Florida State Capital Tallahassee Floridas State Flag State

Florida

State Capital: Tallahassee Florida’s State Flag

State Tree: Cabbage Palm State Flower: Orange Blossom (Citrus Sinensis) State Fruit: Orange

State Bird: Mockingbird State Butterfly: Zebra Heliconion (Longwing) State Marine Mammal: Manatee State Mammal: Panther

The Swanee River (Old Folks at Home) Written by Stephen C. Foster Way down upon de Swanee Ribber, Far, far away, Dere's wha my heart is turning ebber, Dere's wha de old folks stay. All up and down de whole creation Sadly I roam, Still longing for de old plantation, And for de old folks at home. Chorus All de world am sad and dreary, Eb-rywhere I roam; Oh, darkeys, how my heart grows weary, Far from de old folks at home! 2 nd verse All round de little farm I wandered When I was young, Den many happy days I squandered, Many de songs I sung. When I was playing wid my brudder Happy was I; Oh, take me to my kind old mudder! Dere let me live and die. 3 rd Verse One little hut among de bushes, One dat I love Still sadly to my memory rushes, No matter where I rove. When will I see de bees a-humming All round de comb? When will I hear de banjo strumming, Down in my good old home?

Mar-a-lago Mediterranean-style villa, home of Marjorie Merriweather Post, demonstrates the grand way of life of the wealthy who built mansions in Florida during the Florida land boom(rise of population) of the 1920 s.

Cathedral Of St. Augustine Parish, instituted in 1754, is Augustine the most ancient Roman Catholic parish in the U. S.

Jacqueline Cochran Pilot who arranged women pilots during World War II.

Wallace Amos was devotedly interested in cooking, especially in advancing his aunt’s chocolate cookie recipe. After graduation, he took up a clerical job in the William Morris Agency and later became the first African American talent agent serving that agency. His chocolate cookies were an attraction among his friends and clients. The store he established was called “Famous Amos” and it soon became popular throughout the United States. Wallace Amos

THE MONEY MIGRATION In the 1920's Florida was the spotlight of one of the greatest economic and social occurrence in American history as many Americans of all types of financial levels poured into the Sunshine State and forever changed the global image of Florida. For the first time Americans had the time and money to travel to Florida to invest in real estate. For the educated and skilled working men and women, the 1920's meant paid vacations, pensions, and fringe benefits.

Florida Hurricane of 1926 Despite the continued boom in the United States Stock Market, people no longer trusted buying Florida land. As if the land collapse was not bad enough, a terrible hurricane hit South Florida in September of 1926 with winds in excess of 125 miles per hour. As the winds of the hurricane moved counterclockwise across the lake, the south end of the lake was dried up. When the storm passed by, however, a huge tidal wave crashed down of the people of Belle Glade and Moore Haven. Over 13, 000 homes were destroyed. 115 were dead in Miami and the tidal wave had drowned 300 people. The major developments were in ruins, many of them unable to recover. It would take years to rebuild the confidence and spirit of the Florida Land Boom.

Dear Lumy, It’s Catherine and Felsie staying at the five star resort called the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center. We love to go to the enormous swimming pool and we love going to the luxurious spas. This resort was filled with a lot of wealthy people. To our surprise, as we were walking through the lobby, we saw Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at the registration center. As soon as we saw them we ran up to them and asked them to give us their autographs. We took a picture with them, but it didn’t turn out as pretty as we hoped because someone (Catherine) sneezed on Brad Pitt. Catherine was so embarrassed that she literally turned red. Brad Pitt said, ”It’s okay. ” In the meantime, Angelina asked Catherine if she wanted to be adopted as one of her many adopted children. But Catherine ran away. On Monday and Tuesday, we spent two whole days at Disneyworld. We were at the Magic Kingdom Park, when we saw Peter Pan. It was pretty funny when another someone (Felsie) fell flat on her face as she ran to Peter Pan. Unfortunately, Peter Pan wasn’t looking, so Aladdin had to help her instead. Although Catherine wanted to have Aladdin talk to her, instead, Peter Pan talked to her. So it was an even point for us. On Wednesday, we went to the awesome Busch Garden. When we went to the Orangutan attraction, a mischievous orangutan came calmly to where Felsie was standing. Felsie was really happy and gave the orangutan a banana. The orangutan looked at her and then took it. But then, something out of the blue happened. The orangutan started to freak out and then tugged on Felsie’s hair. We both decided that was a violent but sweet way of the monkey saying “thank you. ” A certain someone (Catherine) was super excited to go to the tigers section. When we got the exhibit, Catherine started to get really hyper that she gave out an ear deafening scream. This freaked out the tiger. Once Catherine got too close to the tiger, the tiger started to take its paw out. Catherine thought it was a hand shake. But little did she know, that once the claws emerged, it was no longer safe…. (cont. next slide)

The tiger then figuratively took Catherine into the danger zone and started to rip up her blouse. Unfortunately, this was not a regular blouse. It was a $100 beaded blouse. Don’t think Catherine didn’t have anything underneath, because she luckily DID have an undershirt. Once the tiger was finished and 100% destroyed her blouse, the tiger ignored her and walked away. Sadly, instead of HELPING Catherine, Felsie TOOK A VIDEO of it and posted it on You. Tube which got a million hits in 2 days! Other than viewing the animal exhibits, we rode the highest, most fun rides. We took a break from all the adventures for a day before going to the Amelia Island Museum of History Ghost Tour. When we arrived there at 6 PM, we met the retired couple (Walter and Nancy) who toured tourists for the ghost tours. They told us about the history and the apparitions that have occurred in the past. We hiked up to the St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Cemetery. It was very silent. We didn’t know if we were to be silent for respect or for the fear of the lurking spirits to hear us. As we passed by the tomb of Lola Bonehead, the atmosphere changed. The atmosphere changed to where it got suddenly cold and where the air pressure was very heavy. Felsie felt this pressure first out of everyone in the small group. Felsie suddenly said that she couldn’t breathe. But then Catherine found out that Felsie was suffocating herself with her own scarf. The tour leaders said that at that time of the evening, the temperature really just drops, and it’s not anything to be afraid of. As Catherine was laughing at Felsie, suffocating, something cold pinched Catherine’s butt. Nancy quickly turned around and looked at Catherine, screaming like an angry monkey. Nancy noticed that the spirit in the tomb of Lola Bonehead pinched Catherine’s butt because she was laughing too loud. Meanwhile, Felsie tried her very best not to laugh at Catherine so Felsie’s butt won’t get pinched, also. After an hour long walking through the cemetery, Nancy and Walter ended the tour and left us outside the cemetery. While waiting for our driver, we reminisced the spooky memories we had at the cemetery. While doing so, someone. . . or something whispered our names. At first, we didn’t pay attention to it since it was probably our imagination. In the end, we found out that it was Lola Bonehead when she appeared right in front of our very eyes. (cont…. . Next slide)

We spent our last two days, packing our clothes and souvenirs. We thought our overall stay in Florida was pretty fun and full of adventures. As of writing this letter, we are having a luxurious, delicious, scrumptious, mouthwatering, juicy seafood and steak dinner by the sea shore. We hope next time you can join us so that it’s triple times the fun! Your FFL’s, Catherine and Felsie

Quick Facts About Florida v. Capital with absolute location: Tallahassee: (capital city) 30º 26' N, 84º 17' W v. Landmass: approximately about 345, 967, 000 cubic miles. v. Population: 18, 328, 340 v. Predominant Climate: Humid Subtropical v. The population density of Florida (as of the 2000 census) is 309/sq mile v. Major Cities: Orlando, Miami, Tallahassee, Panama City, Pansacola, Jacksonville, Titusville, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Key Largo, Melbourne, West Palm Beach, Fort Myers, Ocala v. Major agriculture: Citrus, Sugarcane, Crops (Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl) v. When Florida was granted statehood on March 3, 1845, its population was 57, 921. v. Florida is not the southernmost state in the United States. Hawaii is farther south.

This slide show was created by Catherine Grace Sazon and Felsie Joy