Kissimmee Prairie Preserve, Okeechobee, Florida
And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their county by another route. ~ Matthew 2:12 Don’t you think pagans obeying God because of a dream is miraculous? I do! Maybe they all had the same dream? I also wonder what would’ve happened if they’d gone back to Herod. Would Herod have started his rampage too soon? Would he have killed the Magi, who one would assume went home and shared their blessedly wonderful news? God always has a perfect plan, and oftentimes it’s one we cannot see. So, that is why, according to the apostle Paul, we are to live by faith and not by sight (II Corinthians 5:7).
depicts the Magi being visited by an angel.
Three crowned figures are shown together under a large, round cover. Two of them are still asleep, but the third
has been woken by the gentle touch of the angel
who is pointing the star out to him.
It was carved by a man named Gislebertus, the greatest sculptor of his period. His name is known because on one of his carvings he put the words ‘Gislebertus hoc fecit’ – [Gislebertus made this].
The work was carried out between 1125 and 1135.
The Jeep has been sitting idle for quiet some time, so we decided it was time to run it today. Blaine planned a day in the town of Okeechobee. It’s also where you can see a very small portion of the largest lake in the southeast.
First, we stopped at a couple of stores for odds and ends – like Dollar Tree.
Then we drove over to walk a few miles on a nature trail at the Taylor Creek Stormwater Treatment Area. You can read all about it on the sign I took a picture of.
Blaine’s sister had one, but once it started to rot,
it was waaay too expensive to replace with the real thing, so they went with plastic.
It looks nice!
He then took me to a State Park where we were anticipating learning about a battle that went on here between the Seminoles and the U.S. government under the direction of President Andrew Jackson. People commenting on this place said it was interesting, but don’t go out of your way to see it. Well, I’ll say! There was nothing there except a public restroom, a single comment on a sign, and stone memorials that were in one place and surrounded by pretty deep grass. We didn’t take a picture because we didn’t even know it was there until we were driving away. Too bad we missed the reenactment last weekend!
I suppose I could’ve Googled more info, but I’ve done enough of that lately. Sorry!
You can’t even begin to read what it says.
Then it was off to see the grand lake – Okeechobee. You know this lake, it’s the giant hole in the middle of Florida. Our vision standing on a pier is limited to the horizon. There wasn’t any information here about whether you could or couldn’t fish or swim here, but no one was doing either. It was just people (mostly gray-hairs) walking out to the end of the short pier like we did, looking around and leaving. I did research some information to share though. 😊
Lake Okeechobee means “big water” in the Seminole Indian language, an appropriate name for a water body whose opposite shore can’t be seen from the water’s edge. With a surface area of 730 square miles, it is the largest lake in the southeastern United States. Despite its impressive size, the lake is shallow, with an average depth of only 9 feet. Lake Okeechobee and its wetlands are at the center of a much larger watershed, the Greater Everglades, that stretches from the Kissimmee River through the Everglades and finally into Florida Bay. Lake Okeechobee is also a key component of South Florida’s water supply and flood control systems.
Lake Okeechobee provides natural habitat for fish, wading birds and other wildlife, and it supplies essential water for people, farms and the environment. The lake provides flood protection and attracts boating and recreation enthusiasts from around the world. It is also home to sport and commercial fisheries. The lake’s health was threatened in recent decades by excessive nutrients from agricultural and urban activities in the lake’s watershed, by harmful high and low water levels and by the spread of exotic vegetation.
Despite these impacts, Lake Okeechobee continues to be a vital freshwater resource for South Florida, with irreplaceable natural and community values.
Lake Okeechobee restoration efforts are underway. The Florida Legislature enacted the 2000 Lake Okeechobee Protection Act and the subsequent Lake Okeechobee Protection Program to restore the lake and its watershed. The Lake Okeechobee Protection Program is a phased, comprehensive and innovative program. It is designed to restore and protect the lake by improving water quality and implementing long-term solutions through a variety of specific components. The Florida Legislature in 2007 expanded the Lake Okeechobee Protection Act to strengthen protection for the Northern Everglades by restoring and preserving the entire Lake Okeechobee watershed, including the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries. ~ sfwmd.gov
‘Okeechobee’, comes from the Hitchiti words ‘Oki’ (meaning water) and ‘Chubi’ (meaning big). This combined made the Seminole word ‘big water’ in the language spoken by the Seminole Indians.
Lake Okeechobee, which covers about 450,000 square acres and has been polluted by decades of agricultural and stormwater runoff. The $23 billion Everglades restoration plan is intended to undo much of the damage caused by polluted water flowing out of the lake. But Florida has not yet been able to slow the amount of phosphorus flowing into the lake, which can feed algae blooms. ~ sfwmd.gov
Let’s just say . . . they’re still working on it. In the meantime, I spent a good amount of time trying to discern if it’s safe to eat fish caught in the Lake. Some sites say yes, some say no. We didn’t eat any fish while we were there, so I guess we’re okay. 😊
It was earlier than we’d planned, but we opted to go in search of food. Blaine had planned on a mid-afternoon lunch/supper time, but since the first stop was the only one that took the planned amount of time, we ate at the #1 restaurant (according to TripAdvisor) at 1:00pm. We had to ask our server how to pronounce the name. It’s PO-gee’s.
The following quote was on their website:
Pogey’s was opened on Sept 18, 1990. When we first opened, we were open daily from 5am – 9pm, 7 days a week. Our goal was to close at 2pm after 10 years, well, it went a little longer than that, it was April 15, 2001 before that happened. My parents owned a restaurant named “Friendly’s” in Elwood, Indiana from when I was 10 yrs old (1970) until they sold it in 1980. I started out as dishwasher at a very young age and moved up to night time manager before they sold it. My parents would come to Okeechobee for the whole month of Feb every year to get away from the snow and do a lot of fishing. My parents offered me the business before they put it up for sale, but the whole family fell in love with Okeechobee and the Lake. So we moved down here in May of 1980. My parents started “Vest Concrete” to have something to do on the side, which later turned out to be a full-time business, which my brother Jeff now owns and runs. My blood and heart was definitely in the food business, so in 1989, I sold my construction company and started building Pogey’s in Jan of 1990, and to this day….. I still enjoy getting up every morning and coming to work.
Excellent food!!! The coleslaw tastes just like my grandma used to make, and their fries are sort of a cross between traditional fries and jo-jos. The sandwich was amazing! So glad we tried it! And the prices were quite reasonable – $14 for each overflowing meal.
Neither of us has ever had an alcohol induced one.
The owner’s name is Doug Vest.
With our bellies filled to the brim and then some, we scooted off to WalMart to walk the aisles and pick-up groceries. We had to be careful though because the drive home is about an hour.
We were once again blessed to enjoy the gorgeous firmament painted by our Father!
