Choice Morsels

Today's "find" is another interesting Florida State Park: Manatee Springs ! If you enjoy camping, fishing, kayaking, hiking, swimming in pure spring water and seeing Manatees--this is the place to go! Apparently, they even have a service providing in-park take-out Barbecue! Located on the west side of Florida along the Suwanee River, Manatee Springs State Park is just north of the Lower Suwanee National Wildlife Refuge, west of of Highway 19/98. Abundant Cypress Trees are a unique feature of this park. They're common throughout Florida. I see them here in the fall.Their feathery leaves turn a brilliant orange! Plus the park has a lovely boardwalk for you to enjoy viewing the Cypress grove,  since Cypress are trees that like standing in water and bog. There's Manatees, of course, and to protect them, no boating is allowed on the Springs.  Just Canoes & Kayaks, which are available for rent...

De Leon Springs Sugar Mill overlooking the natural spring water! In looking for another interesting Florida State Park, De Leon Springs State Park caught my eye because this park features features a replica of an 1830's Sugar Mill that originally occupied the location where you can cook your own pancakes right at your table!  Now, how great is that? Like many so Florida State Parks, the area was originally a privately owned tourist franchise. This one got it's start as tourist travel destination in the late 1800's. It was called, "Ponce De Leon Springs" and the name of the spring itself was changed from "Garden Springs," to "The Fountain of Youth." The property continued operating as a private recreational park until 1982, when the State of Florida & Volusia County purchased the land. De Leon Springs State It's located on Highway 17, north of Orlando and west of Daytona. De Leon Spring State Park is a day park (no camp...

Today's "find" is another beautiful Florida State Park in my special series:  Payne's Prairie Preserve State Park ! Located just south of Gainesville, Payne's Prairie is 21,000 acres of marsh prairie. In 1774 it was visited by famous artist & naturalist William Bartram who dubbed it the "Alachua Savannah," when he wrote about it in his book, "Bartram's Travels." It became Florida's first preserve in 1971. To visit Payne's Prairie is to see Florida as it was prior to the arrival of European settlers & much work has been done to the park to restore it's waterways to it's original pristine state. The Preserve is home to a wide array of native wild animals & reptiles, plus 270 species of birds AND small wild herds of Bison, Cracker Cattle & Cracker Horses.   Cracker Cattle & Horses are descendants  of original Spanish horses & cattle brought to new world. They are historically native to F...

Today's featured "Find" is another unique Florida State Park: Hontoon Island S.P.   It's north of Orlando and West of Highway 17.  If you were driving to Disney World and were interested in stopping a couple nights to stay in a cabin, picnic or hike, it would make a pretty stop-over & admission is free! My purpose for these State Park features is to acquaint myself with my own state's many State Parks. I peruse the road atlas and randomly pick one out. Since so many people travel to Disney World, I thought I'd look at what's close to Orlando. So that's how Hontoon Island came to be chosen! Hontoon Island State Park as seen from the ferry dock: Hontoon Island State Park is a 1650 acre island on the St. Johns River.  In the 1500's, Spanish Conquistadors built a series of missions throughout Florida and one was reputed to have been on this island. The property was acquired by a soldier after the 2nd Seminole War, who homesteaded t...

Last weekend, after driving to Palatka, Florida for a wedding and looking at the road map, I really noticed how many State Parks Florida has and I decided I would start feature about "Discovering the State Parks of Florida" for some of my Friday Finds! So, today I've looked up Rainbow Springs State Park , which is just east of Ocala, Florida, off state highway 41. All photos shown are from the Parks website Rainbow Springs State Park's main feature is it's beautiful natural spring for swimming, snorkeling, kayaking & tubing. You can also picnic and hike.  A great location for birding plus they offer Guided Butterfly Garden tours on some Saturdays seasonally for $2 a person. Rainbow Springs also welcomes weddings and they have a special deck over-looking a lovely spring-fed waterfall as a back-drop! (Visit the Park home page for more details on pricing & reservations.) Camping is located on the river about 1 1/2 miles downstream fro...