The Real Florida,,,At Least Part of It
***WARNING***WARNING***LOTS OF PHOTOS
You can double click on any photo and be able to get a larger view of all of them
Now that the disclaimer is over,,,
Florida. The word brings all sorts of thoughts to people's minds. Hurricanes, hot and humid weather, Disney World, Universal Studios, The Daytona 500, miles and miles of awesome beaches, some may even think of all the college football teams and our three NFL teams.
Sadly, very many of these people, tourists and Florida residents, never take the time to head off the beaten path. They never see the real Florida. Back when I first lived here I did a lot of camping and hiking and I got to see some really neat stuff, like Panther paw prints in the sand. On this particular weekend I was given the opportunity to see parts of Florida that I may not have otherwise seen, part of The Real Florida.
There will be other posts about The Real Florida in the near future.
On this weekend, I had been invited to a friend's condo in a small (very small) town named Welaka. The plan was for all of us to arrive around 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon. I got there as planned and made myself at home as my dear friend / hostess insisted I do. Once settled in, I took a glass of wine and headed out to explore. This is the view from her front door. What stress? It is all gone.
I walked down towards the pool area. There are boat slips for the condo owners. Most people pull their boats out until the weekend.
Just outside the pool area there was a 'porch' swing. While swinging and sipping, I could not help but admire this large Live Oak tree.
I spied this little gem of a home a bit down the river. For those who don't know this fact, the St. Johns River flows northward. It is a huge, and I do mean HUGE river. It is 310 miles long and about 3 miles across at is widest point.
While I had been sitting on the swing I had been watching the weather. I felt a raindrop, and a few more, and headed back to the safety of the condo. My friend sent me a text that they were running late and I should have more wine. Once I was safe inside the rain really came down. But I am dry, stress free and on my second glass of wine.
My friend recently adopted a rescue dog. This is Princess Bella. The poor baby was used for breeding as soon as she went into heat and is afraid of everything. But she is so sweet.
Dinner time rolled around. We're waiting for our burgers to cook.
By the time we had finished our burgers and fries, the weather had cleared some and we took fresh drinks and headed down to sit by the pool. The sunset set was really neat.
It was a gift for dealing with the torrential rain storms of that afternoon.
After the sunset we headed back to the condo. We played Scattagories, and drank more wine. By the time she and I decided to call it a night, it was shortly after 1 a.m. and all these bottles were drained. Nedless to say it was a slightly rough start to the day on Saturday.
While hangovers were being nursed and lunches made, my host went down and put his boat in the water. Around 10:30 a.m. we headed out on the water for the day. We are now scootin' along the river.
Our first stop was a place named Silver Glen Springs. You can get here by car or by boat. Here we are just entering the run up to the springs.
It was a gorgeous day. Even the turtles thought so and were catching some rays also.
When we got to the end of the run there were lots of other boats there. Some raft up together and spend the day getting tanned and swimming in the brisk, fresh water. We spied this boat and started talking about a week's vacation on a houseboat cruising the waterways.Three people with a lot of boating experience, we would have a blast.
After a bit this guy pulled. Very neat, homemade vessel.
I thought I had a good camera, but it did not do the springs the justice due them .The water is so extremely clear, and brisk, did I mention brisk? The spring puts out roughly 54,000,000 gallons of water a day - no that is not a typo - yes that is millions of gallons of water. The water is 72 degrees year round.
This is a small spring off behind the big one above. Hard to see, but the sink hole is full of fish. Good size fish.
After a bit we pulled up anchor and headed off to another spring. On the way we passed an Osprey family on their nest.
Entering Salt Springs Run. Right near here are signs stating you are entering Florida State property and no alcohol is allowed. Lots of people drop anchor near here to spend the day. We kept going.
It is a good way back into where the spring is. Here is part of the real Florida.
I don't care how good the set designers are at Disney, Epcot or Universal, you don't see stuff like this large oak tree that is dripping with Spanish moss.
We passed several boats with people who were bow fishing.
These folks caught a fish.
Here is another Osprey nest, this one atop a very dead tree. I saw a pair of Osprey circling the nest.
How about this for camping. Interesting concept.
Eventually we came to the end of the run. There is a small marina and you can rent canoes or buy ice. Just past here we dropped anchor and swam for a bit. The water was not as brisk.
On the way home we passed this house boat, complete with water slide. I want to rent this one, please.
Back home this sign welcomes you to the marina.
On our way to dinner on Saturday night my host insisted I see this. It is a palm tree growing out of the middle of an oak tree. Too cool.
I ended my weekend slightly sunburned and with a renewed passion for this state that has been my home for years.Before I move to the other side of town there are two great state parks not too far from my home that I need to see. I'll tell you all about them later.
You can double click on any photo and be able to get a larger view of all of them
Now that the disclaimer is over,,,
Florida. The word brings all sorts of thoughts to people's minds. Hurricanes, hot and humid weather, Disney World, Universal Studios, The Daytona 500, miles and miles of awesome beaches, some may even think of all the college football teams and our three NFL teams.
Sadly, very many of these people, tourists and Florida residents, never take the time to head off the beaten path. They never see the real Florida. Back when I first lived here I did a lot of camping and hiking and I got to see some really neat stuff, like Panther paw prints in the sand. On this particular weekend I was given the opportunity to see parts of Florida that I may not have otherwise seen, part of The Real Florida.
There will be other posts about The Real Florida in the near future.
On this weekend, I had been invited to a friend's condo in a small (very small) town named Welaka. The plan was for all of us to arrive around 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon. I got there as planned and made myself at home as my dear friend / hostess insisted I do. Once settled in, I took a glass of wine and headed out to explore. This is the view from her front door. What stress? It is all gone.
I walked down towards the pool area. There are boat slips for the condo owners. Most people pull their boats out until the weekend.
Just outside the pool area there was a 'porch' swing. While swinging and sipping, I could not help but admire this large Live Oak tree.
I spied this little gem of a home a bit down the river. For those who don't know this fact, the St. Johns River flows northward. It is a huge, and I do mean HUGE river. It is 310 miles long and about 3 miles across at is widest point.
While I had been sitting on the swing I had been watching the weather. I felt a raindrop, and a few more, and headed back to the safety of the condo. My friend sent me a text that they were running late and I should have more wine. Once I was safe inside the rain really came down. But I am dry, stress free and on my second glass of wine.
My friend recently adopted a rescue dog. This is Princess Bella. The poor baby was used for breeding as soon as she went into heat and is afraid of everything. But she is so sweet.
Dinner time rolled around. We're waiting for our burgers to cook.
By the time we had finished our burgers and fries, the weather had cleared some and we took fresh drinks and headed down to sit by the pool. The sunset set was really neat.
It was a gift for dealing with the torrential rain storms of that afternoon.
After the sunset we headed back to the condo. We played Scattagories, and drank more wine. By the time she and I decided to call it a night, it was shortly after 1 a.m. and all these bottles were drained. Nedless to say it was a slightly rough start to the day on Saturday.
While hangovers were being nursed and lunches made, my host went down and put his boat in the water. Around 10:30 a.m. we headed out on the water for the day. We are now scootin' along the river.
Our first stop was a place named Silver Glen Springs. You can get here by car or by boat. Here we are just entering the run up to the springs.
It was a gorgeous day. Even the turtles thought so and were catching some rays also.
When we got to the end of the run there were lots of other boats there. Some raft up together and spend the day getting tanned and swimming in the brisk, fresh water. We spied this boat and started talking about a week's vacation on a houseboat cruising the waterways.Three people with a lot of boating experience, we would have a blast.
After a bit this guy pulled. Very neat, homemade vessel.
I thought I had a good camera, but it did not do the springs the justice due them .The water is so extremely clear, and brisk, did I mention brisk? The spring puts out roughly 54,000,000 gallons of water a day - no that is not a typo - yes that is millions of gallons of water. The water is 72 degrees year round.
This is a small spring off behind the big one above. Hard to see, but the sink hole is full of fish. Good size fish.
After a bit we pulled up anchor and headed off to another spring. On the way we passed an Osprey family on their nest.
Entering Salt Springs Run. Right near here are signs stating you are entering Florida State property and no alcohol is allowed. Lots of people drop anchor near here to spend the day. We kept going.
It is a good way back into where the spring is. Here is part of the real Florida.
I don't care how good the set designers are at Disney, Epcot or Universal, you don't see stuff like this large oak tree that is dripping with Spanish moss.
We passed several boats with people who were bow fishing.
These folks caught a fish.
Here is another Osprey nest, this one atop a very dead tree. I saw a pair of Osprey circling the nest.
How about this for camping. Interesting concept.
Eventually we came to the end of the run. There is a small marina and you can rent canoes or buy ice. Just past here we dropped anchor and swam for a bit. The water was not as brisk.
On the way home we passed this house boat, complete with water slide. I want to rent this one, please.
Back home this sign welcomes you to the marina.
On our way to dinner on Saturday night my host insisted I see this. It is a palm tree growing out of the middle of an oak tree. Too cool.
I ended my weekend slightly sunburned and with a renewed passion for this state that has been my home for years.Before I move to the other side of town there are two great state parks not too far from my home that I need to see. I'll tell you all about them later.
Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to seeing you on Memorial weekend
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