Florida

The Sunshine State

June - August 2018

Artisan springs are Florida most scenic waterways

From Mississippi’s David Bayou State Park, we figured that we will be in Alabama for weeks before arriving in Pensacola Florida. So, after an overnight stayed at Gulf State Park, we casually drove east on HWY-10. Before we know it, the Florida “Open For Business” sign was just right there! 

Cute and a welcome surprise!

Who knew from southern Mississippi to Florida border, Alabama is only 77 miles in between. Might as well enjoy what Florida has to offer. Set aside our itinerary for Alabama and rummaging for Florida points of interest, we happily settled on Big Lagoon State Park in Florida for few days.

Beautiful white sand beaches lined the road to Fort Pickens
Beautiful picnic pavilions inside Big Lagoon State Park
But in just an instant, severe storm moving in quickly to Big Lagoon State Park

Weather was very much unpredictable in Florida, beautiful sunshine with birds chirping in one-minute, and next minutes marble sized drops were pouring down, can’t run fast enough and nowhere to hide.

You can run but can’t hide from Florida pouring rain

Safely back to Cozy Snail, we were blessed from Florida warm rain and not bitterly cold rain like in California. As soon as we dried ourselves, the rain has stopped and the sun came out again!

With that much water pouring down, we’re going to break out our yellow kayak for transportation

Looking over to our Texan neighboring summer tent with open top and their belongings, we were helpless to know that their stuff will be in couple inches of water in just a few minutes!

Raining inside your tent will forever change your outdoor perception

We don’t have a big enough tarp to cover all their belongings or long ropes for a tie down, or out-paced mother nature. Our neighbors came back more than 3hrs later, seeing what happened to their tent, they quietly fold their soak tent and drench belongings, and drove off.

The road to Fort Pickens was lined with white sand beaches and historical interests. The fort built in 1829 was entirely from slave labors, it has been used as a battleground during the 1861 Civil War and served as a prison to hold chief Geronimo in 1886.

The fort lasted through major fire, Civil War, Indian War, and even accidental explosion
One of many fishermen enjoying beautiful beach and warm weather near Fort Pickens

Traveled 190 miles eastward, we arrived at Torreya State Park where we kept running into one poisonous local resident, the venomous pit viper called copperhead! Only grown to 3ft length, they pack an extremely painful bite. Unfortunately, antivenin is rarely used against copperhead venom due to the risk of immune reaction.

The bush on left and tree hollow on right (not shown) house these venomous snakes according to park ranger

Because of copperhead defensive posture, it freezes up when threatened thereby creating perfect camouflage with its habitat. A young boy next to our campsite was rushed to ER yesterday for copperhead bites. We even saw a full-grown adult slithered across a popular wooden viewing platform, and a juvenile skittered in pile of dead leaves just outside our Cozy Snail window!

Can you find a copperhead? Picture courtesy of Chris Harrison

While their venom has been proven to halt cancer growth and even stop tumors migration, our pooch and our skimpy legs are in no mood for a chance encounter!

Just to the left of Torreya campground, there is a preserved pre-civil war era plantation house called Gregory House which fell into disuse after the war ended. Except for the absence of half dozens of Civil War cannons, the house was the only war item that been disassembled and moved across the river to where it stands today. This seems to be a common practice of southern state park where it hoards all artifacts from surrounding vicinities.

Gregory House at Torreya State Park and mosquitos’ heaven

One of the Florida gems is the Manatee Springs State Park. It boasts a crystal clear and refreshingly sweet springs with a flow rate of 99 million gallons of water daily (see Note1). The springs sometimes pack rim to rim with manatees, you know… old world mermaids! But alas, for the 5 days stay, we’ve never even seen one!

Father and daughter snorkeling in 25ft depth pool of crystal clear water
Pedaling our kayak upstream with hundreds of fishes, couple of snakes, and few alligators is pure joy

We took a day trip to Cedar Key which locates 33 miles south of Manatee Springs. With some exceptions of kayak outfits and fishing charters, the old fashion fishing town remains quaint and the town enjoys the many outdoor activities due to its lush natural preserve.

Sunset ray showing storm clouds about to envelop the tiny town
Lightning strikes a small pier in the background
Otherwise it was peaceful and quiet place to enjoy Cedar Key sunset
Back to Manatee Springs campground for a restful sleep

Fanning Springs is 13 miles northwest of Manatee Springs. These smaller springs discharge some 33 million gallons of crystal clear fresh water daily (see Note1). While lacking a notable population of alligators and snakes, there were lots of people frolicking in its amazingly clear turquoise pool.

Million gallons of crystal clear water are pouring out daily from the Fanning Springs

While visiting Cedar Key yesterday, we passed by a sign says Shell Mound. Hmm, we heard of an interesting archaeological site called Shell Mound from various literature; that the site was built with remains of oysters, whelks, fish, turtle, and deer bones along with their household debris, other words come to mind, “ancient dump”. The Shell Mound is nearly 6,000 years old, was constructed over a 3,500 years period. Very curious, we came back to the 2-lane road leading to Shell Mound and ended up at fishing pier inside Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge.

Boat ramp bridging the exploration gap for Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge
Looking back from the fishing pier, the 28ft height Shell Mound can be seen on the right of boardwalk
Resting at the top of Shell Mound from scorching heat of Florida sun
Closeup of 6,000 years old shells hill

While the inhabitants have disappeared long ago, what left were a massive flock of deer flies out for blood meal regardless of how many DEET layers we’re using. Scrambled back to our truck for sheltered, we were wondering how did the half-naked natives protect themselves against these nasty flies?

The Manatee Springs and Fanning Springs are indeed special places, but our hearts settled on Silver Springs State Park. This is one of the largest artesian springs in Florida that boast some 359 million gallons pouring out daily. This beautiful spring so clean and clear that 15ft deep springs appear deceptively shallow.

Passing glass bottom boat tour on our way upstream
Encounter a tree log that has big teeth
Cormorant drying its wings after a meal of sushi

We stayed at memorable Oscar Scherer State Park for our Burro 230K miles R&R. Knowing that our trusty burro needs some TLCs from plowing us cross country; we fed it fresh synthetic oil, new fan clutch, its coolant flushed, brand spanking new radiator to keep it running cool for another hundred of thousand miles ahead.

Nice shaded spot to park our trusty Burro
Dark and murky creek doesn’t appeal to our Kayaking hearts
The Oscar Scherer Lake where a young woman was eaten by 11ft alligator in 1973

The rogue alligator was killed shortly after, and body parts from the victim were found in its stomach. The report cited that the alligator had recently moved into the lake and have been fed by visitors to the park. We weren’t brave enough for a swim in the lake where large alligator has been spotted recently, so we just admire the small pond from a distance.

Off we went to nearby Siesta Beach 11 miles north of Oscar Scherer State Park. This beach is not dog-friendly, while other dog-friendly beaches nearby allow pooch and their owner strolling around, having a picnic, or just to chill out. Irritated from confusing beach/dog policies, we later went to Brohard Paw Beach Park in Venice instead!

Siesta Beach is not particularly scenic nor sparkling white sand
We’ve got to put some cloths on Kira, this is not a nude beach!

The way back from Siesta Beach, Stickney Point Road in Sarasota was very scenic. Sparkling in the afternoon sun, were rows and rows of boats on boat storage racks. This obviously is a boat lover’s paradise and the love of the salty life.

Recovering fisherman paradise then has to deal with Hurricane Florence
Stickney Point Road after Hurricane Irma last year (reported by ABC Action News on Sep 11, 2017)
Colorful houses dotted the sides of Stickney Point road

The following morning, we drove 81 miles to the eclectic city of Fort Myers. The colorful and eccentric Koreshan State Historic Park where we camped for a few nights has lots to offer. The amazing and nearby clean dog beach encourages pooches and their parents take a casual stroll, having picnics, or just chill.

Casual stroll with our pooch at Brohard Paw Beach Park in Venice
Not a dog friendly beach, but Lido Key Beach has extremely white and squeaky sand
But at Bonita Beach Dog Park, Kira was off leash and learned to tread water
Prepared alligator curry (front) and pair it with spring rolls (back) made a tasty dinner

Going further south to Florida Key Largo, we stayed for few days at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park to soak up the deep south weather and to visit the famed Bahia Honda Key. We learned that “Bahia Honda” means “Deep Bay” in Spanish, and “Key” also derived from the Spanish word “Cayo” means small island. Stay in South Florida little longer, we will be fluent in Spanish!

The Bahia Honda State Park appears to be recovered from hurricane Irma of August 2017

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park has exactly what the doctor ordered; white sand at Canon beach, convenient kayak launching ramp, many watery trails to explore, biking and hiking trails… Considering the entire Florida Keys devastated by the 180MPH wind from hurricane Irma in 2017, what we are enjoying today was from the resilient of Florida State Park folks.

Continued further down to Marathon (strange that it doesn’t end with word “Key”), we stayed at Curry Hammock State Park for a few nights. That night, the thought of bringing back some of our favorite southern dishes made us rolled up our sleeves and prepare some southern dinner.

Everglade grilled steak, Swampfire shrimps and Cajun rice completed the meal
Plenty of dead sea grass on Curry Hammock beach poses another problem

If the beach in Curry Hammock State Park is not suitable for a swim, then perhaps Sombrebro beach is better? About 9 miles later, the Sombrebro beach in Marathon with its coconut trees, white sand, and dog-friendly policy made us feel welcome, but here again, the beach is full of dead seagrass!

Dog-friendly Sombrebro beach with its beautiful coconut groves, white sand, and pavilions
United State “southernmost” point
Waiting for sunset at Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park that never came

Came back up from the Florida Keys, we settle-in for few nights at Larry and Penny Thompson County Park. Our campsite nested in grooves of mango, avocado and nut trees, the campground has plantation feel and quietness uncommonly in the middle of a large city. After all, it’s only 18 miles away from the hustle and bustle of Miami.

Kira is attracted to sapote (brown), and have none of the dragon fruit (red) or sapodilla (yellow)
This 4ft beautiful-and-prehistoric iguana we saw along the Overseas Highway
While this iguana is approximately 2ft long, it still is spectacular animal

17 miles west of our campground, Everglade National Park Loop Road on the northern section dirt road that passes through many creeks, streams, lakes, and ponds together and the prospect of wildlife encounter excited us.

Shot of 5ft alligator while he was chilling, and we kept our hands outside of his reach
This alligator is waiting for some treats from ignorant tourists
There is no shortage of turkey vulture in the Everglade National Park

Floridian lives and fish side-by-side with these thick skin dinosaurs, but perfectly at ease with these dangers. Watching a fisherman trying to catch his dinner while 3 or more alligators circling him is amazing.

As the fisherman moves to different spot along the bank, the alligators move with him!

Everglade National Park is very large, covering almost 1.5million acres in Florida, thus traversing through the whole park is tiresome in one day. So on our second day, we drove straight to Flamingo Visitor Center on the southern end of Everglade and we’re not disappointed.

By pure luck that we caught a glimpse of manatee feeding near the Flamingo Visitor Center. Since the water is murky, only its nose is visible, but we were truly ecstatic of sighting one!

Even just a nose, up until now we only seen manatee in a brochure!

From Larry and Penny Thompson, we went 25miles east to Key Biscayne for some sightseeing. Well, Miami traffic is just like in the Bay Area; bumper-to-bumper traffic mess with impatience motorists darting and weaving between red lights, and this was Sunday!

Cape Florida Lighthouse in Key Biscayne
A flooded street in Key Biscayne after a thunder storm
A beautiful sunset from Key Biscayne

Seeing enough of the Florida shorelines, we decide to head further inland for a quieter stay, so we drove 165 miles to Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park. This state park is truly located in the middle of nowhere, but we love the reasonable camping price, open prairie and lots of wildlife.

A sense of danger always lurking in the Kissimmee Prairie campground
When disturbed, this doe just ran straight into the mash where alligators live
Rare crested caracara elsewhere but here, these birds were regular sighting around the campground

Since Kissimmee Prairie Preserve is out on the flat prairie, the wind is sometimes brutal. Our young neighboring camper’s gazebo has been anchored to the ground, but the strong wind just picked it up and tossed it near our campsite. We dragged their gazebo back and helped them tie everything down before the storm started up again. But for the remainder of the night, the wind is as calm-as-a-millpond.

Kira met a spunky wired fox terrier at our campground

Before we say goodbye to Florida, the last destination on our list we wanted to visit was the Blue Springs State Park. The springs boast a constant temperature of 72°F year-round and a flow rate of 102 million gallons daily. But the crystal-clear springs don’t get too far downstream, as the tannic acid turns water to murky brown near St. Johns River.

Blue Springs Boil fed the crystal-clear stream that made the park famous
Watching Floridians shivering in the Blue Springs 72°F water made us wonder what they would make of our California 53°F water
We finally saw mom and baby manatees frolicking in the crystal-clear springs

Watching the baby manatee darting about and mom is trying to keep up was a sight to behold. Since 1972, the park has rescued many injured manatees and the strange thing was these manatees choose to stay in the park, instead of migrating with the herd according to a park ranger.

This frantic manatee is dragging a tracking buoy attached by marine biologists

Florida has a vacation-like charm to its persona and we absolutely love the quartz sand beaches and warm water, many exotic animals called this place their home, and who can resist a good Cuban sandwich in south Florida!

GPS Coordinates

  1. David Bayou Campground – Gulf Islands National Seashore (Mississippi) – 30°23’52.3″N 88°47’43.7″W
  2. Gulf State Park (Alabama) – 30°15’39.7″N 87°38’49.9″W
  3. Fort Pickens – 30°19’24.9″N 87°16’28.5″W
  4. Big Lagoon State Park – 30°18’52.4″N 87°24’40.3″W
  5. Siesta Key Beach – 27°15’57.5″N 82°33’09.8″W
  6. Koreshan State Historic Park – 26°26’06.8″N 81°49’03.5″W
  7. Brohard Paw Park (dog beach) – 27°04’07.4″N 82°26’56.8″W
  8. Bonita Beach Dog Park (dog beach) – 26°22’49.0″N 81°51’42.1″W
  9. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park – 25°07’30.8″N 80°24’24.2″W
  10. Bahia Honda State Park – 24°39’20.7″N 81°16’46.9″W
  11. Curry Hammock State Park – 24°44’28.6″N 80°58’51.1″W
  12. Sombrebro beach (dog beach) – 24°41’32.4″N 81°05’04.4″W
  13. Southern Most Point – 24°32’47.5″N 81°47’51.0″W
  14. Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park – 24°32’53.2″N 81°48’34.1″W
  15. Cape Florida Lighthouse – 25°39’59.8″N 80°09’21.6″W
  16. Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park – 27°34’58.4″N 81°02’36.8″W
  17. Blue Springs State Park – 28°56’55.4″N 81°20’06.5″W

References

  • Note1: springs flow rate in Florida [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_major_springs_in_Florida]
  • Destination details from local knowledge, some were extracted from hand-out literature/brochure, or website, and Wikipedia
  • Coordinates are from Google map in Degrees, Minutes, and Seconds (DMS)