Happy Me & Thursday 13

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon. I was off work at 3:30 which meant I actually left at 3:50 and I came straight home to watch the National League Divisional Series playoff game between the Phillies and the Brewers. I am a big Phillies fan, so the fact they won 3-1 made me happy. I got happier later when the Dodgers beat the Cubs because I would rather see the Phillies play the Dodgers if they make it to the NLCS.

So now for my Thursday 13... Thirteen pieces of trivia about the State of Florida, the fourth state I lived in.

1. New England Congregationalists who sought to bring their style of liberal arts education to the state founded Rollins College, the oldest college in Florida, in Winter Park in 1885. This makes sense as I have a high school classmate who went there and she and her hubby are quite liberal.

2. Florida is not the southernmost state in the United States. Hawaii is farther south. However, the southernmost point in the continental USA is located on Key West, which IS part of Florida.

3. Gatorade was named for the University of Florida Gators where the drink was first developed. However, this did NOT help them against Old Miss last Saturday.

4. Ybor City was once known as the Cigar Capital of the World with nearly 12,000 tabaqueros (cigar-makers) employed in 200 factories. Ybor City produced an estimated 700 million cigars a year at the industry's peak. It is now a part of the Tampa area and is home to many restaurants and nightclubs and is a social hub.

5. Florida is the only state that has 2 rivers both with the same name. There is a Withlacoochee in north central Florida (Madison County) and a Withlacoochee in central Florida. They have nothing in common except the name. Funny name too, you make up the punchline.

6. At the State Capital in Tallahassee there are five flags flying for the five nations that have controlled Florida. These are England, Spain, France, the USA and the CSA (Confederate States of America)

7. Tallahassee is the only Confederate State Capital that was never captured during the Civil War. It really wasn't a priority, and other than coming in from the Gulf of Mexico, it wasn't accessible.

8. In Orlando the temperature is never reported to be over 99 degrees. Your thermometer may certainly read higher, but the local news does not want to damage the tourist trade.

9. Orlando is home to the University of Central Florida, which is currently the 6th largest university in the USA. They used to say UCF stood for U Can't Finish, but I have 2 degrees from this school.

10. Orange County, which is home to Walt Disney World was once called Mosquito County. Care to guess why the name was changed?

11. The Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine was built in 1672 and still stands today. Built by the Spanish to protect their claim to that part of their empire, it is now owned and maintained by the National Park Service.

12. Florida is home to 7 nude beaches and 11 nudist resorts. Cypress Cove Resort is located in Kissimmee and is the closest resort to Disney property. Playalinda Beach is part of the Canaveral National Seashore so county laws banning nudity cannot be enforced as it is federal property.

13. McCoy Air Force Base was located about 10 miles south of Orlando and was a Strategic Air Command base during the Vietnam War and part of the Cold War. In 1975 it became a public airfield and was renamed Orlando International Airport. McCoy was linked with the Pine Castle Jeep Range, where munitions training took place. The Army Corps of Engineers is now helping inspect residential and commercial property in the area where the base stood because buried munitions have been discovered including at an Orange County Middle School.