LAKE DEFUNIAK

OUR TIME HERE WAS COMING TO AN END, BEFORE WE LEFT I WANTED TO WALK LAKE DEFUNIAK, I HAD SPENT SO MUCH TIME HERE AS A CHILD.

WE SWAM IN THIS LAKE, HUNTED EASTER EGGS AND RODE  MY HORSE IN THIS LAKE YARD.

LAKE DEFUNIAK IS A ROUND LAKE RIGHT  IN THE CENTER OF TOWN.

WHEN I LIVED HERE, THE LAKE BECAME SO POLLUTED THAT YOU WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SWIM IN IT.   IT LOOKS LIKE THEY'VE CLEANED UP THE LAKE AND LAKE YARD.

WE WALKED AROUND LAKE DEFUNIAK, IT'S A MILE AROUND.

I FOUND THE OLD HOSPITAL, THAT WAS BUILT ON THE LAKE.

NO LONGER THE HOSPITAL.

THIS IS ALL THAT IS LEFT OF THE AUDITORIUM. THE ROUND PART OF THE AUDITORIUM WAS ON THE BACK OF THIS AND IT HAS BEEN TORN DOWN. THIS IS WHERE I SAW JERRY LEE LEWIS.....IN PERSON!!

DEFUNIAK WILL ALWAYS HAVE A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART!!

SO MANY MEMORIES!

I ASKED DARRELL TO DRIVE DOWN BALDWIN AVENUE ONE MORE TIME.....

PANAMA CITY BEACH

ANOTHER DAY WE DROVE OVER TO PANAMA CITY BEACH. THIS WAS OUR FAVORITE BEACH WHEN I LIVED HERE, WE CAME HERE OFTEN.    I COULDN'T BELIEVE HOW IT CHANGED!! PANAMA CITY BEACH IS A LARGE METROPOLIS NOW, THEN IT WAS NOTHING BUT BEACHES! WE FOUND A PUBLIC BEACH ACCESS AND A BATHHOUSE, SO I COULD PUT MY SWIMMING SUIT ON, I WAS GOING SWIMMING IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN!

THE BLUE OF THE  OCEAN AND THE SUGAR WHITE SAND BEACH  WERE BREATHTAKING!

I COULDN'T WAIT TO GET IN THE WATER!!

I WAS SURPRISED AT HOW WARM THE WATER WAS!

I PICKED UP SOME SHELLS...

.AND FINALLY CONVINCED DARRELL THE WATER WAS WARM!

IT WAS A LOT OF FUN!

BUT..............

IT WAS TIME TO HEAD HOME.

 WE HAD TO TAKE CARE OF MAGGIE AND MARLEE AND WE WERE STARVED!!

ABOUT ALL WE HAD TIME FOR WAS A QUICK BURGER AT MCDONALD'S!

I WAS SO GLAD I GOT THE CHANCE  TO COME HERE AGAIN!

WHEN WE GOT HOME THIS LANDMARK AUGUSTA WAS IN THE PARK!!

THE NEXT MORNING I WENT OVER AND TALKED TO THEM, VERY NICE PEOPLE....THEY LOVE THEIR LANDMARK......SO DO WE!! FIRST TIME EVER SEEING ONE EXACTLY LIKE OURS!! IT TRULY IS A SMALL WORLD!!

PONCE DE LEON SPRINGS

ONE DAY WE DROVE OVER TO PONCE DE LEON, AND PONCE DE LEON  SPRINGS STATE PARK. IT IS JUST A SHORT DRIVE FROM DEFUNIAK.

 WHEN I LIVED HERE THIS WAS A PRIVATELY OWNED SPRINGS.

WE WOULD COME SWIMMING HERE OFTEN,  BUT THERE WERE NO BUILDINGS THEN,  JUST THE COLD SPRINGS.

IT IS REALLY NICE NOW!  THIS IS THE BATHHOUSE.

THIS SIGN SAYS THE STATE BOUGHT THE PROPERTY IN 1970 AND THE WATER IS 68 DEGREES.

NICE GROUNDS AND DECKS!

THE SPRINGS DID SEEM FAMILIAR TO ME. THIS IS THE WAY I REMEMBERED IT.

AND THE SPRINGS ARE  STILL BEAUTIFUL....CRYSTAL CLEAR WATER!!

THE ROCK WALL IN THIS PICTURE IS PART OF  THE ORIGINAL ROCK WALL,  I REMEMBERED THE ROCK WALL.

AND THE WATER FEELS COLDER THAN 68 DEGREES!!!

IT DIDN'T FEEL TOO BAD AFTER YOU WERE IN FOR A WHILE, BUT I HADN'T PLANNED ON GOING SWIMMING, JUST STUCK MY FEET IN, THAT WAS ENOUGH!!

 THERE WERE FOLKS SWIMMING AND JUMPING IN THE WATER.

DRIVING BACK INTO TOWN, WE DROVE BY MAGNOLIA CEMETARY, I REMEMBERED THAT.

AND THE COURT HOUSE.......

THIS IS WHERE WE WOULD COME FOR SUNDAY DINNER, IT WAS A VERY POPULAR RESTAURANT. IT LOOKS PRETTY RUN DOWN.

I ONLY REMEMBEMBER TWO RESTAURANTS IN DEFUNIAK....MOM AND  DAD'S, AN ITALIAN RESTAURANT, AND THE ONE ABOVE, CAN'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF IT.

WE ATE HERE ONE EVENING....IT WASN'T AS GOOD AS I REMEMBERED IT TO BE.

I REMEMBERED THE AIRPORT.

AND THE  COUNTRY CLUB.

DADDY OWNED AN APARTMENT BUILDING NEAR LAKE DEFUNIAK. IT WAS STILL STANDING AND IN GREAT CONDITION.

THE MAIN ROAD WENT RIGHT BY THIS LITTLE PARK WHEN I LIVED HERE. IT'S A PRETTY SHARP CURVE, UNCLE LES HAD A WRECK HERE AND ALMOST DIED.

ALAQUAH CEMETARY, STEELE CHURCH, MAGNOLIA CEMETARY

ALL OF DADDY'S SIBLINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY, BUT I THOUGHT I MIGHT HAVE SOME COUSINS STILL IN DEFUNIAK. I LOOKED ONLINE AND IN THE PHONE BOOK, I COULDN'T FIND ANY HAMILTONS. I KNEW I WANTED TO GO TO WHERE MY GRANDPARENTS ARE BURIED, ALL I COULD REMEMBER WAS IT WAS A SMALL CHURCH CEMETARY OUT OF TOWN. I LOOKED ONLINE AND FOUND ALAQUAH CEMETARY AND STEELE CHURCH. THAT'S WHERE THEY WERE AND SOME OF DADDY'S SIBLINGS.

I WAS SURPRISED IT WAS A METHODIST CHURCH! I THOUGHT WE WERE ALL BAPTISTS!

 IT'S A PRETTY LITTLE CHURCH, THE LAST TIME I WAS HERE AS A CHILD, I REMEMBER IT BEING IN PRETTY BAD SHAPE. LOOKS LIKE THEY HAVE FIXED IT UP AND TAKEN CARE OF IT OVER THE YEARS.

THE ALAQUAH CEMETARY IS RIGHT NEXT DOOR.

I FOUND MY RELATIVES RIGHT AWAY.

THE WHOLE HAMILTON PLOT.

MY GRANDMOTHER. I NEVER KNEW HER, SHE DIED BEFORE I WAS BORN.

MY GRANDFATHER. I  ONLY HAVE ONE MEMORY OF HIM AND THAT WAS HIM WORKING IN HIS GARDEN. THEY HAD 5 BOYS AND 5 GIRLS.

HOWARD WAS ONE OF MY DAD'S BROTHERS.

AND LES

THESE ARE  THE TWO BROTHERS I REMEMBER....I DON'T REMEMBER HIS OTHER TWO BROTHERS AT ALL.....IRA AND ROY.