Travel writers discover the county's treasures

The virtues range from friendly people to a historical-type vacation that doesn't involve a theme park, the writers say.

By MATTHEW WAITE

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 2, 2000

NEW PORT RICHEY -- Some travel writers visited Pasco last Sunday as part of a tour through mid Florida that appealed to them primarily because of what it wasn't.

"It wasn't Mickey Mouse and it wasn't Miami," said Gary Peterson, a Nebraska-based writer for a AAA Auto Club magazine. "Historical districts of Central Florida isn't something you think about when you think about Florida."

The writers' observations offered the opportunity to discover how outsiders see Pasco as a tourist destination.

First impressions: Pasco is friendly ("We were really welcomed"), generous ("They give you large portions at meals. Too much"), and relaxed ("It seemed rural, and that's good").

The group got a carriage ride around New Port Richey and the short version of Pasco's history on both sides of the county. And it quickly became apparent that history means different things to different people.

For many Floridians, it's a transitive thing. Finding a genuine native is tough; finding generations of locals is downright hard.

History here could mean something less than a century old. Some newspaper clippings in the West Pasco Historical Society Museum were printed in 1919, announcing the clamorings of 225 residents who demanded that the governor step into a local fight over tax money and school land.

To Jens Wolters, a radio reporter from Germany, 1919, in a historical sense, is like yesterday. In Europe, 1,000-year-old churches and 500-year-old buildings are common.

But he found Pasco's effort to capitalize on its history, especially American Indian history, refreshing.

"It's part of history," he said. "In Pasco County, it's part of the county and you can't really forget it.

"When I imagined . . . what Florida was: Beach. Daytona Beach. Those stupid spring break things. It was good to get rid of all of those prejudices, that Florida has a lot more."

Wolters and the others were particularly impressed with the Florida Pioneer Museum in Dade City and the West Pasco Historical Society museum in New Port Richey.

For someone from America, Florida is one of the kings of the tourism trade. Peterson's magazine, Home and Away, does four or five Florida stories a year, because "our readership goes to Florida."

Seeing Pasco and the Suncoast was a chance to see something new and write a different kind of story.

"You have here a nice relaxed historical vacation in Florida instead of a hectic, chase-the-kids-around-the-park kind of vacation," Peterson said.

Diane Slawych, a columnist for the Toronto Sun and freelance travel writer, said banking on local lore could help both strangers and the people who live here.

"Maybe that's (local history) not interesting to people who live here because they see it every day," she said. "But to me it is.

"Sometimes, I don't think people realize the treasures they have."

- Staff writer Matthew Waite can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6247 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6247. His e-mail address is waite@sptimes.com.

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