A Weekend Visit with the Bestie

 Lauren and I are sisters by chance, but friends by choice, and we are besties. I know people love to throw around this word bestie, and some people say they have a bunch. We have only one best friend in this whole world, and it's each other. As she said, this was a short trip, but full of the moments you carry forever. We engaged in deep conversations and laughed until our stomachs hurt. We're not twins, but might as well be because we think almost the exact same on every topic possible.

Thursday (8/7) we ate delicious food at our favorite international market.

Being with her means we try new random things. These are Chinese custard buns.😄

Friday we visited Fort Caroline and Kingsley Plantation. Fort Caroline was a 16th-century French colonial settlement. It was established in 1564 by French Huguenots under leadership of Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere. It served as a refuge for French Protestants fleeing religious persecution and a foothold for France in the new world.

That log in the picture below was used for a canoe.

The fort

This exhibit symbolizes the French Colonist's quest for religious freedom and a desire to improve their lives. 

We walked a trail through the woods and mosquitoes at the fort, then drove on to Kingsley plantation.

Before the 1800s, blue dye came from the indigo plant. It grows between 4-6 ft. high and it was grown on this plantation between the 1760s and 1780s during the British period. The greatest toll of growing indigo was on enslaved people. The heat, smell, and insects were terrible, not to mention the exposure to the chemicals on the skin and in lungs was deadly over time. 

Click on the photos to make them larger to read them.

The walls and floor in this room are made of tabby, an oyster shell concrete. Tabby is fire resistant and durable. It's ideal for a heavily used area and it holds temperature well. 

The second floor is where the masters would've stayed.

Fascinating to read about Anna Kingsley's history as a slave and slave owner. 

Africans were forced to migrate to the plantations of the American South to do the labor that drove the Atlantic world economy. Commerce in North American and Europe depended on a triangular trade of goods that included human trafficking of slaves. 

While Florida was under Spanish rule, free blacks were regarded as citizens and had privileges. When Fl. became a territory, new laws discriminated against black people, both free and enslaved. Legal discrimination continued in various forms from the plantation era through mid 1900s. 

No. 3 was an act to amend the act entitled "An act concerning marriage license." It said "that all white male persons, resident within this territory who shall attempt to intermarry or who shall live in a state of adultery or fornication with a negro, mulatto, quarteroon, or other female, shall be liable to indictment."

Freedom is easy to take for granted - until it's lost. Once lost, it's also easy to define what is missing. Slavery is the ultimate loss of all freedoms - rights, choices, and control. 

Acts of 1840 include laws prohibiting selling firearms to blacks.

Acts of 1828 include prohibiting free blacks from moving into the Fl. territory.

Acts of 1832 include outlawing of interracial marriage, punishment increased for crimes and misdemeanors, and new tax put on freed slaves.

Acts of 1826-27 include punishment for blacks using abusive language.

Imagine looking out at these windows at slaves working. 😥Reading all these signs shows me a bunch of hypocrisy in the white people during this time. Punishment for sins such as bad language for the black people but not for the whites? That's disgusting. Also the ban on interracial marriage is abominable. Visiting this plantation makes me angry at this sin and injustice of slavery. It's the saddest thing. 

Lauren in her natural element reading signs. 😂Just kidding. That's my natural element. I made her read them because we can't visit such a place and miss all the history. lol

Planter John McQueen built the original portion of the house with the use of enslaved craftsmen and laborers. It was designed to catch the ocean breezes for the comfort of the owner's family. 

A dock used to bustle with activity here during the plantation era. Cotton bales were sent to market, and slaves and finished goods were brought here by boat. Most plantations were located along inland waterways because the easiest access to the Atlantic Ocean was through coastal ports. Planters used smaller boats on inland waterways to transfer supplies and human cargo to Fort George Island.

Sample quilt

Then of course we had to eat Chashu buns and drink milk tea while watching a C-drama at our favorite restaurant. At this point, it's a traditional habit. 😂

And of course we always have to hang out with our dear sister Jan. 

This was a very bittersweet time because new changes are coming. I know many adults don't have a best friend, but I'm super thankful I do. 😊