You can take the GRITS out of Florida, but you can't take Florida out of the GRITS!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Gaskin's Ghost

Back in May, we stopped at Tom Gaskin's Cypress Knee Museum ("Lady, if he won't stop, hit him over the head with a shoe").  




When I was little, we would pass this place all the time on our way to Lake Placid.  There were letters nailed up high in the branches of dead trees once you got past Moore Haven, heading to Palmdale, that had sayings on them (like the one above).  I would always look for those signs.



I remember actually stopping once.  The name of the place tells exactly what is was - a museum of different, odd shaped cypress knees.  There was a boardwalk across the street that took you through a cypress swamp so you could see the knees alive and still attached to their mother tree.

The place is deserted now...just a ghost of a roadside Americana that's quickly disappearing.
The only sign of life we saw was a gopher hiding in this burrow.

Though some people do still make a point of stopping there...to find the geocache that's hidden there!

There are no "No Trespassing" signs or warnings to stay out.  So we explored a little.


It's a creepy-cool place.  Graffiti painted throughout, but other than that, pretty clean...no signs of any squatters taking up residence or heavy partying teens.  Just an eerie silence that is occasionally broken by passing semi's on 27.

I'm sure this was made post-closing...I don't really understand it.

Here are a few links I found that give you more info about the place in case you've never heard of it...

http://kozmicdreams.com/tomgaskins.htm
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2061
http://www.lostparks.com/knees.html
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-11-03/travel/8503160042_1_cypress-knees-gaskins-cypress-knee-museum

5 comments:

Misti said...

Another Florida roadside attraction that would be great if it were open! Too bad Old Florida is no longer.

SwampAngel65 said...

That's why I always try to stop at Gatorama once or twice a year. They seem to be holding their own.

marcandeliana said...

We visited this spot a few months ago and grabbed the cache there. Did a little research on it and it sounded like an interesting place. Too bad it was robbed of all its treasures. Sometimes people suck (and stingrays too)

Charles Rinehart said...

As of the date of my comment, is this place still standing? I'd love to visit here for photos. Excellent blog here and info.

SwampAngel65 said...

Yup, it's still there. There are no posted warning signs or anything that I could see, either. If you check it out, let me know how it went!