Ready for a Really Good Day Out and About, this tour is for you. The mansion offers visitors the most authentic historic site in Central Florida as 95% of the original mansion details have been restored and truly are stunning. The floors are works of art, gleaming and beautiful, the original electrical panel that Thomas Edison installed is amazing, beautiful furniture, the painted walls and ceilings are grand, and the personal stories about the Stetsons and the current owners are interesting and shed light on life in a Gilded Age Estate. This is a guided tour, and a tour you will love. Make a reservation as tours are limited; I know you will not be sorry, the mansion treats you to a trip back in time. Arrive early and enjoy a walk around the grounds, the gardens, and the lovely estate that Stetson Hats built.
Stetson was a mover and shaker in his time, he was born in Orange, NJ, one of 12 children, and learned the hat making trade from his Dad. John was ill as a young man and his family sent him to Colorado to “take in the fresh mountain air” and to heal. It was in Colorado that he became impressed with the local style of 10-gallon hats and when he returned East he settled in Philadelphia and opened a hat repair business which quickly blossomed into a manufacturing facility. John had the novel idea of using traveling salesmen to sell his hats, and John’s hats were constructed well and sold for fair prices. As the business grew, John took good care of his employees, their families, and the neighborhood where he had his factory. He had an automatic sprinkler installed, fire extinguishers on every floor and safety devices to keep the workers safe making him not only a great hat maker but a great employer too.
In 1885 Henry Deland, a friend of John Stetson, invited John to Florida where John spent the next 20 winters and became an active community leader. In 1888 John endowed an academy in DeLand, Florida. Later the academy changed its name and is now Stetson University.
You can visit the Stetson at : https://www.stetsonmansion.com/ Please Purchase tickets in advance and enjoy the tour.
Deland is a quaint Southern town with a history that dates to the 1800s. The town has a small downtown area with brick streets, only a few stoplights, and is casual, and welcoming. Visitors will discover Deland to be a great place for well-known local chefs to experiment with Southern flavors and local ingredients. Classic Southern dishes, like fried chicken and collard greens, are paired with glasses of sweet tea with a slice of lemon on the side. Stroll along Main Street and through downtown, and you’ll see everything from Southern fried classics to innovative new dishes.
Casual Dining at BakeChop, Santorini Greek Cuisine or Pizza at Angelina’s all delicious, but there are lots of restaurants to choose from in Deland. Lots of competition, each restaurant Lee and I have tried has been good making it hard to recommend just one. We usually have an early lunch, enjoy the day out, and return home refreshed from our adventure. Lots of the restaurants in Deland are serving outside with tables on the sidewalk, but now that we are vaccinated, we feel we can safely enjoy an occasional meal inside.
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