We had some time off from job hunting since Lorraine will start her new job after Labor Day. So we decided to head to Biloxi, MS for some fun. On our way we took the opportunity to visit the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee.
We left on Tuesday afternoon and drove to Tallahassee. Checked into the Doggie Hotel (aka La Quinta) and then got up early in the morning the next day to visit the State Capitol.
On our walk to the Capitol we came across this WWI memorial.
Afterwards we found there were many more around the area but we didn’t have a lot of time to look for them. We will have to plan another longer trip to Tallahassee so we can find them and look at the murals around town.
There is an old (original) capitol and a new State Capitol building right behind it. “The oldest is the nineteenth-century Old Capitol, restored and shrunken to its 1902 state of appearance. The other three are the House of Representatives and Senate chambers, and between them a 22-story Executive Office Building, sometimes called the New Capitol.The Old Capitol is an architecturally and historically significant building, having been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. ” Wiki
When building the New Capitol, it was intended to keep the Old Capitol the way it currently was which included a wing on each side. However, they found that the space between the outside wings and the new buildings would not provide enough room for a fire truck between the buildings so it was decided to tear of the two wings down restoring the Old Capitol to its original build of 1902. Below is the start of tear down of the wings of the Old Capitol. On the left is what remains of one of the wings before it was torn down. The right wing has been torn down.
The model below is what the area now looks like with the wings removed.
Below is the original Governor’s office which we were told even has the original spittoon from the Governor was kept and which is at the bottom right. We were told that it was cleaned out.
Outside of the Governor’s office was the secretary and stenographers area. Lorraine really liked the filing cabinets.
We were able to see the beautiful Dome looking up. Of course there was no access to the top floor.
In addition we were able to see old Senate and House of Representatives floors.
Now the new Capitol Building which of course stands higher than the Old Capitol – David and Goliath?
In the New Capitol building we started from the top down. First we went to the 22nd Floor where you can see all of Tallahassee.
We then went to the 5th floor where we were able to see this rotunda. It is interesting to see all the facts about Florida.
This rotunda is on the 5th floor where the Senate and House of Representatives rooms are. The Senate Floor is typical but has many murals painted around the bottom of the floor. There was, of course, no access to the floor but we tried to take some pictures. Around the top of the floor are pictures of all the Senate Presidents.
After visiting the 5th floor we returned to the main floor and saw these murals when you walk in. Lorraine asked how the security guards could work with the naked lady being on the wall behind them. They just chuckled.I guess she is skinny dipping.
Outside of the New Capitol Building are some memorials.
First the Officer Down Memorial. What is interesting about this one, is that the smaller one on the right is the original memorial from which the larger one was created. This is the original.
And this is the larger one. You can tell the woman officer has her head turned a little differently between the two but the memorial is impressive. Around a tree nearby are all the names of the fallen officers surrounding the trunk of the tree.
Also outside is the Fireman’s Memorial.
We had finished visiting the Capitol Building and then headed to Biloxi. We will have to come back to Tallahassee so we could tour the city and see all the murals that have been painted there.
So we went to Biloxi because we wanted to have fun and since we couldn’t get to Vegas, we headed here. While we were there we took an opportunity to see some Lighthouses.
The first was the Ship Island Lighthouse and marina which was actually in Gulfport. This area has history of being established in 1500s and also part of the Civil War. It has a lot of rebuilding history that shows if it was destroyed, it was rebuilt.
What is interesting was that the other side of the Ship Island sign also contained the below sign which also showed the importance of this area commemorating that first African American troops in the Civil War.
Right down the street from the Ship Island Lighthouse was the US Navy Memorial which is also a memorial area for Hurricane Camille.
From there we went another lighthouse on the shore. Unfortunately, we did not find a name. What was interesting (sad) was all the calligraphy on the bottom of this one.
Then we went to the Biloxi Lighthouse which was grander than the last one with a great story. This is one of the first cast-iron lighthouses and was originally on a sandy bluff overlooking the Mississippi Sound. As you can see now, it is in the middle of a road. Zoom in on the write up so you can read more about it. One of the big events is when Hurricane Katrina came through in 2005 and filled the 64-foot tower one third. If you look at the tower, you will see a turtle there supposedly marking how high the water was.
So over all, we had a break and had some fun. The good news is that we didn’t go broke at the casinos and actually came back with 60% of the money we came with. We just couldn’t win more than 100% but it was fun to get away. Now we have to wait for Lorraine to fly to Boston after Labor Day to begin her new job.
