Tallahassee

We been decompressing in Tallahassee for the past three days and I think we have gotten rested. So.... today we ventured out to Wakulla Springs State Park South of Tallahassee. It's one of those "find a gem in a bucket of coal" experiences and so it was today.

It's not prominent in the tour books but what a gem we found. The river shown here is formed from a spring. Going up river the river just stops in a 80 feet deep pool and that's the spring. Down river the scenery is spectacular and the wildlife is abundant.

We saw lots of smallish Alligators (6 to 8 feet). This is typical of the alligators that make their home along the bank. Some were sunning on the shore and some were swimming.

Turtles were abundant with many different varieties. Again some were sunning and some were swimming.

This is the biggest alligator we ran across. The boat captain indicated that he is one of the biggest in the river and is a estimated 12 feet plus in length.

The real surprise of the day was the Manatees we found there. These docile mammals were everywhere in the river and we saw dozens of them. We saw large males, cows with calves and several groups swimming together. The one shown here is just under the water at the front of the boat. Notice how clear the water looks. It really was that clear.

Here's another picture of the river. The boat ride took about a hour and 10 minutes and covered about 6 miles of the river. We took our time and stopped whenever we saw something to stare at.

If you are in the Tallahassee area in the future this is a must stop. The park has some nice hiking and the boat trip is $8 and worth three times that. What a great day and a gem of a park!