Vacation Part 2: Familiar Places

While we were in Daytona Beach, Florida on vacation we had to stop by Brian's dad Ronnie's hometown of Seville. Seville is a very tiny place and Brian jokes there are more people in the cemetery than there are living in the town. Brian's uncle was not home while we were in Seville so we stopped by the cemetery to pay respects to Brian's grandmother. Have a look:



Here is the main road running through the cemetery. It was a very hot and humid day so there were plenty of mosquitos out ready to gnaw on me.


Inside the cemetery there are old trees covered with spanish moss and air plants. Brian told me that his mom use to bring Spanish moss back from Florida for use in flower arrangements.


I love visiting places and looking at all of the plants and greenery. I am also excited to show plants to other people. My mom had never been to Seville before so I made sure to show her the epiphytic airplants growing on the bark of the old trees in the cemetery. I got excited when I saw these. Vendors at the flea markets in Florida sell airplants which have been placed inside of various vessels such as seashells and pots. I am not sure of the exact type of airplant the one below is, but I think it is called Tillandsia.


My mom picked plenty of these airplants to try and get them to successfully grow in a shell at home.


I am not sure why this always amazes me. Some of the tombstones in the cemetery are very old. At first glance this tree does not seem too out of the ordinary.


Upon closer inspection you will see a very old tombstone. The tree has grown around the tombstone and almost completely enveloped the stone with its trunk.


My mom wanted me to take a picture of this beautiful sweet pea.


We just could not go down to Seville Florida without stopping by a roadside vendor and getting some fresh, hot, boiled, cajun peanuts. If you have never had boiled peanuts before I highly recommend them. They are made by boiling RAW peanuts in a strongly flavored brine. I specified raw because Nicole and I tried to recreate boiled peanuts at home and tried to use roasted salted peanuts. After cooking them for four days in a crock pot we called Brian's mom and asked her what we were doing wrong. Brian's mom cracked up at us like we were fools (and I think she said we were fools) for waiting four days to figure out something was wrong and again for not using RAW peanuts.


We opted for cajun boiled peanuts which are salty and a bit spicy. I would compare a boiled peanut to the flavor and texture of a cooked bean. The vendors keep the peanuts in hot brine and scoop them out into plastic bags for customers to eat.


When we were walking back to the car I snatched the bag out of Brian's hand. A woman who had just purchased peanuts was pulling out of the lot rolled her window down and said while laughing, "I saw you snatch that right out of his hand!" We all laughed.


My mom never had boiled peanuts before, but she loved them! They were so good and brought back fond memories of our short time living in Florida.