…come back to haunt you. Several weeks ago, out of sheer boredom I decided to take a ride. I headed south, winding down through the new area that the Villages is developing. I continued out of the Villages and moseyed south along the back roads of Florida. I finally intersected with Rt.# 30l and decided to head back home taking the route north. I had never been on this part of 30l so it was interesting, and sad, going through old towns with buildings and businesses that had been abandoned once Rt.# 95 became the way to travel to south Florida. All of a sudden the route came to a stop and you had to make a complete right hand turn to continue, so I did. Shortly after making the turn I was fascinated with a very old abandoned house that had a picket fence running the complete length of the property. It really stirred something in me, but seeing as I had never been on this part of Rt.#301 there was no reason for it to be a bit familiar. It really troubled me that I couldn’t get the picture of the house and fence out of my mind. About four hours later it hit me…I was there before. That was the house and the picket fence that I walked in front of many years ago and I had been scared to death. The year was 1958 and as newly weds my husband and I decided to visit my grandmother in West Palm Beach. Our car was on its’ last legs but at 20 years old did you worry about things like that? I believe Rt.#95 was barely in existence at that time and the way to go was Rt.#30l. We had been driving for many hours and when we stopped to make the turn to continue south, the car sputtered and died. There were a few houses and not much more. As we walked down the street to find someone to help us we walked in front of the house with the picket fence. On the other side of the fence was a good sized dog that was barking, snarling and baring his teeth. On the front porch sat a woman just rocking away in her chair, just watching us. As we walked we saw that the fence ended and the dog would be able to come out. We looked towards the lady for help and when it was apparent that she would not give us any, my husband raised his voice at her and demanded she get her dog. She finally did. We found a mechanic that fixed cars in his yard and he came and looked at the car. He said we needed a part and it might take two or three days to get it. In the meantime a mentally challenged man came upon us and we retreated to our car. We locked ourselves in as he banged on the windows and pressed his face up against the windshield of the car to watch us. He probably meant no harm, but at that point we were very aware that we were two outsiders from the north and not welcomed at all. What were we to do, we were doomed to sleep in the car until the part came. The thought was frightening. However this story has a happy ending though. After we sat there for an hour or two, my husband decided to see if the car would start. It did and off we flew, waving good-bye to all those unwelcoming people. The rest of our trip was as much fun as we anticipated it would be.