Liquor Still Bay

[Esther Luft]

So we're heading out to find the old still this weekend.  Any tips and tricks you might be willing to share?  Info will be greatly appreciated.

[Terry]

 

Keith and Connie are your references on this one.

 

[Esther Luft]

Thanks Terry.  I think we're good to go.  Hopefully we'll have some good photos to share.

[Ted]

Photo taken 10/1/11.  Should have a trip report soon.

[vivian]

I took this shot in 2006 and see that comparing it to your picture, someone has been in there tending to the area. If you notice the still is a replica it is hollow. I'll bet Totch had recreated it to take people in there after he wrote his book. I've never posted where it is because it would definately be a place vandals could easily destroy. It took me a few years to find it but when I did it was a great experience!

 

[Terry]

I was wondering about that, it looked like a PVC stack in Ted's photo and it

was just too much material to be real.

 

[Keith W]

Totch built this still for a video shoot that he and Deborah Smith Ford did back in the '90s. It wasn't meant to be a real still, just a reenactment of the still his dad built in Liquor Still Bay during the Depression years. You can still get the 6 DVD set of the entire video project including outtakes. Do a Google search for "Sage of Chokoloskee DVD" and you'll find it.







[Connie Mier]

Many here have read it, but if you are one that has not, Totch Brown's autobiography is a very interesting story, even more fun to read while paddling in the park. You won't find the book at an ENP visitor center, however. Totch describes the still in his story and what makes it more interesting is that he and his family lived in that clearing with the still. He was only a small boy at the time (along with his siblings).The story goes something like this:

Totch’s father moved his family to a camp in the deep Ten Thousand Islands where he made a small income from gator and coon hunting and cutting boat timber. The family lived there for a year with nothing more than a lean-to shelter. In the summer of 1931, they moved a couple miles away to Liquor Still Bay. During their stay at the camp, Totch’s father had been going secretly to the still location regularly. He was building a shell mound and clearing the mangroves. Once completed, he moved his family to the clearing where he had built the copper still. The Browns' shine was exceptional in these parts, being the only whiskey aged in the Everglades (or at least that's what Totch claims). It was stored for 6 months in charred oak barrels before being sold (by the gallon).

When Vivian and I found that still several years ago, we thought we had discovered one of the park's best kept secrets. Now, I am convinced there are even better kept secrets out there.

Connie

[Flex Kayakfari.com]

Another look at the still ..

 

[Esther Luft]

You are absolutely correct.  There is so much out there.  With such a rich history and so many colorful characters it's time we memorialize what we know; what we stumble upon, one story at a time.  No need to provide GPS coordinates for the masses but with so many places and tales...

[Flex Kayakfari.com]

I've got a lil write-up about it here::

 

http://kayakfari.wordpress.com/trips-sea-stories-pics/

 

[Ted]

Below is a link to Spot Adventures that has a short video.

 

http://www.spotadventures.com/trip/view?trip_id=281771

[vivian]

Nice write up and pictures! Gotta say, I love that loop it is one of my favorites.