Every year there is the Alafia River Rendezvous. It is a pre 1840 interpretive encampment put on by the Florida Frontiersmen. While this is not the time period we are studying in history yet, we are spending the year learning Florida History. More on that later. This particular event is taken very seriously around here. The entire encampment has to only use what you would have in the pre 1840s. The participants take their role very seriously as well. There are many of them just walking through the camp going about their business like this is their permanent home. It was quite nice and informative just to watch them alone. Above is our tour guide who walked us through the different areas explaining this and that to us.
Our first stop was the alligator trader. He did an excellent presentation on alligators and what traders would do with the alligator when they caught it. He talked about what they made with the alligator hide, what they did with the meat, and how they caught the alligators in the first place. Another great experience in this tent was watching his Seminole Indian wife make him breakfast on the other side of the curtain. He engaged the children in the group quite well while she engaged the adults.
Next was the herb lady who talked to us about natural remedies. We smelled some old fashioned candy while she went through the various uses of the plants and oils that she had in her possession. One fun fact was when she sprinkled crushed lavender and peppermint on the ground while she talked. Fire ants which are common in central Florida don’t like the scent. The ants steer clear of the scent. Maybe we should try that in our yard at home.
We stopped briefly at the trading post to see their many furs and leathers. Since we went with our local homeschool co op, we had friends to share the day. Some friends are sillier than others. I love Vanderly’s adventurous spirit. She was hugging the soft fur when I asked for a picture. She obliged if I got in the picture.
The blacksmith showed us how to bend the iron into different shapes. This part was kind of hot but interesting. I especially liked it when he showed the children how he got the fire super hot by using a large puff of air to heat the coals. Pretty smart if you ask me.
The bag pipe guy was loud. Of course, bagpipes are loud. I thought he talked way too much. Just my opinion. He did engage the children with questions to keep them interested. When they started to get antsy, he played a song or two for them.
Then he got their attention by asking for an 8 year old. Since Madison was up front, he picked her to come up and demonstrate the training necessary to be considered a Master Bag Piper (is that a word?). The hilarious part of the demonstration was when he announced Madison would have to change her name to Matt as girls were not allowed to do it. Then she would have to live with him and his family as an apprentice for the next 10 years. Madison didn’t want to do it after that.
Wow is all I can say to the inside. They had their fire in the middle and their beds all around the perimeter. Our wonderful host explained the pictures inside as well as the construction of the actual tepee. As you can see, Madison was quite engrossed in his talk.
Remember when I told you that there were people walking through the camp like it was their home? Madison and I thought this homemade baby carriage was absolutely hilarious! The child was perfectly content to sit in while his mom walked around selling apples and peanuts.
After we got some homemade root beer and kettle corn, we managed to find a nice cool tent. Imagine our surprise when they started playing their fiddles and guitars for us. The boy on the right was playing a mandolin. He was quite good too. We sat here for quite a long time listening to them play.
Homeschool groups are not the only ones that visit this encampment. Madison was delighted to run into her good friend from dance, Avery who was their with her school. There were many school groups there but it wasn’t overly crowded. The layout of the camp is such that there is enough space to fan out and not get trampled.
Our last stop was at a little booth where Madison bought herself a paper umbrella. She is such a girly girl. Notice that I didn’t mention Logan nor is he in any of the pictures? He actually was there but he and Michael took a much slower pace away from the group. He had been feeling ill that week. I thought he was better but he ended up spiking a high fever and needed to sit a lot. They dropped back to the outskirts where the benches were located. This was too bad as this was definitely a field trip that Logan would have thoroughly enjoyed. Guess we have to go back next year.
