Feb 2: One Super Sunday

When I'm wrong, I have no problem admitting it. I was wrong, for instance, about the Super Bowl. I'd predicted a boring game with a lopsided Pittsburgh win. Oops. I also was wrong about the Stranahan House. It's a very cool experience and I honestly recommend it if you have any interest in history.

Built in 1901 by Frank Stranahan, this house was at various times a trading post, bank, post office, community center, restaurant - and home to two fascinating people who were well ahead of their time. Along with his wife, Ivy, Frank worked to preserve wildlife, to encourage fair trading practices with the Seminole Indians and basically to create Fort Lauderdale. They ran a ferry service across the deep swift-moving New River. They bought and sold properties. Ivy even developed close relationships with the Seminoles so they would let her educate their kids. The house tells the story of this intelligent couple. And the story of Fort Lauderdale's earliest days. Besides all that, it's a beautiful place, the kind of home many of us would love to own today. Uh, assuming it had air conditioning now. It is full of rich Dade County Pine walls and floors along with some wonderful furnishings, gadgets and photos from the period. Our guide, Becky, was great too. Her knowledge and charming personality helped the history of the Stranahans feel vividly alive for the ten of us on the tour. For more information, call 954-524-4736 or visit their website at http://www.stranahanhouse.org/. I'm really glad I was wrong about the Stranahan House. And the Super Bowl. I enjoyed them both a whole lot more than I'd expected.