Time is weird, and to add anticipation to the lives of my younger readers it gets weirder the longer it goes on, but even so, I can’t believe we’ve been in Florida for three weeks already. Because we were entering the state from SE Georgia, our general route plan for our Florida winter starts in the NE corner of the state, continues down through the east and central areas, hits the Everglades, comes back up the Gulf coast, and winds up near the tip of the panhandle. With that in mind, this post will cover our three week-long stops beginning near Jacksonville and ending on the Space Coast.
In transit from Savannah to our next campground, we plugged in a maintenance stop for a LOF (that’s lube, oil, and filter for those of you not hip to vehicle maintenance jargon) and other stuff that TBG listed out for me when I just asked him, but I dozed off mid-list. Much like I wanted to waiting in the car in the shade at the side of Speedco’s parking lot, except who could nap with acorns pelting the car’s roof?
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| The orange and yellow autumn colors were stunning. |
Cary State Forest
With only seven widely-spaced campsites total and two of them closed, we rolled into Cary and finally said Aaaaaahhhhhh.
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| Expansive acreage in site #3. |
Florida has a large network of state forests, and we have stops planned at a few more, so we’ll see how they compare, but I thought the campsites here were pretty nice and well-kept.
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| Spacey with lots of stuff! |
There were even some formal trails in the forest.
Because Florida is mostly flat and doesn’t offer the type of hiking that keeps us in animal shape (ha!) we’ve been adding more running days back into our repertoire. The state forest’s network of packed sand roads were the perfect surface, too.
That little dark spot is a turtle! It agreed with me that the road surface was easy on the feet, but I don’t think it minded the sweltering humidity as much as we did. I will say that, despite the mugginess, running at sea level on flat trail is the easiest running I’ve ever experienced.
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| Beautiful light between rain showers. |
On our third night, we had to again make the decision to stay or bug out due to another approaching tropical storm, Eta. Fortunately, the worst of this storm passed us by as well. We would have liked to take the bikes down to cruise the forest roads, but it remained a bit too sloggy all week for that, so other than our forays on foot, we did little else but relax and enjoy the relative isolation. By relative, I mean that there was some distant road noise, a train whistle sometimes, and sand trucks that ran a couple days, but overall, it was a big sigh of relief.
Salt Springs Recreation Area
Our second stay was in the Ocala National Forest at a recreation area considered to be part of central Florida and with a more stereotypical tropical feel.
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| Site #50 |
This park featured a gorgeous swim area, with crystal-clear spring water.
Our first few days were still warm and humid, and we took an afternoon
dip in the always-72 degree buoyantly salty water. Though we’d been
wishing for the weather to de-humidify, when it did, it also cooled off
considerably. That doesn’t seem like very inviting swimming weather, but
when the air temp is 52, 72-degree water feels mighty nice, and we got
up early to have the place to ourselves.
We took turns not just for photos, but so we could each serve as a gator lookout for the other. No one wants to get got by a gator.
We did not espy any large lagoon lizards, but we were not alone.
The floor of the springs was alive with blue crab, but because it was buoyant salt water, keeping our toes away from pinchers was easy.
Within the park was the 1.5 mile Bear Swamp Trail, which we walked and ran a few times during our stay. Upon arrival, the attendant told us there were lots of bears in the area and handed out a paper all about securing trash and not cooking outside after dark, etc. We never saw a bear or even any evidence of a bear, but the trail was not without interesting encounters.
On one walk, I almost ran my face directly into these
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| Two-striped Walking Sticks |
If you enlarge the image (click the image or do the pinch-and-expand trick) you’ll see that there are two, the much smaller male hitching a ride on the female. They are only found in the Ocala National Forest, so it was a treat to come across them.
On another day’s walk around the loop, TBG suddenly grabbed my arm and pointed to the trail’s edge.
What’s the problem? I don’t — ohhhhhh, will ya lookit that!
A Dusky Pyg —- no, wait, TWO Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnacks!
As you can see by the first photo and tell by their name, they are diminutive. While their bite can still pack a punch, their smallness means they can’t carry as much venom and have never been known to be lethal to humans. I don’t know if that holds true for two of them at once, but luckily, this pair was perfectly calm on their bed of palmetto fronds.
One of the big draws of a winter in Florida for us was the chance to see some manatees. When the weather turns cooler, these gentle jumbos seek out the inland warm springs. They can, of course, be observed from land, but it is also possible to kayak alongside them in places. We happened to be at a warm spring on a kayakable river, and we waited until our last day to take advantage of the predicted good weather to head over to the rental shack. The proprietor said manatees had definitely been spotted in the river, and people had even reported seeing monkeys.
Under extremely overcast skies and letting our excitement override our better judgement, we plunked down our $40 for four hours of kayak time. Before long we were in the middle of the river in a cold downpour, unable to see anything except mullet jumping everywhere and a disheveled blue heron that looked about as happy as we were.
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| What were we thinking?! |
It was clear that the rain wasn’t going to let up, so we paddled back to the shack, defeated. We soothed ourselves by reminding each other (him mostly reminding me as I was the more distraught of the two of us) that there was a lot of winter left, and we would have more than one upcoming opportunity to find the sea cows.
The Space Coast
Originally, I’d had us booked at another state forest campground, but in his research, TBG read that it was a place that was often overrun by local partiers. He re-routed us to a commercial park in Mims, which is just north of Titusville, a.k.a. Space City for its proximity to the Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral. It was not a long drive, and I completely surprised TBG by answering in the affirmative when he asked if I wanted to drive. It was a nice, easy drive, after which I even got us parked in our spot to the cheers of a neighbor lady holding a cockatoo.
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| #58, I did that. |
Our first order of business was to double back the next day by car to visit a state park to see manatees. Blue Spring State Park is known for little else but its manatee viewing, although when they start to push into the spring, that section is closed to all water activity and they can only be viewed from the boardwalks.
We arrived at opening to be sure to secure entry but the problem was the morning light was behind us, making seeing into the water nearly impossible.
It was very lush, tropical, and reflective!
We saw lots of critters above the water while we walked back and forth along the boards, stopping repeatedly at every view point, listening for the sound of manatees surfacing to breathe, and vowing that we’d stay there as long as it took. Then, the sun got a little higher, the viewing got a little easier, and the manatees headed into the spring for breakfast.
There weren’t as many as there will be in another few weeks (dozens will show up) but there were plenty to keep us entertained. We watched a group of four on the far river bank munching on downed palmetto leaves, the stems disappearing by degrees beneath the surface like spaghetti noodles. We saw one with a tracker that looked like a large fishing bobber tied around its tail. It didn’t seem to mind, but I can’t imagine that’s pleasant for it to have to drag that thing around. Near the mouth of the spring area, several were rolling and playing, putting on a show.
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| A whiskery smooch. |
It was more than worth the drive and the small park fee to see these funny, happy critters. We didn’t want to leave, but other adventures awaited, and hopefully this won’t be the last of the manatees for us.
It was barely noon by the time we got back, and it was hot enough out to
warrant some laps in the resort’s salt water pools. We ended up
visiting the pools and hot tubs daily during our stay, and we always had
the water to ourselves, if not the whole pool area.
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| Finally, a pool open year-round! |
As if that wasn’t enough for one day, a SpaceX launch was scheduled for that night. It was only a short drive into town to a recommended city park where we parked the car and walked out onto the Max Brewer Bridge, which is a well-known spot from which to watch rocket launches on the Cape. Although we weren’t in this area to take in all the space stuff (we’ve been here before, I as a child, he on a work trip) we were excited to have our stay fortuitously coincide with an after-dark launch.
There were plenty of other people gathering to watch, but as you can see, there was also plenty of room to spread out. This was not a manned launch or even a really “big” one, just a satellite. You can see it in the photo on the right, the bright white spot between the posts on the right. Unlike launches we’ve seen on TV where there is fire, clouds of smoke, and then a rocket that pushes up from them, this was a huge flash-and-go affair.
The bands of clouds made for a cool effect as the rocket blasted between them and lit up the water below.
It was the perfect capper to an exciting day.
The second day was Big Laundry Day, and while it’s no sea cow or satellite launch, having all the laundry done at the same time, offers a kind of excitement of its own. Besides, the following day was Thanksgiving, and again, we had a not-really-premeditated delight scheduled.
The paternal side of my family moved to Florida when I was a kid, and from the time I was 10, many vacations were had between us in Ohio and them in Florida. I knew, of course, that our route would bring us near to them at some point, but it was pure lucky timing that it happened at Thanksgiving. Whether or not to get together in the era of Covid was a whole other issue, and I waited until the stop before this one to reach out to my Aunt Jan, whom I hadn’t seen in 30 years. We determined that the seven who would gather were very well-isolated in their daily lives, and we’d be able to enjoy dining outdoors on their screened porch.
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| Uncle Brad, 1st cousin Shanon, 2nd cousin Jeremy, Aunt Jan, and us (Shanon’s husband Thomas taking the picture) |
If you look closely, you can see one of their dogs, Griffin the Golden, peeking out the window. Little Rue, the softest, sweetest long-haired dachshund was too short to see over the window sill for the photo. It was a wonderful afternoon of reminiscing, meeting some for the first time (we’d never met Thomas, they’d never met TBG) and getting our fill of both delicious food and doggie scritches. We are so thankful for the weather that allowed us to be outdoors, and for careful, loving family. Here’s hoping for longer visits in healthier times for everyone.
Our last three days in Mims weren’t quite as action-packed, though we enjoyed the continued good weather and relaxed pace of them. On two of those days, we drove out to Playalinda Beach on Canaveral National Seashore.
It is a long, long stretch of beach protected by a dune over which several boardwalk ramps are built to get folks up and over from the parking areas to the ocean while protecting the dunes. We were greeted by a small gopher tortoise on arrival, and then…ocean!
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| On our way home from the first visit, we stopped at the seafood market to load up on some local delicacies. Once we’d finished with our Thanksgiving leftovers… |
it was grilled gator on the menu! If you’ve not had it, you’ve probably heard that it tastes just like chicken, and I cannot disabuse you of that. It does. It’s a bit tough and definitely too expensive to add to the regular dinner rotation, but it was fun to try it.
Right outside our rig was a grapefruit tree, and TBG plucked a few, pronouncing their deliciousness each time he prepared one.
On our second and last visit to the Atlantic Ocean, we were again greeted by a small tortoise on the dune side of the boardwalk.
Then it was a long, leisurely stroll along the beach, watching the
fisher-folks and the birds. There were plenty of people out and about
but because the beach is so long, it was easy to be all spread out.
For this outing, TBG was prepared to get in the water, and I was happy to only dip my toes and capture his fun as he body-surfed.
We are off now to parts further south and central for our next round of Florida adventures. There will be no manatees, beaches, or pools, but I’m sure we’ll run across something notable. Hopefully before it runs across us.
COMMENTS
He’s just never been a big fan of the state to begin with, thinking it overly crowded & touristy, and lacking in nature-based opportunities. Yes, we’ve both lived and visited there, but it was during a stage of life with different priorities for us, so we weren’t seeking experiences like these.
So, BRB — got some petitioning to do.
I’m so sorry about your bummer of a kayak trip. Hopefully, we can make it up to you when you’re up here with us. Other than that, everything looks grand. And you’ve avoided the snakes and gators, other than capturing them in photos and on the grill, LOL.
By the way, I came across a pair of those striped walking sticks on my walk yesterday. I thought the big one was eating the little one!! See how much I learn from your blog?
LOL about the big walking stick eating the little one, especially since TBG keeps referring to them as praying mantis which do that very thing. The reason the sticks are together like that is going to be my FFF in the Critter Round-up, which is — eeek! — now just a month away. And YOU are less than two away!
In all our two times wintering there, we have not dipped in the ocean! So glad TBG had a blast!
Tell TBG Im snotty when it comes to grapefruits, for I only eat the ones grown in Mission Texas! But I drink the freshly squeezed orange juice in Florida. Hope you can find one that sells those sweet orange juice.
The ocean was wonderfully warm, which I didn’t think it would be. I could have stayed in longer.