Saturday, February 28, 2009

Wakulla Springs

For our final day in Florida, we decided to drive northeast of Carrabelle towards Tallahassee to a state park I had read about, Wakulla Springs. It was an old 1920's resort that sits on top of a large deep aquafer spring. The resort still has a working lodge and restaurant, along with large spanish moss trees and some interesting rhododendrons:

The big feature of the park are the boat tours you can take along the Wakulla river, and the glass-bottom boat tours you can take directly over the spring itself. We decided to take the latter tour and it was a blast. Before hitting the springs, I saw fish jumping out of the water, a heron drying it's wings, and even a large gator taking a mid-afternoon nap along the shore.




Pictures didn't do justice to the views out the glass-bottom boat of the springs. There were various kinds of catfish, garr, and trout swimming underneath us. Even a manitee had been spotted, but unfortunately, not during our cruise.


There's a ledge at the edge of the aquafer where water levels drop from about 14 feet to over 200 feet deep. The water can sometimes appear crystal clear (as it did for us), or can be cloudy and dark if there's been excessive rains and groundwater drainage. In 2007, they were only able to run the glass-bottom boats for 2 days the entire year because of this. So, we felt extremely lucky to see it! A great way to end our trip.
On Saturday, we began our journey back to Chicago leaving the the upper 70's Florida just as a storm was approaching. By the time we got to Nashville that night, a big snowstorm was hitting southern Tennessee and Alabama. We were lucky to leave when we did!

4 comments:

Sketchalina said...

What an awesome journey! I'm looking at buying a t@b right now. Just trying to find out if I can pull it safely with my BMW 330ci. Are you still on the road?

jill hanna said...

I am thinking of buying a T@B to pull with my subaru forester and have really enjoyed reading your blogs and travel adventures. It gives me the confidence to know I can do it myself!! love your blog and am jealous(in a good way) of all the places you have seen and photgraphed!!! thanks Jill

Unknown said...

Lynne,
Just wanted to say "Hi". My name is Peter and I have been reading your blog and enjoying it. I stumbled onto it while doing a search online for compact trailers. I had never heard of TAB but am becoming quite intrigued. They are so cute. I currently live in Michigan but grew up in Vermont so I recognized your New England photos right away. By the way, your photos are beautiful! Anyway, I also own a Subaru Outback and think I may have some questions at some point. Would you be willing to answer some in the future?
I hope this message finds you well!
Sincerely,
Peter Douglas

Lynne (WinnieViews) said...

Hi Peter:
I'd be happy to answer questions anytime. The Outback pulls the T@B very nicely (except for some of the most extreme elevations out West on hot summer days where you've got to take some extra precautions).

I also highly recommend joining the TabTrailers Yahoo Group for tons of great info, owner pictures, and lots of friendly help from other T@B owners.

And if you're REALLY interested-- there's the International T@B/T@DA Rally July 13-17 being held in the Quad Cities (near Moline, IL). You'd be able to see about 50 of these cute little campers all gathered together. We'll be happy to give tours and share potluck goodies with you!