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love Florida

Love, Florida

Guys, it’s been WAY too long since I’ve posted a Love, Florida blog! Did you know that this year is supposed to be Florida’s 500th birthday? I’m not really sure what all that means… but we’re sure going to celebrate!
When we were cleaning and organizing one of our upstairs bedrooms I came across some of Ray’s vintage Florida postcards he bought for tattoo inspiration 6-8 years ago!
I love the first one pictured because of shape of Florida and the Elephant! FYI – Back in the day, traveling circuses would generally retreat to the Sarasota area during the winter. This is why you’ll see a lot of circus images associated with vintage Florida memorabilia. Do you have any good ideas for displaying postcards? Maybe framing them and hanging them in clusters? I just don’t know. All ideas and suggestions are appreciated. =)

Love, Florida – Aunt Aggie’s Bone Garden

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Whew, it’s been a while since I posted a Love, Florida blog and this one shouldn’t disappoint. Today I’m featuring Aunt Aggie’s Bone Garden. I first learned about the bone garden several years ago as it was located in Lake City (and possibly a few block from my house). Unfortunately, you can no longer visit as it was only in operation between 1900 and 1918.

From what I’ve gathered, Aunt Aggie Jones was a former slave from around the area. She created her bone yard around the turn of the century and it became somewhat of a tourist attraction for North Florida. The garden was made by hangings and statues of sun bleached animal bones. Where she got all of these bone, I surely don’t want to know. Aunt Aggie didn’t charge admission, but she did have produce and flowers for sale. Pretty incredible isn’t it? Also, maybe slightly creepy as well.
Fun fact #1: My friend Megan wrote a song about Aunt Aggie’s Bone Garden.
Fun Fact #2: There was another former slave that opened a bone yard around the same time just one tiny town over. I wonder if these two ladies were friends.

All images are taken from the Florida Memory website. If you’re into Florida history, old photography, etc. this is really cool site for you to check out!

Love, Florida – Vol 2

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As you know, we love Florida and we love old things. Here are a few of our vintage Florida-y pieces from around the house.

Orange juice glasses found at a tiny thrift store in Keystone.

Orange ashtray I use to store recently worn jewelry. There are usually 2 of Ray’s guitar picks in the mix as well… but I took them out because they were ugly. Haha.

Vintage Florida tray featuring cities and attractions.

Love, Florida – Vol 1

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Ray and I have both lived in Florida for our entire lives, and while it’s not always the ideal state to be in (hello 105 degree + humidity), it’s our favorite state to be in! Love, Florida is going to be a recurring series on alliray that will feature Florida-related wonderfulness.

My good friend, Katie (another lover of interesting retro finds), gave us this book of vintage Florida post cards she found in her Grandmother’s house. I really REALLY love them and have been trying to think of different ways to display them around Big Brown.