Fried Chicken & Murals At The Seminole Inn | Indiantown, Florida

Would you spend $8.99 on fried chicken?

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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