Andrew Jackson Statue

On the downtown side of the river in Jacksonville, you can find this statue of President Andrew Jackson astride his horse, just like on the manhole covers.

It's actually a replica of the original (said to be the first equestrian statue made in America) which stands in Washington DC's Lafayette Square. It was commissioned in May 1847, cast in 1852, and dedicated on January 8, 1853. The sculptor, Clark Mills, used his own horse, Olympus, as the model for Jackson's steed, rather than Jackson's actual horse, Duke.

Rumba

When a business associate suggested we have our meeting at Rumba, well into the Clearwater mainland, I felt a momentary twinge of disappointment. I'd hoped to have held the meeting at any one of the high-energy fun places on Clearwater Beach, like Frenchy's, Jimmy's, Cooters, Crabby Bill's, Clear Sky, or my beloved Columbia restaurant.

But I quickly saw the wisdom of the choice. I had the biggest and best grouper sandwich of my life here - and I've known a lot of grouper sandwiches in my time. And the cocktails were amazing - especially their "Naked on the Beach" cocktail with Naked Turtle rum, peach schnapps, and cranberry juice. In a couple weeks, I'll be staying in Clearwater for about a month, and for all my stalkers taking notes, the smart money would bet that you can find me here, sitting in the far rear corner booth and sipping the two-for-one sangrias.

Souvenir Land

The other day, making the long deadly dull drive back to Jacksonville from Clearwater after a JSH Book Tour meet and greet on Pier 60, I spied this - abandoned? - gift shop on Williston Road somewhere on the western outskirts of Gainesville.

Nobody here but ghosts. They tried to sell me some Claxton's Fruit Cake and a porcelain alligator ashtray, but I left my ghost money in my other pants.

Judging by the architecture of this place, I have to wonder if it wasn't originally a Stuckey's, back in the day, on previous points in the ever-marching track of time.

The Liberty Hound

This statue of a Naval Officer overlooking the St. Johns River on the San Marco side of Jacksonville is often referred to as "The Lone Sailor", but that's actually a misnomer of sorts. The original "Lone Sailor" statue (created by Stanley Bleifeld, the United States Navy Memorial's official sculptor) is in Washington, DC, and was chosen from four different models Bleifeld offered.

This model, depicting the sailor leaning pensively forward, was a close contender but was passed up in favor of the one standing straight up. It was dubbed the "Liberty Hound" and subsequently commissioned for the Jacksonville Navy Memorial in 1987.

José Gaspar Treasure Co.

Capitalizing on the enduring legend of the great (but most likely fictitious) pirate José Gaspar, these fine folks have been operating the José Gaspar Treasure Company in Flagler Beach on A1A for quite some time now. You might think you don't actually need wind chimes, sand dollars, bags of sea glass, rubber sharks, tiki heads, dolphin paperweights and made-in-China pictures of schooners suitable for framing, but you're wrong. And besides, it's the law. Get with the program, kids.

Climbing Cactus

Always loved this palm tree in Pass-A-Grille with a cactus climbing right up the side of it like ivy. And when the woman who owns it saw me admiring it and taking its picture, she came out to chat. It turns out she's originally from the Louisville area herself, and we knew many people in common. Such are the synchronicities that abound in Interzone.

Dinosaur World

As readers of my Weird Kentucky book and Unusual Kentucky blog are aware, I've long been a fan of the Dinosaur World attraction in Cave City, Kentucky, wherein a bunch of giant dinosaur statues hang out silently in the woods for your viewing pleasure.

Imagine my surprise to find that the same people who operate the Dinosaur World in Kentucky have one in Florida, as well - Plant City, to be precise. According to their website there's a lot more room to roam here and a lot more activities going on, which is swell and perfectly Floridian in its overthetopness, but I always kinda admired the old-school simplicity of Kentucky's "you will pay money to gawk at statues, period" philosophy.