Florida State Parks

10-12-2012

We went to a "campground" called Beaver Lake Campground in Quincy Florida.  It was a field behind a gas station with about 10 sites.  We did manage to get a lot accomplished in home cleanup since we were there from 10/5 to 10/8.  We visited Tallahassee where we saw the Historic Capitol where they had lots of rooms with displays from when the building was used in 1902, then the outside of the new Capitol.  We visited the Mission San Luis de Apalachee.  They were having the Blessing of the Animals at the village church. It was a complete "town" during the Spanish occupancy of the mission.  It had a blacksmith shop, well-off Spanish home with servants, an actual fort (used to protect the port).  It was interesting.  We even had a native drink made from crushed leaves that tasted sorta like green tea.

We went into town and visited the Museum of Florida History that covered history from the early 1500's through the 20th century.  It included Spanish shipwrecks, the Civil War and transportation & tourism.

We then went to St Marks Lighthouse and Refuge Park in St Marks Florida.  The park is a refuge for birds, reptiles and plants.  We actually saw a mother alligator with at least six babies crawling around her.  The lighthouse is still functional (as far as the light goes) but the building is falling apart.  Hopefully they will get a chance to refurbish it.


We then went down the road to Suwanee River State Park from 10/8 to 10/10.  The campground was actually located on a old battlefield.  there was an old cemetery on the grounds (for whites only) and the old part was outside the park (for blacks only).  The park is located near Live Oak Florida.  Live Oak is a cute little town.  We took a small walking tour of the historic buildings.  There was an old train depot that had a lot of old displays including old telephone switchboards.  We did a lot of walking to see all the nature trail sights which included a few springs.  One of the springs we visited was called the Charles Springs.  The was a cemetery off the beaten path of the Charles family. Reuben Charles was killed by Indians in 1815. His wife was shot on her front porch in 1835. It is believed she was killed by some local people because she was friends with the Indians. The Indians had given her and her daughters red scarfs and told them to wear them when they went ot and they wouldn't be killed. Her daughter ran out to meet the stagecoach without her scarf and was killed by an Indian. The three of them and one other child are buried in the cemetery.

The Suwanee River is pretty but almost black in color due to the acid from the cypress trees and the runoff from all the decaying plants.They still swim in it at the park when it is not two high. The river use to have several rock dams across it at this point to divert water for the gristmill and the saw mill.There is an old wheel there from one of the mills. There use to be steam boats on the river. Part of one of them is in the park.

We visited a place called Natural Bridge Battlefield State Park. During the final weeks of the Civil War the Confederates defeated the Union troops at this bridge to stop the Union troops from getting to Tallahassee and preserved it as the only Confederate capital east of the Mississippi.

We moved South to Oleno State Park on the 10th and will be here until the 14th. this park is on the Santa Fe River. This river is fed by many springs. The most interesting thing is the fact that the river disappears underground for 3.5 miles and then comes back up and flows into the Swanee River. This natural bridge allowed allowed people to cross the river. It was an important area during the Civil War for this reason.

The river goes underground at a place called The Sink.The flow into the Sink is 900 million gallons of water a day. It looks like a big pool with a slow swirl in the middle. Today we visited Ichetucknee State Park with two springs, Head Spring and Blue Hole Spring.They were both crystal clear and flow into the Ichetucknee River which flows into the Santa Fe River. There are many springs throughout this area of Florida. Actually there are a lot of springs in the State.

We visited a road that was built in 1824 call Bellamy Rd. The road was built to run from St.Augustine to Tallahassee. We saw part of this road at Charles spring when we were there. The Ranger here gave us some back ground on the road that may not be on the internet, it was interesting to here his version and how in fact Col Bellamy may have been less than honest.

Well that's enough for tonight.

Dick and Judy

I'll try to get caught up on the photos soon.

A little more information


We learned that there are a lot of springs in Florida. We visited Charles Spring that dated back to before the Civil War. It is named for the Charles family that lived near by and used the spring for their water. The water is perfectly clear and you can see the bottom. The spring feeds into the Swanee river. The family cemetery is near by. Reuben Charles was killed by Indians  in 1815 and his wife was shot by local residents in 1835. Their graves along with the graves of two of their children are in this old cemetery. The park had a wheel from and old mill that was located there as well as a part of an old steam boat. This area was important during the Civil War because the railroad went through the area and crossed the river at this point.

We are now at O'leno State Park which is located on the Santa Fe River which is a tributary of the Swanee river. The river flows into the park and then disappears at the River Sink and travels 3.5 miles underground and comes back to the surface at River Rise. a total of 900 million gallons of water a day flows into the sink.
The river was flowing very fast at the suspension bridge in the center of the park but at the sink it appeared to be going very slow. The area between the Sink and the Rise is known as the Natural Bridge and was used during the period before ans during the Civil war to cross the river.