A turpentine worker's house with walls covered in newspapers. The clang clang of a blacksmith plying his trade. The smell of fresh cut wood.

The Pioneer Settlement for the Creative Arts in Barberville offers the sights, sounds and smells of Old Florida. Guests can stroll down sandy paths and check out the historical buildings that portray life in Florida between 1880 and 1940.

During the school year, volunteers, clad in period clothing, lead tours for students and answer questions about the way things used to be. Others familiar with old- time crafts, like weaving, rug hooking and pottery, give demonstrations. Craft classes also are offered.

The 25-acre settlement houses 14 historic buildings, including a post office, church, train station and schoolhouse. It also displays old tools, school supplies and domestic items.

The settlement, which is open year-round, has several major festivals a year. The Fall Country Jamboree, Nov. 7 and 8 this year, features music, tours, craft demonstrations and an art show. Florida Christmas Remembered, Dec. 12, highlights Florida Christmas traditions.

(This article was originally published in the Accent section of the Daytona Beach News-Journal on Tuesday, September 21 1999).

Historic Downtown Daytona Celebrates McCoy with Captain Jack, Rum and Music

Heading down to the Bill McCoy Boat and Rum Festival last night, I pictured boats, alcohol inspired merriment, and lots of rum buckets.  However, I never thought I would see a crowd-attracting Captain Jack Sparrow, a tipsy flapper girl and a guy with a parrot.

I got there around 7 p.m., so the crowd was just starting to pick up.  The minute I walked down the street I was greeted by bowls of chocolate in front of Angell & Phelps.  A man in front of me pointed out the delectable treats to another woman in front of me. Before making a beeline to the candy her single response was "Oh, yeah!"  I'm not sure what it was, but it was delicious. 

One of the two live music performances on the street rested in front of Angell & Phelps.  There they were playing upbeat tunes and kept couples light on their feet.  It was very endearing to see so many people dancing the night away under a slightly clouded sky. Pirate hats and glow-in-the-dark swords decorated the streets.  Children ran underfoot, racing each other to the bounce houses on the corner of Magnolia Avenue and Beach Street. 

GEICO had a booth just down the street from the first band I encountered.  They were promoting a $200 gas card raffle.  I signed myself up for that of course!  I even got a handy keychain flashlight that'll blind you for about 5 seconds. 

Amidst the Cruzan and Malibu rum buckets I spotted him.  Captain Jack decided to come pay McCoy a visit.  Surrounded by over-enthused children and under-the-influence adults, I had to wait about five minutes for him to have a free moment to talk with me. 

"Well hello," he said "Are you enjoyin' yourself?"  He was the spitting image of Johnny Depp, in his custom-made Pirates of the Caribbean getup.  He was certainly putting on a real show, with his rum in one hand while strutting around with an authentic swagger.  Being the main and unintended attraction of the night, I figured a good question and answer session would make for good entertainment.

Q: What do you think of Bill McCoy?

A: "Best I could ever ask for.  Bring rum to the states? How can you beat that?"

Barely into our conversation, we were interrupted by an ecstatic little boy and girl.  Unfortunately the mother forgot her camera at home.

            "No picture with the kids?" asked Captain Jack.  "No, I left my phone at home," said the mother of the two children.

            "What're the chances of you running into a pirate?"  Luckily no temper tantrums ensued.  The children were plenty satisfied with talking to him.  Now back to my conversation.

Q: How do you like your rum?

A: "Rum on the rocks, I am Captain Jack Sparrow."

 A group of giggling girls walked by wide-eyed.  You could tell there was some Captain Jack / pirate infatuation going on.  All I heard was one distinctive "He's so hot" comment as they passed by.

Q: Favorite drinking game?

A: "Rumline."

Q: What's that?

A: "A pirate drinking game."

Well I guess that was a silly question to ask.

Q: Been getting a lot of attention tonight?

A: "Oh yeah, you know." 

Judging by his expression he definitely was used to the attention, and genuinely seemed to enjoy playing the role of Jack.  True to form, his posture and speech attracted more attention from photo-hungry fans.

Q: How many pictures have you had to take tonight?

A: "Wow...50 plus?"

The night wasn't even halfway over yet, so I'm guessing he'll be in 100 plus photos by the end of the night.  Afterwards he stood in line for some food before he had too much rum on an empty stomach. 

As I left him to his fans, I narrowly escaped death when I dodged three little girls anxious for pictures. 

The only thing that would have made Captain Jack's visit to the festival more perfect would have been to see the Black Pearl on Beach Street.  With Captain Jack being a local, I'm sure I'll see him again.

(Photographs by Sarah Gerace. Contact@Sarahgerace.com or follow her at http://twitter.com/sarahgerace)