This giant mastadon skeleton is on display in the Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee.

I accompanied my wife on a job-related trip [for her] to Tallahassee last week. She was working with the State Department of Education on some new science standards for public school teachers.

While she worked, I played. Sort of. I got in one round of golf on Thursday after it had warmed up from a low of around 20 degrees and I visited the Museum of Florida History, which I will tell you more about in a few minutes.

The trip was also noteworthy for renewing acquaintances. My wife visited a friend from high school whom she had not seen in more than 40 years and I met a person I used to work with at the Times-Union, Jim Baltzelle, who is now Florida bureau chief for the Associated Press in Miami. Of course, there was a legislative update session in Tallahassee, so it was natural that journalists would be all over the place. My neighbor Mike Marino was also there visiting with the Times-Union’s new Tallahassee reporter. Read the rest of this entry »