PIERSON, FLORIDA
Pierson is a rural location populated by Mexicans. We ate at a Mexican restaurant where no English is spoken. Mexican words such as taco and burrito work just fine. Drinks are dipped out of a big jar. They had a white milky drink (a fruit?) plus a green drink. I went with the green and also had a shrimp cocktail, as well as two beef tacos.
Pierson is known as the fern capital of Florida, and ferns are shipped all over the world from Pierson “ferneries.” The work has attracted Mexicans for many years, so Pierson is a starting place for many Mexicans, even those working 30-40 miles east on the coast at Palm Coast or Ormond Beach just north of Daytona.
MULE FOOT PIGS
Out at Pierson (deal #2 in Florida) yesterday, the owner showed off his mule footed pigs, which may be the last in a long line of such pigs originally brought in on early Spanish ships. These pigs have a solid hoof, like a mule, so they tend to hold up better to the marshy areas. (Ordinarily pigs have a split hoof.)