Jack Kerouac House & His Other Spots in Orlando - On The Road Author Central Florida Locations Tour
Jack Kerouac Locations in Orlando Florida
Transcript
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today's adventure begins here at lake
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adar park this lake is in the
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neighborhood where jack kerouac
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resided for quite a few years
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at the beginning portion and into the
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the peak of his popularity
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and the home that he rented the back
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room of with his mother
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it's just a couple blocks away but it's
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not the only
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spot from kerouac's central florida
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history
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that i will be visiting a couple others
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in this area
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it is slightly appropriate if you listen
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closely you can hear a train going by in
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the distance
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they're cutting a tree down the train
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sound
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okay hear it listen for the train
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okay there's a train and there okay the
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train sound is now
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being extinguished
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by another piece of another tool welcome
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everyone
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adam the woo here chainsaw they're
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cutting a tree down over there
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they are removing a piece of this
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neighborhood
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it is a good thing that what i'm going
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to be documenting
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here on this very corner in college park
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which is a
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suburb of orlando by the way welcome
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everyone adam
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the woo here
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this homestead right over here
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that i am inviting you to take a look at
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with me hence inviting you
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to join me hear the train
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shall you is where kerouac
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his mom resided in the back room
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of these accommodations he had already
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written he had not completed
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but he had written most of their i
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believe later on while he was here
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he kind of put the the finishing touches
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and polished up
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don't quote me on this on the road had
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already been
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pinned on the scroll transcribed
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that was the way he he kind of did his
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his business and his work
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very quickly everything he did well the
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majority of everything he did did very
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quickly
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took like one of the scroll type of
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lettering
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kind of scribbled it all it's all down
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and then went back and
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kind of touched it up just a little bit
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and
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with on the road arguably one of his
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most popular if not
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the most famous of his works
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was already out there into the into the
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to the world once it got reviewed
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he was living here and while he was here
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his popularity
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just kind of blew up into the
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stratosphere
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right here he was in this very
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these very accommodations and not in
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this
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the larger portion that you're seeing at
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the front
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but in that back area over there
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and this is on the national registry of
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historic places there is a placard in
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front which
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i'll go read now and share a little info
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with you a very beautiful neighborhood
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now this home was on the the demolition
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block thankfully that
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did not transpire
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and this very fascinating little cottage
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style
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still sits here it states
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right here writer jack kerouac
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1922-69 lived and
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wrote here in this 1920s
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tin roof house see the roof up there
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is made of 10 which you know when it
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rains you kind of that also kind of adds
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to the ambiance known as the voice
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of the beat generation the beats
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followed a philosophy of self-reliance
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and self-expression i can relate to that
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the unedited spontaneity of kerouac's
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writing
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shocked traditional writers yet it
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brought attention to a legion
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of poets musicians and artists
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photographs show kerouac in the house's
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back bedroom with piles of pocket
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notebooks which you scroll
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through and dreams while traveling he
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also wrote the follow-up
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to on the road the dharma buns
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i don't know why i said buns the dharma
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bums
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it was also written here i'm being very
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distracted by the the
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yard work follows me everywhere that's
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just that's just kind of how it works
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author bob kealing we have him to thank
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for discovering
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this house's significance there's some
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very interesting interviews
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online with him while researching an
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article
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he discovered this and he is the one
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that that really got the wheels in
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motion
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to make this to make this a
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a notable orlando homestead
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dang they are they're removing a whole
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part of that tree there
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this tree is rather magnificent now
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there are some photographs of
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of jack here it's hard to tell which
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ones were
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in front of the house versus around the
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back end
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but to the best of my knowledge the
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window the
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third window from the end there the
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double window
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was his room so this front section here
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was another residence that rented out
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1418 is the address but it was 14
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18 and a half back then
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tucked away in that far corner
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making the double paned window there
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his room where he wrote the dharma buns
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i'm having trouble saying that you ever
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have certain words that just get tongue
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tied
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dharma bums i don't know why i keep
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saying
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buns
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this is so cool and kind of an
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unknown an unknown fact
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to some
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later in life he moved from here and he
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resided at another residence
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which we would be going by here after i
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depart this location
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and then after that that's that's in
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central florida but then also
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moved over to the coast to st petersburg
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where he passed away and he is laid to
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rest
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up north in massachusetts i believe
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however
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his sister who i did research a little
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bit
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was only a couple blocks from here which
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had to do with why
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they ended up picking this home him and
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his mother to be close to their sister
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now i can't confirm that 100 percent
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but it does make sense because his
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sister was only a couple blocks away
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could have been in that direction it
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could have been in the other direction
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could not pinpoint exactly where where
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that house was
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i'll go around the back now now this is
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not technically a private residence it's
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not
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really a museum it is a
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kind of a compound for riders
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four times a year certain riders
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they put in their appeal to
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be able to live rent free
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inside this entire home now it is all
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one
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one homestead versus the front and back
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like it was
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back in the 50s so every three months a
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different rider
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kind of holds up in here and does their
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work and kind of
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channels kerouac
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and his vision his inspiration
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that's pretty neat four different riders
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every year
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are located inside and there is a sign
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on the door you can meander around you
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can't take photographs you can do little
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videos
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but they do not want you going on the
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porch the front door states
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please do not disturb the residents they
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are riding
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so i am not going to go knock on the
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door
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i'm not going to bother whoever is here
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creating and being inspired
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but i do want to peek
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around the back and show you something
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interesting
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back around the corner here it was on
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these very stairs
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that there is a famous photograph of him
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eating some
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either oranges or tangerines or
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grapefruits from a tree that was back
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here that he used to
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to pluck the fruit from and he was
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sitting
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right there on this very staircase this
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brick
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little stairs are still here after all
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these years
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there's also some interesting stories
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about how he would even after his
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popularity
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he would come back he'd go to new york
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city he was overwhelmed by how many
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people recognized him and
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and how famous he had become he'd come
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back here to central florida
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as kind of like a retreat away from all
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that and one time he showed up and the
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door was locked his mom was not here he
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could not get in
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so he slept in the yard right over here
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in the corner
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right in here
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his room was if you were gone in the
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kitchen
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would have been right here which is no
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longer there
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and his room right up here
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on this side could have been the double
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windows
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or it could have been this little window
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to be honest i'm not
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a hundred percent sure about that but
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this is where he resided right in here
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this little half section
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and there was an address even on the
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back that had the address out front
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plus a half
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so good here's that photograph of him
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sitting there
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on those stairs with the citrus
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of course the door has been replaced but
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the stairs are still there
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i have to imagine not only in that back
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room but he might have sat
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outside maybe even under this majestic
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tree over here to the side
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and pinned a little bit as well maybe
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not maybe he did all his work
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indoors and probably would not have been
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too inspired by
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the chainsaw if it was here modern day
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jack kerouac house one of two
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while technically one of three the third
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which is going to be over near sanford
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he was going to invite a bunch of other
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riders to be in that home with him this
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is later in his career
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for his passing and that never happened
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i-4 now goes over that section that
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house
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does not exist anymore so this is one of
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the two
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remaining central florida orlando homes
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this one
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in college park one other photograph
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that was back there in that room
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that was from here in this residence
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there is the scroll type that's how he
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wrote
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pinned it on that scroll before editing
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it down later so he could write very
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very quickly his ideas
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that photograph was in that back room as
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well
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this tree is great all right look at
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this just kind of
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teetering over the top
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a lot of great trees through here of
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course this one here
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is being removed look at that crane
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right there
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totally off subject there's another very
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famous residence
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in this very neighborhood so i'll stop
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by there real quick before heading to
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the second
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kerowack house which i'm heading to now
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i always found interest in his writings
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you know obviously
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on the road i do love road trips i do
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like traveling
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americana so there is a tie-in
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with at least have a roommate years and
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years ago who
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he he had every book he had all the
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he had some hard back and mostly the
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softbacks of of all of them and
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talked about kerouac quite a bit
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okay moving on also not to
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not to be confusing but there are two
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staircases
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the photograph he was seen at is not
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this one on the side it's the one
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around the the back end of the yard
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two two little staircases leading up
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and whenever the writers that are here
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after their three-month tenure
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and their books are released or their
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writings are released they will usually
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have a little
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a showing or a get-together and they
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stand out here in the side yard
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and they read off what they worked on
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while they were staying inside here
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pretty neat this is very interesting as
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well this is a
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copy of a check you can see it's in his
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mom's name and
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instead of saying jack kerouac it's john
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l he was born
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john louis i believe
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so that's where the l is but it spelled
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out john
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and carol blake was his sister's
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last name her married name
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and this is when they resided here you
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see where it says college park national
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bank
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and there's his signature right there at
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the bottom
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signed john l not jack
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interesting just a couple blocks away i
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have procured a piping hot caffeinated
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beverage
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and take a look at this this
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publix market retro signage
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where shopping is a pleasure that is a
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relic and look at the building itself
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you do not see too many modern day
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publixes looking anything like this
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this is a this is incredibly retro is it
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i never even knew this existed
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also here in the in the same town the
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same suburb of orlando
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oh it is a little off topic but it would
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be
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wouldn't be best for me to avoid the
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fact that
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there is another historical home right
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over here across this road
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located at west princeton
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street and there's also a placard here
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as well astronaut
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john watts young he was an apollo
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moonwalker and a space shuttle commander
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he was the first american to travel into
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space
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six times he lived in this home at 815
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west princeton street from 45 until
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1948.
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so a few years prior to what would be
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his eventual neighbor he had already he
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had already left
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this home when kerouac just a few a few
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blocks away
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moved into his accommodations that's
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very fascinating right
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in 72 young was aboard apollo
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16 xvi
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would be 16 the fifth manned
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moon landing on the moon and the ninth
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person to walk on the moon
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young became a special assistant to the
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director of johnson space center for
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engineering
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operations and safety in houston texas
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in 1987.
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this street connects with edgewater
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drive which is up there
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there's a very unique looking building
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with that little
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little steeple pillar there as well
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and a mural over there with some
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butterflies on the wall
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just a couple miles from this point to
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the next spot not too far
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maybe like two or three miles into an
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area called
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kingswood manor now the manor section of
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the lettering
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is kind of blocked obscured by that
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foliage
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but kingswood manor that's where i'm
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heading into this little
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little neighborhood here once the light
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changes and i believe
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it's right here
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the other carrot whack house the kerouac
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home
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and another suburb of orlando here's a
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photo from a few years back
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of the house of what it looked like then
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this is not a photo of when he lived
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here but it is a an
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older photo of what the house looked
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like whenever this photograph was taken
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and by looking at this i was able to
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match up which one it is in this
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residing here in 1961 into 1962
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he wrote big sir right behind these
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doors
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these walls and windows
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just for two years but he did live here
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and this another very quiet quaint cute
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just a few miles from the little back
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room that he rented
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he had this whole house
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very fascinating so dharma
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bums and big sur both written in orlando
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and a few other writings
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but those are the two notable ones that
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most would recall
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and get the names very popular
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all right moving on one more spot i'm
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going to head
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over to where his sister
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which he had a very hard time with and
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as the story goes he did not even attend
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the ceremony when she passed he just
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couldn't handle it
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that's what they say just about seven or
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eight miles from this point looks like
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there's some rain
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storm clouds up there as well
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very bumpy road through here with the
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bricks it's not cobblestone
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i always get cobblestone and bricks
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confused
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but it is some brickwork very bumpy
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very bumpy roads through here
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carolyn also lived at the kingswood
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manor
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home with jack
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and originally i believe it was 64.
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i have to read that's down here
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yeah september 19th
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of 64.
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there was no there was no memorial there
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was no
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no stone here for her
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but the writers association the the
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kerouac writers association here in town
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were the ones that make this happen a
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few years ago
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and now she is remembered
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on what was a spot that did not have a
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designation
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it's a very sad story
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it said it was caused by heartbreak
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her husband fell in love with
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another woman
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and the pain was so real that
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she had a heart attack
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and as best as i can tell she is the
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only one
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of the family here in
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central florida to this day
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kind of in the far end of the property
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you can see one of the main
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thoroughfares over there
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her brother did not attend
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the ceremony here
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at least at the time frame maybe in
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later years
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he could have shown up to pay his
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respects i would imagine so
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but the pain was so intense for him upon
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hearing the news that
23:36
some very interesting florida history
23:36
some might know might not know existed
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kerouac family that's gonna do it for
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today
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i'll see you in the next video the vlog