Running a business from home is challenging, but more so when business partners live across country from each other. Family reunions make it easy to get together and talk shop. This year we ventured to Stuart, Florida, and enjoyed learning about the coast. We toured a couple of local museums where crafts and engineering captured our attention. In addition to learning about local legends, we talked of craft trends, book ideas, and projects galore. Here’s a glimpse of our trip.
House of Refuge at Gilbert’s Bar
The House of Refuge at Gilbert’s Bar is 1 of 12 shipwreck life-saving stations built along the Florida coast in the late 1800’s, and the only one remaining. It also served as a small military lookout during WWII.
A 100 year old dress on display at the House of Refuge. Old doesn’t mean simple, and simple doesn’t mean plain. We love the detail work in this “everyday” dress.
Wall motto on display at the House of Refuge. “Wall mottos were popular home decorations in the late 1800’s and often carried messages of faith, memory, or encouragement.” We love that a family photo is stitched right into the fabric.
Wow! We were blown away by this “mourning hair wreath”. The flowers are fashioned from human hair. We had never seen nor heard of these and were surprised when our mother said our grandmother made one, and that it was donated to the Riley House Museum in Celina, Ohio.
The House of Refuge at Gilbert’s Bar is named after an awful pirate who killed the men on ships he plundered. According to Gilbert, “Dead Cats Don’t Mew”. In modern vernacular, “dead men tell no tales” or “loose lips sink ships”. He didn’t want anyone revealing his secrets and left no survivors.
For a brief time, the House of Refuge was also a turtle sanctuary. A rare 2 headed turtle named Captain Janus was hatched and raised there.
Elliott Museum in Stuart, Florida
Stuart may be a small town, but it boasts a big museum. In a word, the Elliott museum was…extraordinary. Cars, bikes, baseball cards, modern art, interactive art, local history, and more!
We love to mountain bike, so we found these historical bikes quite interesting.
We love this display. We are so thankful that modern bikes aren’t “boneshakers”.
This tricycle looks intriguing, and is that a hand brake?
The “store” in the museum features at least 6 old sewing machines. We were naturally interested in looking at those.
Back in the day, when people had cloth tissues…aka handkerchiefs, it was apparently popular to spritz them with perfume.
The vintage car collection is impressive. Dana’s husband was a tow truck driver, so we captured his photo with this vintage tow truck.
The interactive art display had a lot of fun scenes to pose with. Here is our mother with one of her grandsons.
Dana had trouble sitting comfortably on this couch. Another fun photo opportunity of the interactive art display.
Family Time in Stuart, Florida
The time change was a bear, but Dana managed to capture a couple sunrises on the beach.
The whole family wasn’t able to attend, but here’s the crew that enjoyed our beach vacation. Thanks, everyone, for the games, the laughs, and fun times at the beach. A heartful thank you to those that planned and made the trip possible.
As far as business plans go…some things are happening soon, and others are years in the making. We can’t wait to share our newly inspired creativity with you.
Dana & Deborah
