Florida – It’s Fun in the Sun & Gator Time!

Sashaying into the Western Panhandle and the Northern Region

After relaxing through a wet Christmas holiday in Freeport, Forida, we headed to our next stop in Old Town, Florida to find some sun, and even possibly see a gator and a manatee! The RV park we stayed at, Suwannee River Hideaway, was indeed away from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding “old town” area, making it nice and quiet. The RV spots were fairly spacious, giving it a park-like setting, while the surrounding large old oak trees gave the feeling of being deep in the woods! They even had their own boardwalk that extended about a quarter mile through the swamp, all the way to the Suwannee River!

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Suwannee River Hideaway RV Park and Campground

Boardwalk to the Suwannee River

The Old Town area is home to a number of natural springs that flow with crystal clear water! Two that we visited, Fanning Springs State Park and Manatee Springs State Park, were a lot of fun as we tried to spot the ever elusive … manatees! Annually, the manatee migrate up to the springs from the Gulf of Mexico, as the water from the springs is warmer than the Gulf waters! They were very good at “hide and seek”; we just couldn’t find them! No worries, we switched focus and were able to take a few short hikes to stretch our legs.

Fanning Springs State Park and Manatee Springs State Park

New Years was afoot, so we decided to have our celebratory dinner at the Suwannee Belle Landing riverfront restaurant, which was very good! For an appetizer, we ordered fried gator bites! Tastes kind of like chicken…doesn’t everything?!

During our outings, we’d noticed a very unique coffee and tea shop and decided to give them a try on New Year’s Day. The proprietors at Ma Wish High Chai, listen to how you like your tea, offer suggestions and then serve up a fantastic cup of hot tea! Since it’s a tiny, quaint shop we struck up a conversation with other patrons who’d ordered the gyros for lunch. They were very impressed with their meal, and it looked and smelled delicious; we left with our mouth watering. Ma Wish ships their teas, so we’ll be bookmarking their site!

Our time quickly came to an end, so we were off to our next location!

Our next stop was deeper into the northern interior of Florida at Ocala. The main reason for making this stop was to revisit the RideNow Powersports dealer, where we purchased the trike from, in order to have a few warranty work items completed. The time needed to work on it ended up being almost two weeks, so we explored the area the best we could while Florida was experiencing “the most rain they have had in the last 5 years” according to the locals! During one of the few days that we didn’t have rain, we were able to go on a short hike through the Silver Springs State Park.

Our sense of humor was a little soggy and needed a little comedy relief. “A Cracker at The Ritz“, showing at the Reilly Arts Center had just the ticket. Showcasing a “mature” local Florida couple, the show was all about roasting both the “snowbirds” as well as the local Floridians! The show was absolutely hilarious and we definitely got an education about the idiosyncratic side of Floridaaa.

Central Florida! Where Everyone Gets a Lake!

With the work on the trike completed, we high-tailed it further south into central Florida to the Kenansville area and Lake Marian, which supposedly boasts “the best crappie fishing” lake in all of Florida! Quite a claim for a state that has over 7,500 lakes, ponds and reservoirs, not to mention over 12,000 miles of fishable rivers!! Too bad we didn’t have a Florida fishing license!

Upon arrival at Lake Marian Resort, the sun was shinning and the day was warming up nicely, giving us some hope that we’d outrun the rain and cloudy weather of the last three weeks. Florida’s land was clearly oversaturated with standing water everywhere and our new neighbor welcomed us by mentioning that it was a good thing we didn’t arrive a day earlier, as they had a rainstorm that dumped four inches of water in a little over an hour and most of the RV park was flooded! Whew, at least we dodged that disaster! 

Now, one important detail that we had an inkling about, which has definitely come true, is that RV parks are booked well in advance, especially those near the coast and around major tourist attractions. But that’s where our little trusty grocery-getter comes into play! The trike made driving the longer distances to the Atlantic coastal areas an adventure unto itself!

First, we visited the Mel Fisher’s Treasure Museum in Sebastian, followed by the McClarty Treasure Museum in Vero Beach. Both are located along a stretch of the seaboard called the “Treasure Coast”, owing its moniker to the 11 Spanish Galleons that were battered and sunk by a hurricane in 1715. Each ship’s manifests identified large amounts of valuables that were being brought back to Spain when they sank! Not all of the riches have been found, and after 300 years of major storms, small items of treasure still wash up onto the beach and are found every year!

“Make today a treasure hunt of delight.”

-Angela Gwinner, Canadian Public Relations expert

We brought our paddle boards along for one of the day trips to paddle along the Indian River Lagoon and bay area. We were fortunate to catch a glimpse of about five different manatees, mostly just their noses as they quickly breach the water’s surface, then they would submerge and float in the depths of the bay, which was only about five feet in those areas! Curtis spotted a small five foot bull shark that was searching along the mangrove shore area, looking for a nice afternoon snack!

It was time to explore the interior around all of those lakes, and just when we needed a break, a sign along a road pointed toward the Secret Gardens Winery! We couldn’t pass it up. They served up a fantastic flight of their wines and a tasty charcuterie board while we sat waterside at one of their ponds. Striking up a conversation with the proprietor, we found out that the daughter had actually worked in hospitality at one of the ski resorts in Colorado and had taken her skills back home to her parent’s farm and the winery. They host events and are in the process of increasing their offerings to include an event hall. The whole family is involved and we were able to meet and talk with all of them. We learned a lot! The most unexpected though, was how to remove a 700-pound alligator from your pond…

The main reason we ended up extending our stay in the Lake Marion area for two weeks, was because a couple of high school friends reached out to Laura, inviting us to join them for their birthday celebration since we were “in the neighborhood”. They were only about 75-80 miles away in Titusville (along the Atlantic coast area), and another chance to explore the sights. And since the birthday celebration had a 50’s theme, marking the big 5-5, our trike fit right in! We had a great time catching up and partying the night away in pub-crawl fashion through their neighborhood. It was just like everyone was back in high school again!! The next day, however, was a much slower day.

Southern Florida and the City of Palms

Following six weeks in the interior of Florida, we desperately wanted to get to the coastal area of the Gulf, so it was off to Fort Myers! The weather was still trying to warm up, so we’d anxiously watch for the weather to get into the low 70’s! When it did, we made a break for it so we could soak up some sun, visiting a few of the “sugar white” sand beaches that Florida is so famous for. It was rejuvenating to just sit and relax on the mostly deserted beaches!!

It was time for more culture, and Fort Myers dished it up with a “Murder Mystery Dinner Train”! Imagine being served your five-course meal in a diner car, on a moving train, while the actors and actresses perform each act over and over in every train car during dinner service! You have to pay attention in order to figure out “who done it”, for the chance to win a prize at the end! Laura actually had the right answer, however there was a “tie-breaker” question that we didn’t get correct. Darn it anyway! We had a lot of fun getting to know the other couple seated with us, while watching the play pan out! It was even entertaining to watch the wait staff maneuver around the mayhem with grace, making it all look easy. Not a spilled drink in the house. Way to go!

We’re always surprised by something everywhere we’ve traveled. We had no idea that Thomas Edison had a winter estate in the Fort Myers area and that Henry Ford visited with Edison and liked it so much that he also bought, and developed, the property directly adjacent to Edison’s! Both are now a museum and the Edison & Ford Winter Estate Museum are open to the public for touring. Similarly, when we visited, we didn’t realize just how extensive the properties are and that there is also a botanic garden, the remnants of what was once the Edison Botanic Research Corporation, as well as a 15,000 square-foot museum dedicated to both of them, chronicling their histories involving a number of Edison’s inventions along with the development of the automobile. It is well worth the time to visit, however plan to spend the entire day as there is so much to see and learn!

Back to the Center Along the Gulf

“At the Beach – Time You Enjoyed Wasting, is not Wasted.”

-T.S. Eliot, American-English poet, playwright, literary critic, and editor

Sticking to the Gulf Coast we ventured into the Sarasota area to find more sugary beaches!  For the most part, the weather cooperated and we had the entire week of sun and warmer weather, hanging around 70 degrees, which the locals were saying was just a little cool for this time of year, but that wasn’t going to stop us! We set our sights on the barrier islands, hitting Cortez Beach, Coquina Beach, Whitney Beach and Anna Maria Beach just to name a few. All of them were nice and wide, had the fine white sugar sand and very few people!

While being serenaded by the sounds of the ocean, we were entertained by the people strolling by and the birds swirling around us! Some of the birds, when gliding along searching for small fish to eat, would dive headlong into only about 4″-6″ of water right off the beach! The first several times we witnessed this fishing technique, we were certain that each bird would break its neck, however all of them would quickly take off and search for more! Simply amazing!

Still the Center, Yet Back on the Atlantic Coast

Whiplash is in order, because we migrated to the Atlantic coast again! This time, we hit the Daytona Beach area! Talk about an iconic area of Florida! Home to the Daytona 500 Nascar race and one of the most popular beaches for spring breakers!

When we arrived in the Daytona area, and looked up what to do and see, we found out we were just in time for the Daytona 500 race! Laura surprised me by “demanding” that we get tickets to the race so she could watch Nascar racers “turn left” for several hours with about 150,000 other screaming fans! Well, we searched high and low for tickets only to discover this event was “Sold Out”, we were completely bummed!

…Oh Curtis is so very, very funny!!! I guess that’s how we’ve made it to 220+ years?! It was all I could do to just get us out of the traffic!! (I’m going to need a vacation after this vacation…)

Sans tickets, it was time to hit the true Daytona Beach. Lunch was the first order of business and Crabby’s Beachside restaurant caught our eye! We ended up ordering the “Key West Grilled” (10 large skewered shrimp, Caribbean Mahi Mahi and Conch Fritters) and the Scallop & Shrimp Lobster Bisque Pot Pie, all while sitting on their large deck listening to the ocean waves. Good eats and good atmosphere!

Next up, was the older area where a pier juts into the Atlantic just as it has since 1925 when it was built. It’s withstood all sorts of disasters and a section was currently under repair due to a hurricane from the previous season. We leisurely strode its length, walked around the nearby small shops on, and strode down the boardwalk to Ritchey Plaza Bandshell. Nostalgia set in remembering watching MTV Spring Break…remember that?! And after all of that walking, wouldn’t you know it?! Curtis found another ice cream shop to try out! OMG, is he ever going to get enough of the ice cream!

Another day, another beach town. This time it was New Smyrna Beach. In its quaint historic square, we found a delightful little restaurant called Yellow Dog Eats. Their menu offerings were very unique and the food tasted great! Laura even had fun “talking” with one of the “furrier” patrons while at the restaurant. Guess the little guy just wanted her opinion as to what to order! We have had a lot of fun during out travels searching out smaller and more unique restaurants to experience and have not been disappointed!

Older and Wiser, Yet Effortlessly Younger, in Northern Florida

“I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.”

-John O’Donohue, Irish poet and author

It was again time to hitch up the 5th-wheel and motor north again to the Jacksonville area! Our landing, this time, was at a smaller RV campground, St. Mary’s Cove right on a gentle bend of the St. Mary’s River, which makes up the border between Georgia and Florida.

The host was very accommodating, allowing us to pick our spot from the remaining available ones. We set ourselves up so we had a nice view of the meandering waters! Next day, we decided to stay at the campground, set up our recliners and enjoy watching the river slowly flow along (Look! The other bank is Georgia!). The day was completely blue skies (for a change) and in the lower 70’s, perfect for enjoying sunshine and letting the stress melt away (…retirement traveling is a lot of work!).

Reinvigorated, we saddled up on the trike to ride into the city of Jacksonville and check out the activities of the area. There are two very nice riverwalks that flank the St. John’s River as it bisects the downtown area of Jacksonville; the Northbank and Southbank. We ended up exploring both of them, enjoying another sunny day and water lapping long the river’s edge. The Southbank Riverwalk welcomes footsloggers with a large water fountain, known as the Friendship Fountain. It’s mesmerizing to watch its choreographed jets prior to setting off along the path. And in case you want to linger longer, you can laze upon a number of sail-shade canopied benches along the way.

Unfortunately, a large portion of the Northbank Riverwalk area was being renovated, so we weren’t able to walk directly alongside the river. However, this gave us the opportunity to wander through the city. To our surprise, it felt and looked a lot like Denver, Colorado. Several of the buildings even looked identical to ones that we know well! Another pleasant surprise was the city’s robust mural public arts display. We marveled at their beauty as we wended our way around, eventually making our way to the city square in front of the courthouse where live bands were playing and artisans were hocking their wares. A perfect setting for us to stop for a coffee and partake in the entertainment.

“History is who we are and why we are the way we are.”

-David McCollough, American historian

Hopping back up on our trike, we drove through a number of the historic neighborhoods; Riverside, Avondale, San Marco, Springfield and Murray Hill areas. While slowly driving around, we were surprised by how many of the areas seemed very similar to the older historic neighborhoods of Denver, Colorado, such as South Park Hill, and others. We enjoyed seeing the older homes and kitschy retail establishments, all of which were extremely well cared for!

San Marcos Historic District Area

Island Time!

On a nice sunny, yet cool morning, we weren’t set on exactly what we might want to do throughout the entire day, so we packed up our truck with our bikes, paddle boards and beach wear to be ready for anything, and headed out to the barrier island coastal area to the northeast of Jacksonville. Our first stop was Big Talbot Island State Park where it was cool enough to start our day by checking out the bike trails. We enjoyed an easy 10-mile bike ride along the Buccaneer Trail” all the way south to the Little Talbot Island State Park, after all …. no hills here!

After our ride, we grabbed our beach chairs and lunch, and went on a sedate hike in search of a quiet slice of beach area to enjoy the early afternoon. Big Talbot Island has a very unique beach called the “Boneyard“! A section of this beach is littered with several very large Oak trees that were once growing along the coast, yet succumbed to the relentless erosion from the rising waters of the Atlantic, causing them to topple onto the beach about 20-feet below. As they lay along the water’s edge now, and are subjected to ever encroaching daily tides, the salt deposits from the water deters microbial colonization, slowing the decaying process. Day after day, they bake in the sun, bleaching white as a bone. It makes for an eerily beautiful visage.

Further down the shoreline we came across another unique aspect of the beaches in this area; it is a geologic anomaly that gives way to the misnomer Blackrock Beach, because it actually looks like black lava rocks are poking through the sand! Walking alongside the formations, it took us a while to realize that it wasn’t rock at all. In fact, you can poke your fingers right into it and it will fall apart. In actuality it is a spodosol soil formation (you knew that, right?!) that is extremely bizarre, yet beautiful in its own poopy way!

The bike ride, and walking for several miles on the beach made for a good day of exploration, not to mention the fact that we had nearly a 70-mile drive to get back to the RV for the evening. Time for a good day to come to a close!

The following day found us heading out to Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park along the coast on the east side of Jacksonville. The park has both biking and hiking trails, so we loaded up our bikes again! Upon arrival, we decided to have a relaxing lunch while enjoying the beach first. Instead of sugar sand made up of ground shells, we noticed that this beach was made up of smaller sea shells that were still intact. So, we spent some time picking through them and collecting a few. Not sure what we’re going to make with them yet, but we’ll think of something.

Of course, the gulls in the area also liked “watching” us eat our lunch, hoping that they might get a morsel as well. They were disappointed when they didn’t get anything and we left to take the hiking trail, rather than the biking trail. It was a nice 3-mile hike through very dense vegetation that encircles a lake. Hard to believe that we were just on the outskirts of the city. We stayed vigilant trying to spot those gators, however we still didn’t see any.

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”

-Marcus Garvey, Jamaican political activist and founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)

For our last day in the Jacksonville area, we decided to visit a Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve that is part of the National Parks system, which you’ve most likely never heard of before; the Kingsley Plantation. Once arriving on Fort George Island, you turn onto a very long dirt road which is enclosed by vegetation and trees (similar to much of Florida). Of course, if you didn’t know any better, it would simply be a lovely drive that eventually opens out onto a beautiful property settled at the northwest point between the Garden Creek Marsh and the Fort George River. However, knowing it’s history, it set the stage for the oppression that once lay ahead. Naturally ominous and isolating.

As with most former cotton plantations, it was only successful because of its use and exploitation of slave labor. Befittingly, the tour starts at the slave quarters, then continues through the property to the barn where the cotton was ginned and all of the other planation work was completed, finally concluding at the large waterfront “owner’s” mansion. After the tour, it was terribly clear the overall disparity and brutality that slaves were subjected too. Very sobering and a truly sad narrative of how a belief that one human being is better than or above another, only culminates in cruelty and the showcasing of the worst of humanity.

“When you KNOW better, DO better.”

-Maya Angelou, American memoirist, poet and civil rights activist

With our stay ending in Jacksonville, so ends our odyssey through Florida. We had a great time exploring the many different regions and areas of Florida, met a lot of wonderful and helpful folks along the way, and loved the sandy white beaches!

Our next stop will be along the costal area of Georgia. Savannah here we come!

Follow us as we continue our escapades…