Brooksville, Florida, at the end of the day...

     Current circumstances place me in Brooksville, Florida on a regular basis.

For the most part, I don't like it.

     Recently, however, I decided to take a walk and explore the old heart of Brooksville, which does have a certain amount of charm.

The residential streets in this part of town are a luscious example of rampant Florida plant growth.

I would love to do this with a bromeliad but my yard came sans mature trees.

Oh, the years I spent in Missouri trying to grow moss.  It's unavoidable in Florida.

I appreciate the wealth of family-owned eateries to choose from in Brooksville and I try to patronize them whenever I am in town.  I have a sneaking suspicion, however, that many of them are owned by the same family.  

      There are the usual signs of decay but that happens everywhere...

Back on the side streets I came across a surinam cherry tree:

     Not specifically from Surinam, not a cherry, and listed as an invasive exotic.  That's 3 strikes.

But...

they are edible and I don't think they are quite as invasive this far north due to a lack of cold tolerance. 

 I gathered some seeds.

      I would string up a hammock in the tower room of this house.

And now, for the strawberry pot to end all strawberry pots...

It's a monster!  And it looks like you could actually grow a crop of strawberries in it.

I think it is currently being underutilized. 

     The problem with Brooksville, Florida is, at the end of the day, you're in Brooksville, Florida; a little too far off the beaten path without quite enough assets to make up for the remove, and home of the most aggressive red light traffic cameras I've ever had the misfortune to tangle with.

     That being said, I have about 8 more years of weekend visits  so I'd better make the best of it. 

     Maybe reviews of local eateries...