12. Lake Griffin - October 9th and 10th

Probably the quietest park we have attended so far, Lake Griffin State Park is about an hour outside of East Orlando in Fruitland Park. This is a small community with not much other activity. The park itself sits on 520 acres, which is small for a state park. There are only a few short trails, the picture on the left taken at one. We enjoyed the park for its serenity, spending a chunk of our time sitting on a bench next to the Dead River reading "1984," out current camping book.

There are 40 campsites, only $18 each, which is cheaper than many of the parks we normally attend. The one we picked, 26, was probably too close to the bathroom. When we go back, which we intend to do, we will probably book 22, 23, 0r 24.

The day we got there we canoed out to Lake Griffin. The park itself does not have access, but it is a short, probably 25 minute, canoe ride to the lake. I imagine naming the park "Dead River" would not have been as great for PR. We decided to rent canoes rather than bring ours, and it was only $4 an hour. Tom was pretty excited because they were aluminum canoes, which means they are much lighter but also bang up easier. The picture on the right is a reflection of the sky in the water.



There were many birds on the river, I believe we saw a few sandhill cranes and also the type that swim underwater, the anhinga. I had never seen one in person before, so that was fun. When we canoed past them they would often dive right into the water! A gator also swam in front of us in the river, which is always fun. I am suprised at how used to gators I have really gotten.


The park also had a 300 year-old oak tree close to the entrance. It claims to be the fifth-largest oak tree in Florida. The park included pavilions and a playground for children. See my post about "Payne's Creek", as it is the same playground pictured there. We spoke with the park manager and one of the volunteers at the ranger station and learned that a project they are raising funds for is to build a boardwalk that goes farther out into the Dead River, I believe something like what Blue Springs had. It is a $500,000 project and he did not mention how much had been raised so far.

All in all, if you are looking for a quiet place, this is it. We enjoyed our stay.

Until next time,

The camping bug

11. Sebastian Inlet - September 19th and 20th, 2009

Sebastian Inlet is one of two state parks in Brevard County, where my hometown is located. Suprisingly enough, I had never been there. One of the main attractions is the beach. I have been to Cocoa Beach many times, and also the beaches on the West Coast, so I didn't expect to find much new here. However, the waves were so much larger! One minute I was standing about thigh deep the next second I was at least 10 feet off the ground! It was not very crowded; we were there on a Saturday afternoon and we had a stretch of the beach almost to ourselves.

The campsites were nice. We were not lucky enough to book one that faces the inlet; those are probably booked several months in advance and we only booked about a month out. I believe they were $22 each. The sites away from the inlet were larger, however. They also had the most interesting crabs. They were very small and blended into the foliage on the ground.

We went for a sunset canoe ride through the inlet. I would not recommend this for someone unless they were a strong paddler. The tide was going in at that time and we went the length of about three football fields in 45 minutes. Then we drifted back (no paddling) in 15 minutes. Do not go downstream first! You will never make it back.

The next day, we went to the alcove they have roped off for swimming. It never gets so deep I couldn't touch, but it is large enough that there is plenty of room for everyone. There were little fishes and pelicans lined up on the rocks. People did not seem to bother them and we were able to get pretty close before it appeared as though we were disturbing them, and then we left them alone. The bridge in the picture is A1A.

There is a small museum on site, worth a quick walk through. Even though the video was fairly new, made in 2006, I wouldn't say it was worth the time. Most importantly, I did not think the McLarty treasure museum was worth the money -- it was an additional $2 on top of park entrance. It was not very big and had very few items that were actually pieces from the shipwreck. There is a walkout balcony to look out at the beach, which is where the picture was taken.

It was a nice park with great waves. I am sure we will go back again because it is so close to my home.

Til next time,

The camping bug