Thursday, February 3, 2011

John The Pirate With A Heart of Gold (But Where's the Actual Gold??)





















John Levique was an uneducated French kid who came to the new world by stowing away on a Spanish vessel in 1836. Bad choice, it turned out to be a pirate ship! When discovered he was given the choice of being a pirate or fishbait. Of some ability, he worked his way up through the ranks until he had his own pirate ship. Trouble was, he did not like to kill people or hold them for ransom. This quirk did not endear him to his crew because it severly limited the amount of treasure they collected.




So when John decided to retire from piracy all he had was one small chest of gold. This he buried on the west coast of what is now Florida, and delivered a load of turtles to New Orleans --- legit businessman! But when he returned to retrieve the buried treasure, the shoreline had changed. The island where John had buried the loot had been cut in two by a hurricane. He sailed into the new bay but never found the gold. And the new cut into the bay has been called John's Pass, our home for February, ever since. Great story, no??

The other side of the narrow pass now crossed by a new lift bridge is called ---I kid you not --- Treasure Island! John remained in the area as a simple farmer til his death in 1873. All that's the same is the pelicans although you can climb into a Hurricane Simulator and feel John's pain.

Another option is to pay me for the only authentic map of where the gold is now --- cash upfront, please. No refunds.



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