Silent stones and sacred ground—wander through the lives and legacies etched across Florida’s historic cemeteries.
Two Civil War veterans, a forgotten Florida community, and one unforgettable Exploration Friday. Imagine heading to Publix for a few groceries, pulling into the parking lot, and discovering a cemetery right in front of the store. Not a historical marker commemorating something that once stood there. Not a decorative monument. An actual cemetery. That’s exactly … Read more
Exploring Columbus Cemetery, Civil War Earthworks, and the Forgotten History of Live Oak, Florida There is a ghost town hiding inside Suwannee River State Park. Not the kind with abandoned storefronts or houses slowly collapsing beneath the weight of time. This one is quieter. Its streets have become forest trails, its buildings have largely disappeared, … Read more
There are certain things you can count on when traveling with us. I will find history. Murph will find an opportunity to complicate something. And apparently, we will visit at least one cemetery. At this point, I don’t think that’s even accidental anymore. After spending some time exploring nearby Falling Creek Falls, we headed just … Read more
Some historic places announce themselves. They have signs along the highway, parking lots, interpretive markers, and plaques explaining exactly why you should stop. Others are much quieter. Sometimes you glimpse a few old headstones through the trees as you drive past and think— Wait. Was that a cemetery? That’s exactly how Dusty and I discovered … Read more
Sometimes the wrong turn is the one worth remembering. There are places we carefully plan to visit. We research them. Add them to an itinerary. Figure out where to park and what we want to see when we arrive. And then there are places we find completely by accident. Micanopy Historic Cemetery was one of … Read more
A three-day North Florida journey built from one simple errand, a lot of extra time, and more detours than expected Some road trips begin with a carefully chosen destination. Others begin because somebody needs paperwork signed. This was definitely the second kind. What started as a simple weekend trip to Lake City, Florida, quickly turned … Read more
There are places you plan to visit… And then there are places that find you. I wasn’t looking for a cemetery that day. I was just trying to get my truck aligned—prepping for an upcoming road trip, mind already miles down the road. But while I waited, something across the street caught my attention. A … Read more
Every place has two histories:the one you can see…and the one that’s been nearly erased. When I made my way to Webster, I wasn’t expecting a mystery. I was looking for a cemetery tied to Florida’s early pioneer families—trying to connect it back to the vanished community of Oriole Ghost Town, a place that faded … Read more
Beneath moss-draped oaks in Brooksville, Florida, more than 5,000 souls rest across just over fifty acres. At first glance, Brooksville Cemetery feels peaceful — quiet pathways, marble angels, weathered crosses, and rows of American flags catching the breeze. But this ground holds more than tranquility. It holds frontier conflict, pioneer hardship, Civil War division, and … Read more
The Quiet Between Two Ranches There’s a stretch of road outside Brooksville where the world seems to thin out. No subdivisions.No shopping plazas.Just pastureland, fencing, and cattle that watch you with mild curiosity. Tucked between two ranches sits Twin Lakes Cemetery — a burial ground established in the late 1800s for the local African-American community … Read more