James and Thomas' Most Excellent Adventure

James and Thomas' Most Excellent Adventure
January 2nd, 2006 - Weird Kissimmee Tour
Family Friends: The Lloyd-Roberts Family

It all started at Sunset Lakes. Better known as the gateway to the Davenport Green Swamp and home of the Skunk Ape - 700 pounds of beast that was last seen in 2000 only two miles west of this point

5 miles south Thomas and James visit the Old Tampa Highway and the mysterious village of Loughman. This is the stone market that was the starting boundary of Polk County. Locals refer to this place as the Blood Bucket Trail.

Blood Bucket creek is known to be where in 1900 a black slave lady assisted pregnant women at child birth. Many children were born to families that were too large in number. Legend has it she kidnapped half the babies by telling the mothers they were dead. She actually smothered them at birth. She then took them away and drained their blood in to a wooden pail as she sat on this ancient bridge. Eventually she became so sad with guilt she jumped off this bridge and killed herself. Locals say that after that the river ran red with blood every night and the cries of babies were heard after midnight when there was a full moon.

-This road is so old that it was built by slaves in the mid 1800's

By 1939 Austin Fletcher decided he had enough of the legends and bought most of the land nearby the river and turned it in to a wilderness park. When he died he left thousands of dollars in a bank in Kissimmee. His will said to invest the money to pay the taxes on this park forever.

-The black magic is so strong that Thomas was inspired
to try and kill James and throw him in the river

Along Blood Bucket Trail is this Haunted oak tree. Legend has it that a local highway robber was so bad that he stole from almost everyone in the village at one point. He always came in the dark riding a horse. The villagers became so angry they hung him to this tree. Locals claim that after midnight a ghost of a headless horseman rides the Blood Bucket Trail looking for the tree where he was hung. Meanwhile the ghost of the black slave lady calls out from the river while the cries of dozens of babies come up from the river.

Next stop is Weirdtown USA. Up till 1959 this was the winter home to circus performers that included the Mule Faced Lady, the bearded Woman, Inferno the fire eater, Priscilla the Monkey Girl,, Lobster Boy and Dotty the Fat Lady

The whole village came to an end in 1959 when Lobster Boy was murdered next to this pond. Locals think it was Al the Giant who killed him while fighting over Jeannie the Half Girl. Till this day the mystery has never been solved.

Monument of the States, Downtown Kissimmee

-All kinds of mementos from all around the world
including this 100 year time capsule

-Even Walt Disney left a piece of coral from California

-Golden Eagle at the top weights 580 pounds

-Next door is the Kissimmee shuffle board club

-Down the street are all sorts of war memorials

-Lake Toho, home to the world's best small mouth bass fishing...

....and three dangerous looking dudes

This very old club house has members from all around the world. Each winter Kissimmee attracts thousands of retired people who gather here to play shuffle board, cards and just tell tall tales.

Downtown Kissimmee Murals:

On this spot in the 1880's the infamous Gibson gang robbed almost every store and the local bank .The town got so angry they gathered a posse and hunted down the Gibson brothers. When none of them admitted to the robberies the towns folk got so upset they hung all three of them.