My family spends vacations at the South Georgia coast and we often take trips down to St. Augustine, Florida for a day trip. The highlight of this trip is our traditional lunch at a Cuban restaurant called, Habana Village Cafe. Most tourists are more familiar with the Columbia Restaurant that is one of the oldest restaurants in Florida but we prefer the cafe for their Lechon Asado, Cuban salad and fried Yucca. Continue reading
I own a video documentary on Cuba from Community Solutions. They traveled to Cuba and met with permaculturists and government sustainability representatives to document how Cuba adapted to living in an oil-restricted economy after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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I found this website doing some research on Havana, Cuba. Havana Before Castro is a book documenting the life through photos and artifacts from Havana in the 1950s. I plan on getting the book soon and will provide a review once I’ve read it.
(they have a Kindle version on Amazon but it looks like it has a lot of photos so that may not be the best format to choose)
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I enjoy listening to the music of Cuba. There is a lot of new content that is a mix of hip hop, rap, salsa and r&b but my favorite is the traditional music of Cuba known as Son. If you do a Google search on “Cuban son,” you can find some of this traditional Cuban music.
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Wesseler Home Victoria de las Tunas, Cuba
Home of Elias Ellsworth Wesseler and Mary Abigail White Wesseler in Victoria de las Tunas, Cuba . Gail lived here until she married Charlie Milligan
Airport on Charles Milligan's Ranch
“Entrance to the Airport on Dad’s land” (written by Dickson W. Milligan)
Ford Tri-Motor Plane at Airport on Milligan Ranch
Ford Tri-Motor Airplane at Tunas Airport
Milligan Builds First Cuban Railroad
This is a postcard of the dining room car on the “Cuban Special” on the Cuban Railroad.
Charles Millard Milligan (our Grandfather) was Chief Surveyor who led the construction of
the first Railroad 750 miles across Cuba. He was employed by Sir William Van Horne who was commissioned by the Cuban Government. Sir William had built the first railroad across Canada (including Banff) and was Knighted by Queen Victoria in 1895. Charles Milligan and Sir William later became partners in the Manatee Sugar Company
Charles Milligan had a fondness for fine horses. Below is a picture of “Hazel Dawn” a Thoroughbred he had shipped to Cuba from Kentucky.
Charlie Milligan's "Hazel Dawn"
“Mr. Charlie” Milligan on Kentucky thoroughbred “Hazel Dawn” circa 1920. (Note “Cuba” railroad in background). “Hazel Dawn” was stolen by the invading Haitians during the “Chambalona” and was run to death. Gail, Betty and Dick were hidden on a platform down in the well during the day. Charlie was in the jungle and would bring them up at night. Continue reading
The Stone House in Victoria de las Tunas was built by John Dickson Milligan and was later inhabited by his son, Charles M. Milligan. Below is a picture of the house in its heyday:
The Stone House in Victoria de las Tunas - Before
Comments from a Milligan descendant: 16 room “Stone House” Victoria de las Tunas, Oriente Provence, Cuba (Southern center of the island just west of the mountains where Castro began his raids. Castro’s guerillas attacked this house in about 1957 while Mom & Dad were there. Dad locked Mom in the bathroom and he and the foreman fired rifles from the windows and ran off the guerillas. This house surely remains to this day with many families living within……Someone please find it someday.
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Victoria de las Tunas Circa 1930
Victoria de Las Tunas, Oriente Provence , Cuba Circa 1930
The Road to Victoria de las Tunas
The road into Tunas, circa 1930
