So it is Sunday night already and it leaves me wondering where the whole weekend has gone too, since the last time I really looked, it was Thursday night and I was in the trailer trying to stay warm, and hoping that none of my water pipes would freeze up. The good news is that none of those things happened and indeed it even started to warm up some on Friday, though I did keep everything unhooked and drained when not in use, at least until Saturday anyway.
   Friday night was the beginning of the dance weekend here in Gainsville. 'Dancing with the Gods', Gainsville Oldtime Dance Society, was the host and this year they had two wonderful bands playing and two terrific callers to keep us all sorted out. The Great Bear Trio is of course one of my all time favorite bands. These three people, two brothers and their mother, produce copious amounts of music of all kinds and always seem to have something new to surprise you with. But it is also their regular playing, and the ease at which they not only play their tunes, but also toy with the audience in bringing them up, and then letting them down until they finally bring it all home at the end with the dancers generally whopping and a hollering the whole time. It's just amazing!
   Also playing this weekend was a new band for me. The 'Rafter Ringers' hail from some where up north and may even be from the Canadian side of the border, as at least one of them had a terrific French Canadian accent. They were also very impressive with the 3 of them providing more than adequate musical compliment to the calling of both Beth Malaro and Sarah VanNordstrom.
   Fridays opening dance had everybody worn out after more than 3 1/2 hours of hot, sweaty dancing. I certainly enjoyed it even though my allergies were really in overdrive that night. It might just be because it is actually spring down here in Florida and despite the recent cold temperatures of the past few days, there are still plenty of things out there that I can be allergic too. I managed with over the counter meds but I have to say that it isn't much fun dancing with a system filled with drugs. It kind of makes you feel a little goofy and doesn't help at all that I still need to pop cough drops or hard candy to keep from coughing too much.
    Saturday turned out to be a much nicer day weather wise. I actually went and took a hike around the alligators out at Paynes Prairie again that afternoon before the dance. I just saved enough time to go and have a burrito at what is fast becoming my favorite Mexican Restaurant anywhere, the little Bodega here in Gainsville called La Tienda. I have tried all of their burritos so far, as well as most of their plate's, but my favorite still seems to be either the Chivo, goat, or Cabesa, beef cheek burritos. Nice flavor, good texture, huge size and cheap. They could really give Chipotle a run for their money. I in fact like these guys much, much better.
    I was done there in plenty of time to make it back over to the dance hall where I managed to snag a front row seat to a short concert put on by Noah and Andrew of the Great Bear Trio. One of my friends was filming it and if it comes out on Youtube I'll repost it here so you can see how talented they are with other types of music also.
    Good dancing on Saturday night also, but I felt really drugged from some of the allergy meds I had popped, so it wasn't as good as it could of been, especially when it didn't seem to help in any significant way. I was much happier at this afternoons dance when I decided to forgo taking any more drugs in favor of just popping cough drops and candy while dancing. It was so much nicer dancing with a clear head again, and while I was still coughing periodically, it wasn't any worse than when I was all doped up. I am hoping this may be some sort of 'light bulb' moment for me and that maybe it will mean not using as much stuff in the future. Will just have to wait and see what the body says I guess.
    So three days of hard dancing and I'm pretty much worn out and my feet hurt. I am also feeling an 'Introvert' moment coming on, so I am glad to have a nice evening to just kick back and relax. I picked up some fried chicken for dinner and after I finish with this I'm going to watch some movie I have stored under the seat. Tomorrow I need to do some laundry and get the oil changed in the truck. I was thinking of moving up the coast in a day or two, but it looks like more cold and rainy weather is coming in. So I am going to see about staying here another week or so and then working my way on up to Virginia. I kind of miss my girlfriend and I'd like to go see her before she takes off for Hawaii.
   In the meantime; here are yet more photo's from the dance week on St. Croix. A bunch of us are on an island tour that takes us into the fort at Fredricsteadt and then on to the rum factory. Enjoy!

St. Croix Contra Dance Week - February 2015

Fort Fredricsteadt and Cruzan Rum Factory.

The interior courtyard of the fort at Fredricsteadt. Located at the far western end of St Croix Island this fort is important because it was here that the island slaves were first told of their emancipation from slavery.

Some of the cannons originally used in defense of the port.

Up stairs in the fort they had one room dedicated to furniture that had been built, mostly by slave craftsmen, there on the island. Mostly of mahogany and teak, it is some of the prettiest furniture I have ever seen.

These three pieces really catch your eye when you enter the room. Hanging bassinets that rock, how cool is that.

A mahogany chair to hold your chamber pot. No need for an outhouse as long as someone else was doing all the cleaning up duty.

Another stunning piece. I find the lines of this settee to flow beautifully. It looks like a comfortable place to read a book on a rainy afternoon.

There were several of these little 'sayings' scattered about the walls. This one resonated with all of the dancers. ( When a man can't dance, he says the music is no good ).

 

The start of our tour at the Cruzan Rum Factory. Cruzan has been making rum there on the island for more than 100 years now. They now have to import all of their sugar cane syrup from other countries as there isn't enough grown there on the island any more. They also no longer bottle it there on the island. Instead, once the rum is ready they pump it on to a barge and ship it to Florida where they bottle it up and ship it out around the world.

One of the first processes is mixing the cane syrup with water and adding in yeast. While it looks like it is boiling from heat, this is actually just stirred up from the yeast producing carbon dioxide.

All of that rum and so little time. This is the step before they filter it and send it into the distillation tower where they will separate out the alcohol from everything else. The tower is that 4 story building in the first picture of this segment of the narrative.

Once it has been distilled and filtered the rum is stored in used oak barrels that once held Jack Daniels or Jim Beam whisky. They clean the barrels of course and re-char them on the inside. They also add a measured amount of charred oak chips, about a pounds worth per barrel, to give the alcohol more flavor and color. They store the barrels for between 4 months and 10 years before sending it off to be bottled. I wonder how many millions of dollars worth of rum is in this one warehouse alone?

Our tour group listening in to our guide.

What a bunch of boozer's. Along with the tour you get two tickets for rum drinks and 4 tickets for tasting what ever kind of rum you want to try. About a shot glass per taste. Of course I never did see anyone really paying that much attention to collecting your tickets. So we were all pretty happy on our way back to the dance resorts.

brk*