Here former President Coolidge, staying at the Lakeside Inn, Mount Dora, Florida, is walking along with Archie Hurlburt (behind Coolidge), Cal’s friend and also the manager of the Inn at that time, Carl Ray (to his right), and “Shorty” Davidson (behind Hurlburt).

Ray and Davidson, both Ocala-area entrepreneurs, teamed up in 1924 to revitalize Silver Springs into a successful attraction. They made it work and it drew folks for decades afterward as a result of their efforts.

On this Sunday afternoon, February 9, 1930, Coolidge accompanied them on the hour-long glass-bottom boat tour, seeing the various underwater springs including the area near the dock which, even then, was becoming a favorite for underwater filming.

The Coolidges stayed at Lakeside for a month on their way to California. Trying to travel as private citizens again, the Coolidges could not escape the crowds drawn to their every stop. Finally concluding unobtrusive travel was no longer possible, Coolidge never saw all he wanted to of the country. He sacrificed his curiosity to see and do to the solitude and separation from public life he wished still more after having walked away from the most powerful office in the world.