As we made our way to Everglades National Park, in addition to visiting more friends and family, we stayed at many of Florida’s amazing state parks and explored as many springs as we could. Here are some of our favorite highlights.
The parks in Florida have signage that proudly say they are the best in the nation. To be perfectly honest, at this point, we have to agree with them. Every park we stayed were located in beautiful settings, with a variety of plants and animals, and wonderful staff. They had ample bath houses with private showers, and most of the parks had so many plants and trees between campsites, that it was easy to feel secluded. These are popular places to be during the winter months, so we had to get creative in our last minute bookings which resulted in bouncing around between parks quite a bit. The further south we went, the shorter we had to make our stays. When necessary, we filled in gaps with private campgrounds, but none of them came close to the awesomeness of the official parks.
A few of these natural springs were vacation destinations back in the day, and these parks had an assortment of attractions, even a zoo in a few. Sadly, as larger parks moved into the state, many of the smaller ones couldn’t compete, and what remains are more like monuments to their former glory days. That being said, they are now back to the wonderful basics (in our opinion), with swimming, kayaking, and great trails to explore.
Another fun activity we enjoyed was tracking down springs that had been featured in movies. For example, Wakulla Springs is where many of the scenes of the original Creature From the Black Lagoon were filmed. While having lunch at their lodge, we saw people working at and in the water. We learned that they were scientists who were finishing up some work with two mastodons that had been discovered in the spring. It was amazing to be able to watch them work.
We loved visiting the springs and watching manatees. We learned that as elephants are the closest relatives to manatees, and that they really do not have any fat. This is why, during the colder winter months, the manatees liked to hang out in these springs and their warmer water. One ranger called the springs their hot tubs, as the water coming out of the springs is a nice 72 degrees. Probably our favorite place to camp was Blue Springs State Park. It also seemed to be a favorite for our manatee friends, as the daily count was usually in the 400+ range. We strolled along the boardwalk next to the springs in the mornings and afternoons.
The best place to see manatees up close was at Crystal Springs. This seemed to be the only place where you could take an excursion to snorkel with them. Everyone had to be careful to not scare these huge creatures, and just float like a log when they got too close to you. We were further entertained by a man dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow on his custom paddle board.
We had been in the everglades area for quite some time before we finally made it to a visitor’s center. We loved the sunshine, but could’ve done without the mosquitos and horse flies. Our official park sticker was professionally applied by our friends’ son. He found the last available spot on the bumper. Guess it is time for us to figure out where to the rest of them were going to go.
Of course we had to make a run to the keys, and we were so glad we did. Back in the world of amazing food for us, and lots of fantastic people watching, too. We wanted to go to Dry Tortuga National Park, too. However, we discovered that the ferry was scheduling crossings more than two weeks out, and the airfare had jumped dramatically. Another lesson in making reservations in advance in Florida. We will make a return trip soon.
Of course we couldn’t be in Florida without a stop at Kennedy space Center. Once again we were in awe of the everything we saw, the amazing people who made it all a reality, and thoroughly enjoyed the tours we took.
Florida has many of our favorite things, including the most amazing KOA we’ve seen. The Lion Country Safari KOA is so close to the safari park, it seems like it is inside it. At night, we fell asleep to the sounds of roaring lions. We drove through the park multiple times throughout the day, and the animals behaved differently during each trip.
All in all, we were in Florida for almost 4 months, and had so much fun. We were able to spend time with family and friends, and just loved exploring new parks, restaurants, and beaches. It is easy to see why so many people love it there. We look forward to returning to the sunshine state as soon as we can.
Traveling Team Fischer 