The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1922-04-07

some ice, and then to Mr.. Wilson's :
lakeside home at Odawaha. We ex-
pected there TO take Mrs. Wilson
aboard, but she was too comfortable
and busy in her homelike residence to
dare the dust on bunny road.
We followed the Dixie Highway to
the Lake county line, and if you will
take an old mans advice you will not
travel that route any more than You
can help until it is finished. When
it is, you can come up it like the sun
rise, but now you go down it as rough |
as new moonshine. |
Everything was near all right when |
we hit Lake county, tho; they are
about a million miles ahead of Mar
ion in keeping their roads up, and viii |
be until we abolish our damphool dis
trict road gang system. The only |
thing we had to slack up for on the |
road to Leesburg was a road scraper, |
smoothing off the road.
Near the county line is the home
of man | commend to you, for he
has planted oleanders all around his
place; and it looks as pretty as an 49,
year-old girl in new kaliker> dress,
and how pretty that is only oldtimers
like me and Dr. Walter Hood know.
Every farmer in the country could
plant oleanders in his front yard, AMI
if he loved his country like he had
ought to he would do it.
We glided over the streets of pleas
ant, pretty, pushing Leesburg, stop
ping only long enough to absorb coca
cola at one of its well-kept drugstores.
There we found a bunch of Ocalans
who had started before US. Wilson
looked at them, said "Umph," locked
his teeth in the cool end of a cigar,
started the auto and we saw no more
of them till we stopped to wait at
Winter Garden.
We went by Tavares, or rather in
mile of it, Astatula, Montverde AMI
Oakland. 1t was refreshing to see
what a great acreage of orange trees
has been set out and big tracts clear
ed for more. Soon we saw over -
the left the blue sheen of the waters
of Lake Apopka. This is the big
gest freshwater lake in Florida, ex~
cepting Okeechobee, which is shallow
and marshy, and have often wonder
| II Jr,S+
1t is almost as pretty as Lake Wen
and about eight times the size. If
fellow had navy of his own he could
exercise it quite comfortably on Lake
Apopka.
| Altho it looks like Lake county is
trying to turn itself into one vast
orange grove, there are lots of pine
clad hills around the bluest kind Of
lakes, each and every one needing
only little work to make of it Il
pocket paradise. And some of them
are big enough for a good-sized
heaven.
Every one of the Lake county
towns we passed thru looked as bright
as a new dime. They seem to realize
they have reputation to keep up.
They make up new Italy without the
dirt of the old one.
Some miles beyond handsome
Montverde, with its fine school, we saw
a sign that said it was Orange coun-
ty and would we please not run more
4Lar, ,i,.41, r,,iIo1 e., of
the speed cop. After that l did not
look at the speedometer any more, so
cannot testify that old man Wilson
was hitting it up at about forty-five.
A few hundred yards further on we
struck one of those brick roads that
make Orange county famous. Eight
feet wide and fine, superfine, so long
as you did not meet anybody or try
to pass anybody. Then you wanted
the road to expand to sixteen feet but
it wouldn't.
i A little further, and whirling around
turn l saw the first spot recogniz-
ed-Oakland, on the A. C. L., nee the
Sanford and st. Petersburg, nee the
Orange Belt, railroad, originally built
from grove to grove and in 1888 the
longest railroad in Florida. l only
knew Oakland because it was there.
l was acquainted with at the time my
dear old friend, Col. Tom Appleyard,
ran paper at that place, and went
over from DeLand one day with the
ball team. Oakland had fine band
and lots of watermelons. I forgot
who won the game, but l remember
holding hands with pretty Oakland
girl at house near where the