indians, who adopted her as a daughter and had her face tattooed in the custom of the tribe. She was released near the current site of the town. Although they discovered gold in the area in 1863, Oatman did not officially become a town until 1906.

 Seniors Find Burros In Oatman

Oatman was fortunate insofar as it was located on busy U.S. Route 66 and was able to cater to travelers driving between Kingman and Needles, California. Yet even that advantage was short-lived, as the town was completely bypassed in 1953 when a new route between Kingman and Needles was built. By the 1960s, Oatman was all but abandoned…except of course, for a lot of wild burros.

Today Oatman is an authentic old western town with feral burros roaming the street.  Back when Oatman was a gold boom town, the miners hauled their supplies with faithful burros. When the gold ran out, around the time that the road got paved, the old miners simply abandoned their burros to fend for themselves.

These burros know their stuff and are often found blocking traffic, unfazed by the honking of passing motorists. Watch your handbags ladies, the burros are known to grab them thinking they may contain tasty burro snacks.

Seniors, when you are in northern Arizona, take a side trip over to Oatman and take in a weekend gunfight.  -jeb

 

 

 

 

Familys’ Warm Memories Of Bath

The tearooms, a daily stop: Jolly’s, The Georgian Tearoom, The Pump Room and The Bath Bun.  The Pump Room in the Abbey Church Yard, “regarded as the social heart of Bath for centuries, this salon and ballroom still retains all the glory of its past.” And there are so many more in Bath that these seniors want to discover.

The Pump Room opens onto the Abbey Church Yard and on Sunday, the streets of Bath fill with street entertainers.

One that we particularly enjoyed was a piano player in the Abbey square.  If you look closely in the next picture you might see a green jacket.  The man in that jacket would be jeb. These seniors found the Bath Abbey a stunning masterpiece. And the pianist wasn’t bad either.

The gentleman in The Beau Nash silver antique store shared that until relatively recently all the buildings in the city were  black, thanks to the soot from all those chinmeys that this senior found so fascinating.

Apparently the city decided to clean house and underwent a citywide wash.  Underneath all the black was this lovely, soft, yellow limestone. Even the newer buildings were constructed with the Bath Stone.

jeb has trouble letting ‘fudge’ pass him by.  We walked past the Fudge Kitchen, then backed up.  ummm yes…it was good!

 These Seniors Discover Clotted Cream

Clotted Cream…I think I’d heard of it, but had no idea what it was other than some form of cream, probably. And then I tasted it.  Karen tasted it.  And we were ready to put it on anything that went into our mouths.

Neither of us were particularly fond of the English ‘tea and milk’, or coffee with milk. So we used clotted cream in our coffee when we could get our hands on it.

We smothered our scones with clotted cream. We added it to the little ‘tea sandwiches’. We dreamed of clotted cream.

I asked the host at the Bath Bun exactly what Clotted Cream was: Cream from Devonshire cows that was heated till it clotted.  It looked like velvety soft cream cheese and tasted heavenly.

She Finds Her Coffee Mug, He Finds His Book

My favorite take home souvenir is a coffee mug.  I started scouting out the coffee mugs the minute we arrived in Bath.  On this day, Sunday, I saw the mug.  Circled with pictures of Bath monuments, just the right size, my coffee tastes marvellous.  All I’m missing is the clotted cream!

When Karen’s class ended, we roamed the city together. Crossed the Pulteney Bridge daily, enjoyed the view down the River Avon. Met our guide to the Cleveland Pools under The Big Tree, and enjoyed a great walk to the pools.  Found another tearoom to enjoy, another great restaurant, soaked up the historic city and decided that

We will return to Bath one day….

Seniors Visit The Roman Baths

I’m one of those who would love to travel back in time for a day…or two. These seniors visited the Roman Baths in Bath, England.

Listening to the guided information plus using our imagination was perhaps a bit like walking back in time, back 2,000 years when the Romans built and used one of the finest spas of the ancient world. To reach the level of the Roman Baths, required descending 4 meters below the current street level.

With the use of audioguides, we followed the path through the extensive Roman ruins, listening to the story and marveling at the site. It was amazing to learn that the hot thermal waters continue to flow just as they did 2000 years ago.

 Seniors Walk To The Royal Crescent

Another walk back in time for these seniors would be to meet Beau Nash, the man called Bath’s ‘Master of Ceremonies’ in the 1700′s.

As we were told on our walk to The Royal Crescent this man single handedly determined who could stop and stay in Bath and who had to move on, thereby creating an aristocratic destination for the wealthy of England.

The next walk back in time would be to Number 1 Royal Crescent, during the 19 years that Henry Sanford occupied it. The Royal Crescent was built, we were told, by Bath businessmen to rent to the wealthy English who came for a season to gamble, to play and to display their wealth.  “Bath became the Las Vegas of England in the mid 1700′s” we were told.

Number 1 Royal Crescent was recently restored to it’s former beauty and grandeur and we found ourselves glued to the story told by the guides in each room of the house.

Jane Austin, 17th Century Condos And Bath Stone

The Circus is a circle of Georgian buildings, beautifully designed.  We were awed by the continuity of the stone in Bath…it’s all the same soft yellowish color.

In the center of the Circus are 5 or 6 very old, very big trees.  And on top of the circle of buildings is chimney after chimney after chimney. Then down Gay Street sits The Royal Crescent…a row of 18th century condos, all uniquely connected, forming a crescent shape.

One very interesting fact: the front of these amazing buildings is uniform and beautifully designed by the architect.  However, the back of the buildings was finished by someone else…anyone else…and any which way!

The Royal Crescent Hotel allowed us to walk through to the gardens behind.  This grand hotel occupies a part of the Royal Crescent and is truly elegant.

I was expecting to see where Jane Austin lived when we stopped at that museum. Her family home was actually across town.  A stop in a local pub for tea for me and a beer for jeb concluded our day.

to be continued…

jeannine