Raney House Tour , Apalachicola FL

We stayed at Ochlockonee for an extra night.  Helen volunteered to drive back in to work on Monday morning so we could do that.  We got all packed up and headed out in the morning because we like to enjoy the trip as well.  We headed back towards Apalachicola with plans to have our lunch there.  Once we arrived, we decided to visit the Raney House museum.  The caretaker was sitting on the porch relaxing from his groundskeeping activities when we arrived.  We were able to park along the street right nearby and left the longdogs to guard the RV.

This placard out in front of the house gave a pretty good description about the origin of the house and the Raney family but our guide really knew the history and loved telling about the house and family.

There were just the four of us and our guide when we started going through the house.  Here we are in the dining room.  I asked about pictures and he said "knock yourself out, we love visitors".  He told such good stories that even 6 and 8 year olds were interested.

This highchair folded down and converted into a chair that rolled around.

This organ was in the front parlor.  Apparently the daughter of the house was an accomplished player and the music books on it were hers.

This tiny little dress belonged the wife and was very ornate.  Even the furniture from that time was a little smaller.

This bedroom was for the mother-in-law.  She traveled with her daughter and soon-to-be son-in-law from Virginia to Florida.  They just met each other before they left on the trip and she made sure they got married before they arrived.  There was a picture of a little church in a swamp where they got off the boat to get married as they traveled down the river.  Notice how it looks a little darker through this window.  The clouds skidded in and a storm blew through.  Our little party of 4 grew to 8 and then 15 as the rain hit.  You couldn't even see across the road it was raining so hard.

This was the large bedroom for the 4 girls.  They would have had 3 beds in the room.  Apparently they did not put curtains on the windows so that it would be light in the room.  So there was a separate little room where the girls had to change their clothes.  The 3 boys were in attic room on the third floor.  There was no fireplace up there but it was warm in the winter because of vents cut into the ceilings of the rooms on this floor.  They used charcoal to heat in the fireplaces instead of wood so it burned all night.

These are confederate stamps.  Most people through them away so the few remaining are pretty valuable.

This is where the girls changed.  The window is an interior one so no one from outside could see in but they still had light from the hallway.

This is the master bedroom.  There were no closets anywhere in the house because closets were big tax items.  Instead everyone had an armoire for their clothes.

There was no indoor plumbing in the house.  Outhouses were the norm.  However, Mr Raney had a small room set up for his wife with a commode and this "tub".  She was the only one to use it but it gave her some real status in the community because people knew she had it.  My 6 year old granddaughter could barely have set in this because it was so small.  Ms Raney stood in it and servants poured water over her.

It stopped raining long enough for us to get across the street to the RV.  Then it started pouring with heavy thunder and lightning so we fixed our lunch and ate it.  Then the kids had a great time drawing pictures and coloring them while Steve and the traveling longdogs took a nap.  It finally quit raining again and we walked the dogs, loaded up, and headed home.  It rained off and on the rest of the way and we were a bit worried about how soft Steve's yard might be when we got there.  About a mile from the house, the rain quit and the ground was completely dry.  At the house, Steve quickly mowed the side yard before we pulled the RV and set up.  Sweet!   Another great trip comes to an end but then, I'm not home so it really hasn't ended, has it?