Tallahassee Through the Ages

By Erin Marvin

Published: February 29, 2008

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One of my earliest childhood memories is of visiting the Tallahassee Museum with my mom and aunt. I remember climbing up into the candy apple-red railroad caboose and pretending I was the conductor; running ahead of them to the animal habitats (keeping a wide berth around the snake exhibit) so that I'd be the first to spot the Florida panther; and peeking into the old barn and houses on the recreated 1880s farm.

Even though that was decades ago, families can have the same experiences today in Florida's capital city. They, too, can explore the 19th century Big Bend Farm; play with microscopes and crawl through a giant tree in the Discovery Center; and spot bobcats, bears and other animals. Kids these days (and their parents) can also walk through the Butterfly Garden, filled with pretty native plants specifically chosen for their attraction to butterflies.


Inspiration in Bloom

Back in middle school, I took my job as "big sister" seriously. On a family trip to Tallahassee, I felt it was my responsibility to show my little brother the ropes at one of my favorite places to visit. Preteens and toddlers, such as we were, don't really appreciate the Governors' Portrait Collection or antique furniture that most adults find fascinating at the Museum of Florida History. What we could appreciate is spectacle, so while our parents were ogling pictures of old men and creaky chairs, we stood awestruck in front of the nine-foot-tall skeletal remains of a Paleolithic Age mastodon. To this day, I insist my little brother screamed when he first saw the beast. He, of course, denies it.

In my late teens, I knew everything. Or so I thought. Having just completed a course on art history, I felt it was my duty to share this newfound knowledge with my family on our annual trip to Tallahassee. Lucky for me, The Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science was showcasing an exhibit on Renaissance art at the time. Lucky for my family, there were plenty of other exhibits at which to escape my lecture on sfumato techniques.

Although it was the point in my life that I was trying my hardest to act "grown up," I hadn't yet passed the age where I could walk by the Brogan's kids' area and not join my brother playing with brain-teasing puzzles and pretending to be weather forecasters on TV.


Appreciation Takes Root

These days, now that I am officially a grownup, I can better appreciate those historical artifacts and sites that I once made fun of my parents for liking. Goodwood Museum & Gardens is an immaculately restored antebellum plantation built in the 1840s; the house still contains its original furnishings and frescoed ceilings, which I now find myself ogling. (Admittedly, I have also since returned to the Museum of Florida History to check out the antique furniture collection as well.)

Gardens are another of Tallahassee's charms that went underappreciated in my younger years. Though I may have had a spark of interest in exploring the park's secret garden or swimming in the lake as a child, it's only now that I find myself spending hours among the perfectly manicured shrubs, flowering plants, fountains and reflection pool of Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park. Winter and spring months are an especially nice time to visit, when thousands of colorful camellias and azaleas bloom throughout the gardens (and the city itself).

Another area garden, the Helen Lind Sculpture Garden at LeMoyne Center for the Visual Arts, is devoted more to art itself than the art of gardening. Twelve sculptures created by Florida artists decorate the grounds.


Coming Full Circle

On my next trip to Tallahassee, I plan to return to one of the places I loved as a child: the Tallahassee Museum. I'll also check out Bellevue, a "carpenter tradition" plantation home once owned by Catherine Murat, George Washington's great grandniece and belle of Tallahassee society back in the 1850s. Catherine Murat was also the widow of Achille Murat, Prince of Naples and nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte.

During each of my visits, I've always taken time to drive along Tallahassee's fabled canopy roads, either as a passenger in my younger years or as the driver now. As I pass beneath the Spanish moss-draped oaks, I can't help but think of how true the adage is about the journey being just as important as the destination.

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