HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM & CHRIS, CACHING & TOUCAN'S 3/20/2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR TWIN BOYS TIM & CHRIS ON THERE 46TH BIRTHDAY. WE HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY. LOVE MOM & DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!


This morning we loaded some caches in the GPS, after we called Tim & Chris to wish them a Happy Birthday, and headed out to do the new caches in Mexico Beach and Port St. Joe that we hadn't done since we were here 2 years ago. We started off in Mexico Beach with a few NRV caches at an ice machine, in a small park, along the ocean and a couple in another larger park. Then we headed to Port St Joe and along the way we found a couple in what is called Wind Mark Village along and on the Gulf. This is a exclusive community that has homes, shops and restaurants that was started over 2 years ago but we think because of the economic crunch was never really completed. There are homes there but not many and lots of empty lots and there are places for shops but not many of them are filled. Then it was on into Port St Joe and a couple of finds at marinas, one at a church, another in a small park, one along the ocean, one outside a newer cemetery and one at Gulf Coast CC where our frien, who we met caching 2 years ago, teaches.


Then it was on to our only interesting historical cache of the day located in Old St. Joesph's Cemetery. St. Joseph, Florida, was a boomtown that briefly became the largest community in Florida, before being destroyed only eight years after it was founded. St. Joseph was founded in 1835 on the shores of St. Joseph Bay, one of the finest natural harbors on the Gulf Coast of the United States. As no rivers flowed into St. Joseph Bay, two railroads were built connecting St. Joseph with the Apalachicola River in an attempt to siphon off some of the cotton and lumber being shipped down the river to the port of Apalachicola. By 1837 St. Joseph had become the most populous place in the Territory of Florida, with approximately 6,000 inhabitants. In 1838 the town hosted the first Constitutional Convention for Florida, which drew up the constitution used when Florida became a state in 1845. Some have called St. Joseph "Constitution City" and even transferred the name to the new Port St. Joe. In 1841 a ship brought yellow fever to St. Joseph. The disease killed many of the town's inhabitants, and caused the rest to flee. A hurricane in 1843 struck with a large storm surge, destroying the abandoned town. The area remained uninhabited for the rest of the 19th century. In the early 20th century Port St. Joe was founded about two miles north of the site of old St. Joseph. Off Garrison Avenue in Port St. Joe, Florida can be found all that remains of the lost city of St. Joseph. The Old St. Joseph Cemetery preserves the brick tombs and few remaining tombstones of the residents of the vanished city. It is impossible to know how many people are buried here. Unmarked graves are clearly evident from the walking path that loops through the old cemetery and passes the few surviving tombs and headstones. Some of the graves date from the early year's of St. Joseph's existence. Deaths of people of all ages were common during the 1830s and the city was established in 1835 in a remote and frontier setting. The largest number of burials, however, are believed to date from the year 1841 when a deadly yellow fever epidemic struck the city. It is impossible to know exactly how many people died in St. Joseph during the summer of 1841, but the number was undoubtedly high. The terrible disease swept the city, then home to around 6,000 people. Many had come in response to advertisements billing St. Joseph's "healthy climate" and fresh sea air. To the residents of the interior counties of Florida, the beautiful city on the bay offered relief from the sweltering heat of summer. The fever, however, ravaged the community and forever dispelled the claims of promoters. Newspaper articles of the time list the deaths of numerous people during the epidemic. They included leading politicians, businessmen, sailors, newspaper editors and their families. According to some claims, so many people died that it was necessary to dig mass graves in order to dispose of the bodies. Now a memorial to the dead, the Old St. Joseph Cemetery includes historical markers interpreting its significance in Florida history. This site made the day worthwhile as it was interesting to see what markers there were in the cemetery and read the history.

Then it was on back to the coach for lunch and logging. We went to dinner at one of the better restaurants in Mexico Beach called Toucan's and had a great meal. We each had Apalachicola oysters which are the best tasting and sweetest oysters you can get and from what we understand are becoming scarcer and scarcer. Well that was it for the day as we went back and watched TV. Well until next time we love and miss all you guys. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick