Suwannee River State Park

Suwannee River State Park

Thursday, July 17, 2014

We arrived here this morning and what a change. 

Way down upon the Suwanee River, Far far from home –

No white sandy beaches or ocean crashing against the shore,

But the Suwanee River still has a charm all it’s own.

Ok, I get it, I'm not a composer, but I sure can try :)

The park is located where the scenic Withlacoochee River joins the historic and world renowned Suwannee River.  Tomorrow, we may take a lazy day paddling trip up the river.  We have a nice campsite that is very large and conveniently located in the park.   We booked two nights for now. 

We got familiar with the park.  When we rode our bikes to the boat ramp we noticed the current in the river was swift.   We decided to the check in office and see if there were any more ramps nearby to put the kayak in.  She said there were a few places upstream where most people put in and then just paddle downstream but we would need to leave the car there.    The nearest place was a little more than 3 miles away.  She was very helpful and gave us a map of the river showing all the ramps.

This is the State Park Ramp

 The river is not as calm as this looks

 The view of a little waterfall below the bridge

I chose not to go kayaking with Ton this morning. We decided we would go together with the kayak and then I would drop him off and come back.  After he landed back here, I would pick him up at our ramp. 

I didn't know what I was in for.

Over a mile of the drive was on some dirt roads and we were 

constantly turning right or left.  I was thrilled

the GPS got us there which meant it would also get me home

The upper picture I took from the middle of the ramp looking down.

 This picture Ton took of me from the bottom looking up
All sand

Relax

Kick up your feet

and enjoy the serenity as you drift downstream.

 Notice the two pictures of this tree.  At one time

the river was so high the one tree fell and

the roots are still in the tree high above 

while the top is in the river.

 This rock looks like an alligator

 and just beyond was the real thing

 The river has many springs

 The bridge ahead is where we were last night

 This is where the two rivers come together

Ton had a beautiful trip and all went well.

Our last day here has arrived

Today we took it easy and Ton went for a walk 

on one of the trails this morning

 He loves nature

but I don't love these

This park has a lot of history.  Early use was by Native Americans 12,000 years ago.  While under Spanish control, the passage of Desoto’s party occurred in 1540.  In 1818 Andrew Jackson lead American forces through this area searching for Indian strongholds believed responsible for raiding settlers.  The town of Columbus, established in 1841 was once located here.  It prospered from river steamboat traffic carrying passengers and freight.

 The town of Columbus, established in 1841 was once located here.  It prospered from river steamboat traffic carrying passengers and freight.

The Columbus Cemetery, one of the state’s oldest and old stagecoach road, a major 1800’s route of travel from Pensacola to Jacksonville, can still be visited in the sand hills. 

 We took our last bike ride together on this trip, down to the river

The river is beautiful and the area has a charm of it’s own.  

We were glad we stopped here.

We will probably leave go home in the morning

unless we turn around and start over again:)

Till next time

Ton and Jeri

Big Lagoon State Park - So Much Fun

Big Lagoon State Park, Pensacola, FL

July 12 – 17.

We were going back to the park in Foley we stayed at the beginning of this trip, because we couldn't get a place by the ocean.  We checked again on the road and found a opening here for three nights.  We booked two, because we didn’t know much about this park. 

 WOW – We loved it on first site. 

 Once set up, and seeing the amenities, we were convinced

we were staying.

 The campsite was only $11 a night for Florida Senior residents, and it is on a lagoon and  the intercoastal.  Our camping here included free entry in Perdido Key and Tarkiln Bayou too. Perfect – Now we will have beaches, kayaking on the lagoon & trails if we choose.  So we booked the third day they had on our spot. That meant we would leave on Monday morning.  

 We ate lunch and hopped on our bikes to explore the park.  We arrived here in the afternoon so didn't have much time to do other things.

Sunday,afternoon, we headed out to Perdido Key.  We had been there last year and loved it, but this time we didn't even have to pay the entry.  What a bonus.

Perdido Key State Park opened as a state preserve.  It is a 1.4 mile  white sand beaches and rolling sea oat covered dunes makes it an oasis in the middle of a rapidly developing Florida panhandle. 

When we arrived,

Ton carried most of the gear

and set us up making sure

I was comfortable

 then headed out to test the water

while the seagulls in front of me

battled over a section of the beach.

After two days including some time on the beach,

We went up to the office and asked if anything else had opened up.  The ranger said that site 9 was open until Thursday, but she couldn't promise it would stay open.  It was not a reservable site and we were already committed to our site.

She told us if we wanted to take it she would switch us to the new site right away and then we could let them know how long we wanted it.  Awesome.

We added only 2 nights as we were thinking of maybe going to the Naval Base on Tuesday, if they found a spot for us.  

We watched the evening news and ate some supper 

and then went to the East beach here in the State Park

to explore some more and go on the observation deck.

This was the view from the top. This is the lagoon
That Ton wants to kayak tomorrow.  It's so pretty 
from here and I'm only half way up.

Between the beach, sun, sand, and ocean breeze today--

and the bike ride to here tonight
it was a Beautiful Day
but.... a BAD Hair Day!  LOL

I rode my electric bike across the deck to get here

from our campsite.  

This is big lagoon and the intercoastal connects on the right

Looking across to the National Seashore.

We are only 3 miles from the U.S. National Aviation Museum.  Hmmmmm

Home of the Blue Angels and they have a practice in the morning so maybe we will go watch them again since they are so close.  We could leave the cameras home and simply enjoy the show this time without trying to get the perfect picture.  There is a new I max movie there now too, so who knows.

Another day and Ton went kayaking this morning in the

lagoon we looked at from the observation deck last night.

 He paddled across the inter-coastal to the National Seashore

 Beached the kayak for some pics

Relax and head back to the State park 

Half way across and he sees the campground ahead

 Back in the Lagoon for some calmer waters 

 with beauty at every bend

After supper tonight, we drove over to the National Seashore to check out the ocean side of the Peninsula.  They lock the gates early so we only stayed about an hour.

A wonderful day

Today is the only day this week that the angels have a practice.  We left early and arrived at Naval Museum at 9:30 and sat on the flight line front row for the 11:30 show.  The yellow rope at the bottom of this picture is the only
thing in front of us.  Great   Before long the little practice training planes came out just to pass the time before the Blue Angels came out.

10:30, the skies got darker, 11:00, lightening in the distance.  BUMMER!!! Two minutes before they were taking to the air, it was cancelled.  We can understand the safety’s first and we didn't drive far to get there.  We were thankful we got to see it in April.

The weather didn't clear and it was a all day rain.

Day 5 and this is our last day in this wonderful place.  The sun is shining and not a cloud in the sky and we can’t decide what to do first.  We decided on Kayaking.  We started out by going over the intercostal waterway and beached the kayak for a little bit and then paddled back.

 1st stop

on the Nat'l seashore

 We were so happy here

 Back across the inter coastal to the lagoon.

Once back to the state park, we paddled the entire length of the lake and into the lagoon.  

 Ahead is the deck we were on 

 It was so relaxing and so much fun.  Ton did a lot of paddling and I sat behind him enjoying the scenery with my paddle beside me.  I didn’t lift a finger and use it once.  

  I sometimes think I might be spoiled.  J   We have had such a great time.

After lunch we went to the Ocean and relaxed on Perdido Key.  It wasn’t busy and was so peaceful sitting under our umbrella and watching the Pelicans flying over the sea gulls and little crabs scurrying across the sand. 

We have had such a great time here & don’t really want to go home; but know it’s necessary.  We will pull out in the morning and already look forward to coming back.