I have started exploring Yalaha Florida. I had to mail some art to a client, so I made a trip to the Yalaya Post Office. The flag was at half mast for former president Jimmy Carter.
I had the art packed in a Priority mail tube and the woman behind the desk told me it would cost $36 to ship. She advised I use another form of shipping that cost $9. I was thankful for the advice. I need to keep researching what shipping method is most affordable while keeping the art safe.
Right next to the post office is the abandoned Yalaha General Store. Now this place had character. If it was for sale I would want to convert this into a working art studio. I am sure it would involve so much renovation work that I would never have time to paint. The other disadvantage is that it is right on 48 which is a highly traveled and very loud roadway. Leaning against a stop sign, I had to deal with the constant roar of traffic as I sketched. One obnoxious UPS truck let off a huge plume of exhaust right in front of me. An X Infinity truck parked in front of the General Store for the longest time. I think they are setting up internet connectivity in the neighborhood behind the store. I debated about including the truck in the sketch but realized they guy was probably just taking an unauthorized break. He left as I was applying watercolor washes to the sketch.
The Yalaha General Store was B.C. Genaral Store and BBQ up until about 2018. It closed after 32 years in business. It was a quirky place that boasted the “best darn BBQ in Lake County. It used to have a screened in front porch with a cut out pic and chicken dancing on the facade. I thought the yellow cement blocks up front must have been for gas pumps but it seems they were at the corners of the screened in porch area. I tried looking up the place on Zillow, but it has no history, it is as if it never existed. An old Florida gem quietly faded into the past, while corporate sprawl expands.
That neighborhood has true old cracker style homes. My plan is to hike back once a day and get a sketch. I may need to bring a hiking stick, just in case people let their dogs run loose. I hike each morning around the block in my neighborhood to the mail box. 3 huge white Great Pyrenees dogs bark at me each morning from behind their fenced in yard. I simply say good morning to them and they seem to be getting used to seeing me each morning. They bark less vociferously.
