Crates of oranges

Wednesday and Thursday, January 25 and 26, 2012

DUNEDIN, FL – Having bicycles at our disposal has really opened up the possibilities for us. We’ve explored a good stretch of the Pinellas Trail in both directions now, passing seedy trailer parks and strip malls or grand homes with royal palms and colourful landscaping, or spacious parks with ponds where water birds wade by the shore.
We went out to pick up some groceries yesterday morning, as we become more aware of the storage capacity of our new motorhome. Everything fit, and we acquired a collapsible waste basket and fold-out office file for our papers and guidebooks. We are feeling more organized now, and we’re even able to produce a decent supper for a night or two.
Last night we went to the recreation hall for a lasagne dinner, put on by the RV park staff. Communal meals are a Wednesday tradition in the park. The residents bring along their own dishes and cutlery, and sit down at large tables together for the meal. Huge pans of golden lasagne were laid out for us, and volunteer servers scooped out great slabs of cheesy pasta onto our plates. There was also salad, garlic bread and generous squares of chocolate cake for dessert, prepared by Kelly, one of the staff members, who has rightfully earned a reputation as an excellent cook. It was a delicious supper!
Today, after a leisurely morning strolling around the grounds and checking out the swimming pool and fitness room, we decided to bike into town and see the small museum we’d spotted there a couple of days ago. It’s built in what used to be Dunedin’s railroad station, and we learned that the railroad came about after the area became known for its extensive orange groves. Those groves are no more, having been devastated by killing frosts and eventually replaced with city buildings.
There are two longstanding legacies from those early days that are known pretty well worldwide now. One is the lowly orange crate, which was first built by Lee B. Skinner, one of the founders of the groves, to show off the beautiful golden orbs of fruit to buyers. Up till then, they were shipped in burlap sacks, hidden from view. The second invention was the concentration of orange juice, which permitted much more efficient and less bulky shipping methods, and provided citrus-starved Britain with the healthy product during the Second World War.
Another Dunedin legacy is the tracked amphibian carriers (Landing Vehicle Tracked) used for military transports during the war. They were invented by Donald Roebling, originally to permit the rescue of hurricane victims in flooded areas of Florida. When the military adopted his idea, he refused to accept any payment for it, since it was contributing to the war effort. They still refer to the vehicle as the Roebling Alligator.
It was a pretty warm day today, and after we stepped out of the air-conditioned museum and looked down the street at the little shops, the homemade ice cream parlour on the corner just happened to catch our eye. As we licked our cool confections on the chrome stools inside, we rationalized that the vigorous pedaling we’d done, against the wind, into town, pretty well canceled out any calories we might be consuming. Plus we had all that pedaling back to the RV park ahead of us. Ample reason for a butter pecan or maple walnut ice cream cone on a warm Florida afternoon in January, wouldn’t you say?