FROSTPROOF, FL--
Isn't

No, it isn't frostproof in spite of its name and location deep in the inland heart of southern Florida.  The town was originally known as Keystone City but when it grew to the size where it needed a post office, postal officials balked at the town's name.  There already was another Keystone further upstate.

In 1892 town citizen W.H. Overocker then suggested Lakemont for the growing town's new name and another fine citizen who had earlier suggested Frostproof volunteered to deliver the town's application in person.  On the way to make the delivery to postal authorities he changed Overocker's choice of Lakemont and substituted his favorite which was approved.

And it remains so today.

In mid April I was planning on doing an Earth Cache (geocache) on a Kissimmiee River restoration project where that river crosses SR 60 about 50 miles west of Vero Beach.  In the process of reviewing other caches in that area I found a cache just north of the Earth Cache that no one had yet found.

Being the first to find a cache (FTF) is special in geocaching.

I noticed also that day Frostproof was just a bit southwest of the Earth Cache and that town, too, had a new, not yet found cache of its own.

So, we scored the cache on SR 60--Sue being first to see it--then went on and found the Frostproof cache too.

I guess that's like almost scoring a hat-trick in ice hocky.

That led us to the town's Chamber of Commerce and a nice chat with the lady on duty.  She has lived in the area quite some time and chuckled at the town's name being taken literally.

Records on Weather.com support her mirth.  While the average coolest month for Frostpoof is January at 47 followed by December at 51, the recent record cold was 18 set in 1981.

It is speculated that damaging frost to the area citrus crop usually is avoided due to the warming effect of large, local bodies of water and the coating of icy mist used for protection when freeze is occurring.

Regardless, you have to hand it to the public relations forethought of the town's ancestors; especially the sleigh-of-hand of the delivery fellow when the town officially applied for its catchy new name. 

 

Sue is relaxing along the pier in the lead photo close to our FTF cache in Frostproof with Reedy Lake in the background while a lone pick-up truck trundles north into the town in the next lower picture.

The tiny glass tube, barely larger than Sue's thumbnail was the body of the first cache we found on that day's outing where she and I walk toward the car in the Spanish Moss laden trees of the county park where that cache was found.

Editor's Note:   This posting is going into the queue to be published May 4th; the day of our planned departure for home.  Please regard any time that lapses after this appears as our traveling vacation.  We hope to reappear shortly.   --tw