elliott museum and the house of refuge.

On July 24th, which happens to be Pioneer Day in Utah, we made another long, boring trip to the VA. Terry's appointment was first thing in the morning, and it was a short one, so we had the whole day left. I was antsy to do something fun, but we didn't want to spend alot of money, and Terry nixed my beach idea right away. Then I remembered this place that my mom took me to when I was little. I made a quick call to my parents, and my dad told me how to get there. The place was called The House of Refuge, and just down the street from that was the Elliott Museum, so you could tour both places at a two-for-one price. We were delighted!

We went to The House of Refuge first, located right on a strip of land that falls right between the beach AND the river on Hutchinson Island. The beach there is rocky, so the waves look so cool crashing into the rocks. And there was a movie being filmed there! It was neat. We took the tour, and learned that there were several "houses of refuge" located up and down the Treasure Coast of Florida. Back in the day, there was one person who stayed there, called a "keeper," and it was their job to look up and down the coast after a storm for shipwrecks and sailors who were lucky enough to survive and make it to the beach. They would then take the sailors in, feed them, clothe them, and nurse any wounds. It was a difficult and lonely job, but if not for them, the shipwrecked men would have had no hope. Today the house that we toured is the only one that is still standing, and I feel lucky to have seen it once more. And while I sort of forgot that it was Pioneer Day, I was happy later on to realize that I had taught my children a little something about some of the pioneers in Florida.

We next made our way to the Elliott Museum, where the learning of more pioneers continued! Named after the man who I presume started the museum, he contributed greatly to its contents, as many of the items inside were his. The special display was all about the circus, and there were tons of miniature circus events placed throughout the first room. As we traveled through the rest of the museum, we saw an old general store, an old-fashioned kitchen, and even a whole collection of old baseball cards and a baseball, complete with autographs from people such as Joe Dimaggio. Then at the end of the tour, there is a garage filled with cars, ranging from the first early models right through 1975. It was amazing to look at how vehicles have changed! There were even electric cars, which I hadn't realized had been invented so long ago.

All in all it turned out to be a very educational, fun-filled day. I am so happy that we thought of something fun to do as a family, and the fact that it all ended up happening on Pioneer Day made it even better.