free educational fun...Dade Battlefield State Park

What does one do on a hot humid day in mid-October when friends are down from Maryland and eveyone's budget is tight? Find something free to do. We called our local state park, and the friendly ranger invited us over for a time to hearing about the first battle of the second Seminole war here in Florida. It was amazing. We learned so much. It was minutes from our home.

The kids saw guns, uniforms, weapons and other artifacts from the time period. Whatever ones feelings are of the Indians vs. American soldiers, it is a time in our history that needs to be accounted for. The efforts were enormous and paid for with lives. Larger courage and bravery were exhibited on that day in Bushnell than imagined. We will look forward to going to the re-enactment of the battle in early January, with the story better known by all of us. We found out about the owner of the name of our street. His nickname was Alligator. Wish it was the one we used on all of our mail. But it is not. The paintings we stared at and learned about were incredible.

We owe a big thanks to Ranger Wicks. Thanks.

Fort King=Ocala Fort Brooke=Tampa

Alligator aka Tustenuggee

Memorial marker of an officer

Sword worn by a horseman in battle.