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| Boardwalk to Suwanne River |
Florida St Rt 316 led us thru tall pine forests and past
fancy horse ranches outlined with black, 4 board fences and dotted with grazing
horses or large herds of black and brown cattle. North of Chiefland on a back road was the Suwannee River Hideaway
- a Passport America Campground. We had
stayed there several years ago on one of our trips south. Of course the temps were cooler then and we
did have a nice corner spot to park on.
This time we were
directed to the back of the park and it was like
parking in an open field that was covered with sand hills full of biting red
ants. The brochure said wifi and cable but the cable was still iffy at best and
the wifi was only available in the clubhouse and kept cutting out. Last time we rode our little bikes out on
the 1800 ft boardwalk that led to the Suwannee River and we had to check it out
again. This time we walked the long
wooden bridge that had railings made of those thin steel cables. I could not walk and talk at the same time
for fear of falling off the walkway!
All the rain that has drenched the state of Georgia and the Okefenokee
Swamp has now drifted downstream and has flooded the banks all along the way -
- including the area beneath this boardwalk!
At the rivers edge, the floating dock was still floating but the steps
that led to it were under the tannic colored water!  |
| Suwannee River |
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| Sunset at Cedar Key |
In December, Cedar Key is not full of tourists and is colder
and grayer. Not so in March! The
streets were crowded with cars and pedestrians. Families filled the small
beach. Our usual upstairs café was
closed so we chose the bigger, more expensive 2-story restaurant in the big
brown building that sat next to the boat launch and overlooked the gulf. Bad choice.
The service in the upstairs section was so slow and we were so ignored
that when the waiter finally came and said that the printer was broken and our
order had not been completed yet - we chose to get up and leave. Luckily, we found a back street grill
sitting on the edge of a bayou and ordered 2 grouper sandwiches and enjoyed
them thoroughly!
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| Fanning Springs |
Manatee Springs State Park campground is partially shut down
due to construction but the young lady at the gate allowed us a 15-minute pass
to drive thru the park. We had camped
here several times in the past and it still holds lots of great memories. We strolled across the playground and then
down by the springs, which was also over its banks and over the cement
sidewalks. Since it was the weekend and
a very warm day, it was still full of kids and families.
Fanning Springs State Park is just downstream from Suwannee
River Hideaway and is the nearest fresh water spring. After enjoying the sparkling blue water of Salt Springs so much,
we were so looking forward to cooling off in this spring. The springs were closed! The short quarter mile run to the river was
now a dark brown mess because the run was coming FROM the Suwannee and flooding
the once aqua blue spring! The large
orange barrels that were strung across the opening to the run to keep swimmers
in the spring could not keep out the mess.
Docks and walkways were underwater and covered with slimy green
algae.
Our choice now was to spend an afternoon in the small oval
inground pool at the park. While it was
definitely not Olympic quality, it filled the need for splashing in cool clear
water once more before leaving Florida.
