Da Mayor Trip

I’m going to tell you a story. The Story doesn’t end here, this is just the beginning. On November 19 I was surprisingly terminated from my job. And for dubious reasons as well. I enjoyed my job for the most part. The work was easy, I got a long with my co-workers for the most part and the benefits and time off allowed me to do what I wanted to do – travel, go places and do things, and most of all – not be at work!

This revelation disheartened me because I had goals I wanted to accomplish. Not just in the calendar year 2026 but over the next few years and this was the job that was going to allow me to do it. But that is in the past., this story looks towards the future.

In 2019 I read a book called 100 Things by Sebastian Terry. It’s a book about how his loss of a friend inspired him to write down the top 100 things he wanted to accomplish in his life and then he went out and started achieving them. 100 Things has inspired me to do a similar thing and so far I have 42 things written down and 10 of them ticked off (or in my case highlighted.

Now lets fast forward to December 5, 2026 and my latest highlight. There’s a community in Central Florida called Cassadaga and it is known for being the spiritualist capital of the South. This is a really small community but it does have an awesome 14 room hotel that was built in 1927 and is on the National Register of Historical Places. Yes, staying at Hotel Cassadaga was a highlight back in September 2025, but now I’m on a different mission. My mission this time around is sitting in the Devil’s Chair!

Now, if you’re not familiar with the Devil’s Chair, it is somewhat of a local legend in South and Central Florida. The First part of the legend states that if you sit on the Devil’s chair at night on Halloween, the Devil will whisper in your ear. The second part of the legend is that if you leave a full, unopend can of beer on the chair, it will be empty in the morning, yet still unopened. Non of these stories have been substantiated, but I wanted to sit in the chair nonetheless. This is my story.

With my friends Matt and Sasha in tow, I made my way from Hotel Cassadaga to Lake Helen Cemetery where the Devil’s chair is located. It is not far from the hotel to the cemetery, in fact Matt and Sasha did make the ¾ of a mile hike while I drove. I of course got there first and approached granite headstones and red brick walls that housed the Devil’s Chair. The Cemetery itself is quite large for such a small community, but yet so peaceful. (I like cemeteries) the but its headstones are about four feet high while the brick walls are not more than a couple feet off the ground. I payed my respects to the Thatchers that were buried there, entered the space and took my seat on the supposed Devil’s Chair.

Now I didn’t hear any voices or get any weird feelings, but it was a cool experience to sit somewhere surrounds by the history of peoples lives. I think that’s why I like cemeteries because it is history in its truest form – the people that lived it. I may not know about the history first hand but it doesn’t make it any less important. And as far as the beer can legend goes, I’ll find out in the morning!