FT2018 Day 44: Campsite near the Aucilla River (mile 734.2) to Ring Dike Campsite (mile 760.8)

FT2018 Day 8: Zero Day in Clewiston

What was supposed to be a relaxing zero day started out with a bang. Or, at least there was a bang last night. I didn't realize my DSLR was sitting in the decorative comforter last night and at some point it was kicked off the bed. The lens was completely bent.

RIP lens. 

I was desperately looking for a replacement in town, but while I was searching I heard the cleaning crew outside. I consolidated my belongings and went to finish my search in the lobby. It turned out there was no place local to buy a lens. I needed to get one shipped to a maildrop. I consulted with my Trail Angel and we worked out an arrangement to have it shipped to River Ranch Resort...130 miles away. In the meantime I will have to take pics with my cell phone.

I left the lobby and hung around Civic Park for a while because it was the nicest,  most charming part of town. Somewhere along the line, Clewiston seemed to have given up on the charming sugar cane community ascetic. Now it is a hodgepodge of buildings.

The Clewiston Museum.

I next went across the street to the town’s museum. I watched two videos put together by the local sugar and orange juice corporations. They were hilarious, propaganda-ish, but also informative. For instance, I finally learned why cane fields are burned. It clears off the leaves and the undergrowth, leaving the cane itself easier to harvest.

Based on the clothing and hairstyles,  I would estimate that the videos were made somewhere between the late 80s and mid-90s. They went into quite a bit of detail about how eco-friendly and sustainable their operations and how proud they were so exceed environmental regulatory standards. That was quite a contrasts to how you hear people talk about environmental regulations today.

After the videos, I wandered around the museum. They had a lot of fossil displays. There was one that caught my attention. It was the one that had a lot of mastodon/mammoth fossils. I remembered volunteering for a paleontological dig as an undergrad and uncovering a mammoth femur.

Giants in the Storm exhibit.

I looked at the info next to the display and it said the dig started in 2000, lasting 18 months, and occurred in Hendry County. The dig I participated in was around that time and in Hendry County. I probably participated in that same dig. It was a cool and random connection to make.

The museum also had displays on lost Spanish treasure, the history of the town, the history of the sugar cane harvest, and the town's role hosting RAF pilot training during WWII.

When I finished with the museum, I made a trip to Wal-Mart, then headed back to continue working on uploading the blogs and vlogs. Finally, I ended my day with a beer in the hotel’s historic bar/lounge with its mural from 1945.

At the Everglades Lounge in the hotel.