Train stations have always struck me as portals into the past. Since 1926, Orlando's Seaboard Coast Line railroad station has welcomed generations to Central Florida. The first time I saw it, in 1985, I had just arrived in the South after 14 years in Los Angeles and eight years in Nebraska. I remember noticing that everything seemed to be duplicated -- two drinking fountains, two women's rooms, two men's rooms, side by side. That's when it hit me -- the reason for the duality -- it was as simple as black and white. That was when I realized I wasn't in Kansas any more. The signs had been removed, but I later saw them at the Wells' built Museum. Later I learned about about the Wells' built hotel, where Ray Charles swept the floors after running away from the St. Augustine school for the blind. The Wells' built was where the African American luminaries, like Duke Ellington and Jackie Robinson had to stay because the rules of the day prohibited them from staying at the Angebilt, the posh "whites only" hotel with the tunnel under Orange Avenue to the backstage dressing rooms of the Beacham Theater. The tunnel, though boarded up, is there to this day.
The good stuff:
butch wax
Bazooka Joe Comics
apres ski
slaw burgers
deep tissue massage
photo darkrooms
model railroads
signed first editions
morning newspapers
Skeeball
Hey, Brad.
ReplyDeleteOkay, confession time. I hadn't been reading your blog-- until today! I read today's, liked it, and read the others. It's excellent. I especially love "The good stuff" at the end of every blog and I thank you for including something simple to amuse your simple-minded readers like me. : )
I've been carrying around my digital camera in my purse for about two years. The best thing I've gotten is a photo of a pet store's sandwich board that said, "This Thanksgiving, forget the turkey. Take home a puppy!" (Wince.) I'll leave the candid photography to you.
Here's to a long life for the Raisin Box Trumpet. Cheers!