10. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park - September 7, 2009

Well, I am ashamed to say I have never read one of Marjorie Kinnan Rawling's books. Not for a lack of not owning them either -- my great-grandma bought me "The Yearling" and my Aunt Diane bought me "Cross Creek" when I was a child. They both put beautiful inscriptions in them and they have always been in the "I will get to that eventually..." pile. Well, I have moved them to the top of the list after visiting her home. I imagine some people think it is silly to keep famous people's homes in tact. For me, it shows their personality and brings their writing to life.

To give an idea of what Ms. Rawling thought of her home, there is a sign at the entrance that is a direct quote from "Cross Creek." "It is necessary to leave the impersonal highway, to step inside the rusty gate and close it behind. One is now inside the orange grove, out of one world and in the mysterious heart of another. And, after years of spiritual homelessness, of nostalgia, here is that mystic loveliness of childhood again. Here is home." You can tell this is a place she truly loved.


Unfortunately, in the months of August and September the house is closed for repairs. Luckily, since the house was built before air conditioning, the windows were large and plenty. Ms. Rawling's bad and headboard is in her room, along with the same in the guest bedroom. As a matter of fact Robert Frost (I took the road less traveled by) and Margaret Mitchell (Gone With the Wind) both slept in the bed. There is a bathroom in the middle which was the first in the area to get indoor plumbing. We were also able to peek into the living room, dining room, etc.

There was a small house in the yard for the servant and a barn with many of the original tools. To keep the house authentic, they still had chickens and ducks wandering around, which I thought was quite interesting. Ms. Rawling used the farm and orange grove as a way to sustain herself while she wrote. There was a short path through some of the outer land, but it is not often walked and a little overgrown.

Once Tom and I realized the house itself was not open, we were worried about whether or not we would get our stamp. However, Tom is a very observant person and noticed a lady walking around barefoot. He said she must be a worker, and low and behold, he was correct. She was very kind and let us get our stamp. Also, the park was $3.00 to get in and the money had to be left outside in a box. When the house is open, the tour is an additional fee, but I believe it is nominal.

This house was a great place to visit to get a feel for Ms. Rawlings. Now if only I could get to those books...

Til next time,

The camping bug

9. Payne's Prairie - September 6-7, 2009

Payne's Prairie is a unique piece of Florida, the very first state preserve. I had previously walked through some of the trails with my Uncle John, and my Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Wayne's house is close to the prairie, so this one was old hat. We paid $18.00 a night to camp there, a little cheaper than most parks. This is because they have "tent only" sites that have approximatly 1 electrical hook-up for every three tent sites. They then split the savings between the RV sites and the tent sites. Also, the RV sites have shrubbery between each one, while the tent sites are easily seen from one to the other. Therefore, I would recommend booking an RV site that has a tent pad (if you have a tent), so you do not have to set your tent up in gravel, but you have more privacy. Those numbers are 1, 3, 8, 11, 15, 19, 20-33, 37, 41, 44-46, 49 and 50.

Day entrance to the park is $6.00. There is a nice visitor's center with a video about the park. It went through the changes the park had seen since William Bartram wrote about it in 1774, the first written record. For a short period of time, it was even a lake. A short walk outside the visitor's center is an 50-foot observation deck that looks high above the prairie. There are deer and alligators -- but mostly interestingly, if you are lucky you will see wild horses and buffalo. When it was decided to return Payne's Prairie to its orginal state, they decided to also bring in the animals located on the land that had been hunted to extinction. The horses are desendents of the original Spanish horses and the buffalo were brought in from Oklahoma -- the closet breed to the ones from Florida.

Tom and I walked the Jackson's Gap trail, which was about a mile. Nice and shady, there was another part of the prairie fenced off to look at, possibly animals graze there as well. Tom and Uncle Wayne walked the La Chua Trail, which is 3 miles long and sounded a little adventurous to me! The trail is raised, and it goes through a marsh with many alligators - Tom said he saw about eight. There is also a sinkhole on site the trail leads to.

There is also a canoe launch and playground near the campground. It seemed to me this park was best for its trails. Hopefully we will be able to go back sometime for canoeing. It would be nice to walk in the fall or spring as well, maybe I will have to catch another Gator game!

Til next time,

The camping bug

8. Devil's Millhopper - September 6, 2009

As an undergrad, I attended the University of Florida in Gainesville. Sadly, during the two years I spent there, I never visited this park, only about 15 minutes away from campus. It is only $4.00 a carload to get in, so it would be a great way to spend an afternoon or take someone on a cheap date.

Basically, the park is a giant sinkhole, 117 feet deep. Why, you may ask, would you want to see a giant sink hole, particularly this giant sink hole? Because it is like desending into another culture, even another time. Fresh spring water cascades down the rock formations, causing the calming sound of a rainforest. Or, at least the sound they put in Rainforest Cafe. All of the different types of plant life were very unlike Florida. Since a boardwalk was installed for visitors, the life in the sinkhole has been restored -- there are no human footprints to be found.

To desend in the sinkhole, the staircase is 232 steps. When the park was first declared a geological site in the 1930's, the Civilian Conservation Corps put in railway board to climb down on, which meant humans had the ability to go off the normal path. That was remedied in the 1970's with the boardwalk. There is also a bench at the bottom of the staircase, but I felt as though the park could do with another. It was almost as if they did not want you to stay down there.

Other amenities in the park include a 1/2 mile trail around the sink hole, an informative and fairly short video, and picnic tables for lunch. There seemed to be a lot of room by the picnic tables, so I was curious as to why they did not have a pavilion. When I went back to the ranger station, the park ranger had left so I wasn't able to ask. In case you were curious, the park is named for its funnel-like shape -- farmers used to grind their grain in a "hopper" that was a similar shape. In the walls of the sinkhole, it is said you can see the fossils of many animals. Therefore, early settlers saw this as a place the devil himself dragged people and animals into.

It was a quick trip, we were only there about an hour and a half, but worth it to see a sinkhole for the first time.

Til next time,

The camping bug

7. Colt Creek State Park - August 30, 2009

Fun fact- Colt Creek State Park is not only the closest park to Tom's house, but it is also the newest state park in the system! In May of 2006, the park system, in conjunction with Polk County and the Southwest Florida Water Management District, bought the land from the Overstreet family. Therefore, much of the park was undeveloped, but we were able to speak to a park ranger and learn of their plans.

Currently, the park is $3.00 a carload for entry (bring cash because you have to put the money in a box). There are a few nicely sized lakes to walk around. You can fish in these lakes, but I wouldn't say they are big enough for recreational canoeing. There were other guests riding their bike around the lake or walking their pets. There is about 10 more miles of trails, though the one we attempted to go down was flooded. There were benches around the lake, but they were also flooded. It would be a very nice place to take a horse, as the trails are considered equestrian. There is youth camping (like Boy Scouts) but no regular or primitive camping.

To obtain our stamp, we had to call the cell number of the park ranger. I did feel bad about this, but we needed our stamp! The park specialist drove up in her jeep to help us. We also asked her questions about the park, and learned that they have filed for permits to pave the trail around the lake and build a nice ranger station - the current one is temporary. Once the ranger station is built they are hoping to rent out the canoes and kayaks they already own. There are also more long term plans of building campsites and backpacking trails.

I enjoyed going to this park because for the first time we saw not what a park was, but what it has the ability to be. Seeing the development of a park first hand like that will be beneficial to Tom as he persues his park ranger/Americorps dream. Happily, he did put in his application to volunteer at the park!

Til next time,

The camping bug

6. Paynes Creek - August 28, 2009

This weekend Tom and I helped his sister move into her apartment. Therefore, we were not able to go camping so we visited a state park 45 minutes outside of Lakeland, Paynes Creek historic state park. This site was one that does not monitor the ranger station, so make sure to bring $3.00 cash per vehicle. We went to the visitor's center first, which is on the right hand side when you enter the park. The visitor's center holds is small and holds a short history of the area. This park is built around where Fort Chokonikla once stood.

I know what you are thinking -- so what? Well, this fort was built during the Seminole Wars in Florida. What happened was, there was a small general store in town, called the Kennedy-Darling Trading Post. It was built to help improve settler/Native American relations, enabling them to trade with one another. Well, one night only a few months after the trading post opened, the Seminoles attacked and killed two of the owners. Obviously, this caused a public outrage. So, the fort was built. However, the fort only lasted a year before the extreme disease, loneliness, and boredom caused the U.S. Government to shut it down. There are only a few excavated remains of the fort, but the area is marked where it used to stand. As Tom dutifully pointed out, there were no tall trees around the vicinity of the fort, because they had been cut down to build it and for firewood. Interesting observation. The fort also led off into several trails. To the left is a picture of the fort area.

Other than that, there are several other things to do in the park. There is a canoe launch into Paynes Creek, which is a tributary of the Peace River. It was a very steep launch and also a 20 minute walk down a dirt road that was closed to vehicles at the time, so I am glad we didn't haul the canoe. There are nice pavilions in a different section, along with a new-looking playground and swings.

Right past the playground there were two interesting trails. The first only took about 10 minutes for us to walk, and it included a suspension bridge! I felt like Indiana Jones, exploring a lost world.

At the end of the trail with the suspension bridge was the grave site of the two general store owners, erected soon after their death in 1849. Worth the short walk. There was also a trail that led to the site of the general store, but since nothing remained of it, we decided to pass. We had already walked several miles of trail that day. There is youth camping at this park, but no regular camping, which was too bad. I guess there are not enough attractions to warrant it. Nonetheless, I thought it was a good day journey to learn some Florida history first hand.

Til next time,

The camping bug