One of our entertainment splurges during June was a visit to the Seminole Inn in Indiantown, Florida for lunch. If you love fried chicken, then $8.99 will seem like a reasonable price to pay for the all you can eat buffet. If you're not a big fan of fried chicken, then you might want to order a fried green tomato sandwich or cheeseburger instead. Personally, I think you can't go too far wrong if you deep fry something - especially chicken. So, I think you can guess what I opted to order. I ate a lot of chicken. I did manage to squeeze some other bits and bobs on my plate from the Southern country-style sides on offer. Corn bread slathered in butter? Yes, please and keep it coming.
Florida, the way it used to be.
In our travels around Florida, I've seen other places use this phrase, "Florida, the way it used to be." There's a certain nostalgia for the old Florida, where the Deep South meets the tropics in small, quiet towns. You can find a bit of old Florida in Indiantown. After all, it is a small, quiet town. You won't find a Walmart here, people ride their bikes to the library and grocery store and the streets are never congested.
The Seminole Inn prides itself on preserving a slice of old Florida. Opened in 1926, the inn was envisioned to be the focal point of a planned community which would serve as the southern headquarters of the Seaboard Airline Railways. Today, you can still see how the Mediterranean Revival architecture would have charmed visitors. It still does today. The fried chicken doesn't hurt either.
A brush with royalty. Kind of.
Wallis Warfield graced the gala opening of the Seminole Inn. You might know her better as Wallis Simpson, the divorcee who Prince Edward abdicated the throne for in order to marry her. She was the niece of the President of the Seaboard Airline Railroad and, as a popular socialite, she must have glammed up the place. They have a picture of her above the fireplace in the lobby which is kind of interesting to check out.
But the picture I liked better was this one of Cracker the bird.
This is what Cracker looks like in real life. He has shifty eyes and seems like he might bite off your finger if you got in the way of his food. I actually think he has a good heart. He just gets tired of hearing everyone talking about Wallis Simpson and probably wishes they would pay more attention to him. I'm assuming he's a boy bird. You never really can tell with birds.
Work off your fried chicken by walking up the stairs.
For me, the highlight of our visit was checking out the murals on the second floor depicting the history of the Seminole Indians. Indiantown was first settled by the Seminoles in the early 19th century. Did you know that the Seminoles are the only tribe which never signed a peace treaty with the government?
As you make your way up the staircase, there is a large sitting room with books on local history, old photos and other bits and bobs like this Seminole dress.
And then, there are the murals painted along the wall of one of the wings of the inn.
I can see why the Seminole Inn is a popular place for weekend trips, as well as for people to stay before and after they're putting their boat in storage at the Indiantown Marina. Fried chicken, murals, a talking bird and a bit of "Old Florida" - a pretty good combination.
Have you ever experienced "Old Florida"?
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This sound neat, and like the kind of Florida I would like. You forgot to take a photo of the fried chicken, but I too would have been way too busy eating it to photograph it.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those places I would have never have found if we hadn't bought our boat in Indiantown. A cute little spot well worth visiting if you ever pass through this way.
DeleteIs $8.99 a lot? That sounds pretty good to me - but Sydney is $$....I like the dress.
ReplyDelete$8.99 is probably pretty reasonable for an all you can eat lunch buffet. But a lot of it probably depends upon location - we're in a small town in Florida, so I don't think they could charge tons, unlike a place like Sydney where everything is so expensive.
DeleteI've not been there but it sounds great. I'd go the fried chicken, lol. I like the murals too.
ReplyDeleteYou can't go wrong with fried chicken :-)
DeleteI love interesting and unique places like the Seminole Inn. Thanks for the tour.
ReplyDeleteIt is a pretty unique little place. Kind of a surprising little gem to find in Indiantown. Glad our friends told us about lunch there, otherwise I probably would have visited.
DeleteWe stayed at the Indiantown Marina a couple of times....didn't even know about the inn..wish we had...I would have loved to see it...might just have to take a road trip down there one day....our current little house boat is not ICW seaworthy...
ReplyDeleteIt's a ways up the main road so unless you're driving towards Okeechobee, you probably wouldn't know about it. They also have a Sunday brunch which I understand is really popular too - lots of folks come for all around for that. So, might be worth a visit back to Indiantown one day :-) Where do you keep your boat now?
DeleteWhere the Deep South meets the tropics is the perfect description of Old Florida. The Seminole Inn looks like such an interesting place, and I really like that dress. I would DEFINITELY pay that much for fried chicken, especially if it was all you can eat. That fried green tomato sandwich sounds delicious, too.
ReplyDeleteOur friend tried to order the fried green tomato sandwich, but they were all out. She was so disappointed.
DeleteI have only seen the new Florida, which is much different than everything I read here.
ReplyDeleteIndiantown is so different from the cities up and down the coasts - definitely more rural and quiet here.
DeleteI grew up in South Florida, and not until I went to college in Gainesville did I learn and experience a bit of the old Florida. I have never been to Indiantown but will have to put it on my list whenever I visit back home. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to get your take on Indiantown as you're a native Floridian.
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