Date Visited: 12/13/2020 The dredge at Collier-Seminole State Park is a remarkable piece of engineering history. It was built in 1924 and used to create the Tamiami Trail, a highway that connected Tampa and Miami through the Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp. The dredge is now a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark and can be... Continue Reading →
Silver Springs State Park – Florida
There's so much adventure waiting at Silver Springs State Park in Florida. Kayak, hike, camp, explore, take a glass bottom boat ride. They have it all.
Jonathan Dickinson – The footage that wasn’t lost
As promised when we wrote the article about this state park, our follow up video has finally been posted to YouTube. You can watch it below. https://youtu.be/zE6toGbYvAI
We’re adding a Video to a Park we’ve already reviewed
Since writing the article about Faver-Dykes State Park, we've returned to the park for a weekend getaway and taken the opportunity to film a little video about that trip. You can watch it below or on our YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/bx3Ps2H_BJA This was the first video filmed with our new camera equipment. We realized soon enough... Continue Reading →
Jonathan Dickinson State Park: Florida
The Beginning of our Next Road Trip: Destination Everglades National Park After spending several months day-tripping and exploring some of Florida's great state parks, we were ready to see what else the National Park System had to offer, and we really wanted to spend a week or so camping. With that virus thing still in... Continue Reading →
San Marcos de Apalache Historic State park
Date Visited: 1/13/2020 In the Florida panhandle where the Wakulla and St. Marks River meets, sits a National Landmark called San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park. For over 500 years, from the Spanish period through the civil war, this was a strategic landmark. In 1679 the first wooden fort was built. It housed 45... Continue Reading →
O’Leno State Park
Date Visited: 1/12/2020 Opened in 1940 as one of the original nine state parks in the Florida Park Service, O'Leno (Old Leno), is a beautiful and peaceful place to stay. With 20 miles of hiking, biking, equestrian trails within the 6000 acres that encompass O'leno (and its sister park the River Rise Preserve State Park),... Continue Reading →
Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park: Florida’s Miniature Rainforest
Date Visited: 1/12/2020 Okay, we all know I'm a little overweight, out of shape, over 50 and have an ongoing battle with heart-disease and diabetes, so I almost talked myself out of visiting this state park because I knew there were a number of stairs I'd have to ascend after descending to see the sink... Continue Reading →
Blue Spring State Park
Date Visited: 1/6/2020 & 08/03/2022 (Camped) For hundreds of years, Blue Spring and the surrounding area provided food, clothing, shelter and the materials needed to fabricate tools and weapons to the Timucuan Indians. Later European settlers and pioneers began moving into the area and by the mid-1800s, most of the Indians had been killed or driven... Continue Reading →
Bulow Creek State Park
Date Visited: 12/31/2019 Standing as the focal point in this 5600-acre state park is one of the largest Live Oak trees in the South. The Fairchild oak is estimated to be between 400-600 years old and is a member of one of the largest remaining stands of Southern Live Oak forest along Florida's East Coast.... Continue Reading →
Tomoka State Park
Date Visited: 12/1/2019-12/3/2019 & Various other times This was a hard post to write and I've put it off for several weeks. This camping trip we took in December of 2019 would be the first and last time I was able to go camping with my dad as an adult. Originally, I had not planned... Continue Reading →
The Face in the Stone: Crystal River Archaeological State Park
Date Visited: 12/9/2019 Our next stop was one of those places were you want to visit and learn as much as you can, but you also feel as if you are trespassing on hallowed ground. This 61 acre Pre-Columbian site consist of six mounds dispersed around the property. There are burial mounds, temple/platform mounds, plazas... Continue Reading →
Civil War Connections to Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park
Date Visited: 12/9/2019 While in Homosassa Florida, we took the opportunity to visit the Historic ruins of the Yulee Sugar Mill located off of County Road 490 West. Although we've visited many of these such mills around Florida, this one was of particular interest due to it's association, not with the Seminole Wars, but with... Continue Reading →
How a Hippo Became a Honorary Florida Citizen
Date Visited: 12/9/2019 Before telling you about the rest of our trip to the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs State Park we need talk about the elephant, or rather I should say the Hippopotamus in the room. Lu, short for Lucifer, has been a resident of the park since 1964. He was born on January 26,... Continue Reading →
Preserving History at Fort Cooper State Park
Date Visited: 12/9/2019 Our first stop of the day was at the 710 acre site of Fort Cooper State Park. Established in 1972 this park was a great place to start our morning with a relaxed walking tour through the history of the surrounding area. Historical Significance As is the case with most of Florida,... Continue Reading →