I was really expecting something that would knock my socks off on this historic resort island. I thought I was going to wander the streets of a charming “Old Town,” and I expected to see a fort and maybe a harbor or some nice waterfront areas, since it was on an island. This 10K walk was a huge disappointment.
After registering, we walked half a block before we realized that we needed to drive to a remote start point. This is an example of how one can be easily misled by thinking that the BOLD TYPE is the most important part of the instructions. It didn’t help that no map was provided with the walk instructions. (Doesn’t the AVA require a map?)
The first 20 minutes of the walk took us through a very nondescript residential neighborhood. Eventually we arrived at the Bosque Bello Cemetery. It was very charming (can you say that about a cemetery?) with lots of trees and Spanish moss.
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| The site of Fort San Carlos (Pippi Longstocking House in the background) |
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| Who knew platting was such a big deal? |
After exiting the cemetery, we soon arrived at Old Town. It was truly underwhelming. The expected fort (Fort San Carlos) was nothing but a vacant block. There was no evidence of a fort other than a sign telling us this was the site of the fort. It was just a bare field with some dried-up grass and nothing else. There was nothing else to see in the Old Town except the Pippi Longstocking House, which had no sign and was not open to the public. We only knew which house it was because the walk instructions mentioned it (but did not provide the date of its construction). Other than a historical marker about platting by the Spaniards, there was nothing else to see in Old Town. There were no shops, restaurants, or any other public amenities in the Old Town - not even a bench anywhere to sit on.
We next had a rather long walk along a busy road that had no sidewalk. Then we walked for quite some time around two sides of a noisy, smelly and completely uninteresting paper mill.
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| An interesting house in the Historic District |
Finally, after walking for 90 minutes, we arrived at something interesting: the Historic District (not the same as Old Town). For about 20 blocks we walked through a residential area that had a number of restored Victorian era homes and churches, which were pleasant enough to look at. I expected to see a lot of “old Florida” style homes, but there were only a few. A little narrative in the walk instructions would have enriched this portion of the walk. Although the Historic District had an interesting-looking main street with shops and restaurants, our route only followed this main street for one block.
After leaving the Historic District, the final stretch of our walk took us through another completely unexceptional (1960’s, I would guess) residential area. We never saw the water except briefly at the site of the fort. It was hard to believe that we were on an island, or that we were in Florida (except that it was quite hot).
For all you hear about Southern hospitality and good manners, the drivers, who I presume were local, did not live up to this reputation, and apparently do not value tourists. On more than one occasion we found that drivers did not stop for pedestrians at (or even in) crosswalks.
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| Yes, ma'am! You are in The South! |
We came a long distance and deserved better than this. Okay, got it off my chest.
Rating:
Walk Route: D
Walk Documentation: D
No map (!!!), no distances, not enough commentary
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