The Stephen Foster Folk Culture State Park is in White Springs, FL and sits along the banks of the Suwannee River. The State Park honors the memory of American songwriter Stephen Foster who wrote "Old Folks At Home" the song that made the Suwannee River famous. There is a museum which features exhibits about Foster's famous songs and his music can be heard through out the park as it is played by a 97 bell Carillon through out the day. The park has several craft shops, a gift shop, several hiking trails and canoeing. Several events are held at the park through out the year including the current one, Festival of Lights, which features over 4 million lights through out the park.
Stephen Foster's music, written in the 19th century, is still popular today. Some of his songs are "Oh Susanna", "Camptown Races", "My Old Kentucky Home", "Jeannie With The Light Brown Hair", "Beautiful Dreamer" and "Old Folks At Home" (sometimes referred as Way Down Upon the Suwannee River). When he was composing this song he needed a name of a river. The Yazoo and Pee Dee rivers were considered but his brother consulted an atlas and found Suwannee river. Foster himself had never seen the river or visited Florida but the song promoted tourism of the river and in 1935 it became the official state song of Florida.
Last night we walked the Festival of Lights and it was beautiful. There are lights everywhere and this year they have added snow near the Carillon tower. At the Gingerbread village, where the craft shops and gift shop is they also have a food court. At night they have a bon fire where you can roast marshmellows and make s'mores. They give away free freshly popped popcorn and hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was especially good last night because it was cold, 36 degrees. I will be posting a slideshow later today with the lights. Check back later!
No comments:
Post a Comment