The Lost and the Found America

In a journey driven by planned happenstance, there is a certain amount of variety that one is exposed to constantly as you drive through this magnificent country. Variety not only in the flora and the fauna or in the culinary fare, both in terms of flavor and constituent ingredients therein, but most of all, in the way of life of the people in these various little pockets all along the way. As we travel through the US one of the ideas is to avoid as much of the known “hot spots” for all of those taking a holiday during the summer season and to instead happen upon the charm of the Lost America of the past that we in our hearts know still exists out there.

Upon speaking with a local of St. Francisville, LA he suggested we go to the metropolis of downtown St. Francisville for one of their big annual parades to commemorate the day the Civil War had stopped – for a day! The typical US parade that comes to one’s mind is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, a spectacular event in its own right with millions of dollars put out for the production. St. Francisville has a teeny tiny population and the scale of this parade is considerably less in both production and participation of that of the aforementioned counterpart, but this 9 minute parade through this tiny little town absolutely captured out hearts. Little kids running around barefoot through the town, candy being thrown at the 50 or so (plus the 2 out of town guestsJ) people that turned up to watch the parade while the other 50 were a part of the parade, the little girl with a lemonade stand right outside her house in a town where everyone knew everyone else and where people did not bother to lock their homes when they went out to watch the parade. It still exists in St Francisville, LA.

Then we happened upon this other tiny little rural fishing village called Cedar Key in Florida where we stayed for a couple of nights to avoid driving more than 6 hours a day on our way to Bonita Springs. This is another little place where it is not just the southern hospitality that charms you but the innocence of the everyday life. When the B&B owner says that people do not lock their cars at night, when the owner who runs the Black Dog pub says that you can take their only wine opener with you and when youare done just drop it back on the porch (they were willing to give their only wine to complete strangers based on only our promise to return it), when you see little kids with their makeshift fishing poles proudly bringing their catch of the day home, you know that it still exists in Cedar Key, Florida.

Unfortunately, this is not the America that people come to see and experience anymore but instead it is places such as Key West and Disney World that generate more excitement among the masses. Being open to just about anything, we decided to venture into these known tourist traps while in Florida. Key West, a small island at the southernmost tip of Florida, would be only a one day excursion because in our heart of hearts we knew what we were in for. Our greatest fears came to fruition, we walk off the small cruise ship we had just taken a 5 hour journey on to reach this destination, it was miserably hot, and a Carnival Cruise liner had just reached port and hundreds upon hundreds of wide eyed tourists took to the streets of this tiny little island. It was too late, we could not turn back and hide; we had to make the best of this most undesirable situation we found ourselves in. We now must become one of them, so we book ourselves on a historical tour of the city, riding on a trolley car listening to the wonderful stories of an island that once had a deep colorful history, all the while looking around to see how this little island has fallen to the ultimate shame of souvenir shops being what drives their economy. A key chain, a refrigerator magnet, a t-shirt, a conch shell, and key lime pie for all! It seems that most habitants of the island today do not originate from the island, but instead were chasing a fantasy of times past, only to find themselves driving a trolley or selling souvenirs. Our 5 hours on the island felt like a lifetime and happily we returned to the mainland.

The intelligent individuals we once thought we were now head to Disney World! Why are we making ourselves suffer like this? Disney World the land of wonderment and fantasy and the ultimate family destination, right? We beg to differ. Once again we feel an obligation to try to understand the amazement of this amusement park. Amazed we were, thousands of dollars spent for a family of 4 or 5, everyone bursting with enthusiasm to enter into gates, which promises the ultimate fantasy for all, but then reality sets in quickly. The simple joy of being in the park turns quickly to frantically running to wait in line for upwards of an hour and a half to get on the next ride. What we witnessed was families arguing over the long lines, turning on one another as to whose bright idea it was to come here in the first place, kids crying to get back to the hotel and simply play by the poolside. As a society we have convinced ourselves that this is a fantasy world for the children and that the adults can go back and relive the innocence of childhood we all once knew only to realize that we cannot turn back time after all.

So does the lost world of places such as St Francisville and Cedar Key provide the true return to innocence compared to the found world of Key West and Disney World? The irony clearly is that once these lost worlds are “found” by the hordes of tourists, they cease to remain the Lost America that we all know and love.