Sailing Along in Silver Springs

Although The Villages and Ocala, Florida, were not exactly my cup of tea, we did like some of the natives! I've seen cranes, herons and egrets in Michigan, but they have never walked up to me in a hotel parking lot before. No matter how many times we see these beautiful big birds in Florida we would still get excited.

Hunting brown anoles

After the (birthday) party was over, a few quilt shops visited, a few Virtuals claimed, we headed off to the next recommendation of ShelleyJean, Silver Spring State Park! 

Initially we resisted it because our time was so limited & we really wanted to dip our feet in the Gulf Coast. But SJ was relentless which is a key indicator that this was a must-visit stop. PLUS, we discovered there was only 1 cache onsite - a D/T 3/5 Virtual (Virtual!) needed for our Fizzy Grid! 

Checking our apps for travel times and creating our list of priority stops for the day, we figured if we started really early, we could make it with time to enjoy ourselves. We were the first ones in!

passing the shops

So, what's the draw? 

The beautiful blue and green water that you can explore via boardwalks, canoes, and glass-bottomed boats!

NO FILTERS!

Regretfully, the entire day in Silver Springs was overcast so most of our pictures did not do the water justice. As much as I love my home state, this park gave Kitch-Iti-Kippi (Palms Book State Park) a run for its money (or more!).

And there was wildlife, too! The Merlin App identified this as an Anhinga? Can anyone verify that? There were giant turtles and fish, too. Rumor has it the boardwalk to the right of the entrance is home to many, many monkeys (we didn't see or hear them). 

And, then, of course, there's the gators. We were working on an Adventure Lab (fail!), and TaGeez & I took different paths. Mine was in some high palms, thick underbrush and slightly under water. I was thinking, "No, are there gators this far North? Can't be." It was eerie. This was the sign I found at the end of the path!

This sign was just outside a pavilion that feature the TV show, Sea Hunt. A local told us he spied a 6-foot baby gator there a few weeks ago.

"In the 1930s, Hollywood discovered Silver Springs and over the years, scenes from at least 20 movies were filmed here, including Rebel Without a Cause starring James Dean, Distant Drums starring Gary Cooper, the James Bond movie Moonraker, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and six Tarzan flicks. 

Episodes of television shows such as Sea Hunt, were filmed at Silver Springs as well. In fact, legend has it that Sea Hunt star Lloyd Bridges learned to SCUBA dive at Silver Springs!"

[source] 

FINALLY! Time to board one of the famous glass-bottomed boats! Visitors had been visiting since the 1870's, and these boats have been an attraction here since the 1920's. I am not a fan of boats, but I'd love to go back one day!

"THEY might look like ancient relics but these underwater statues are actually leftover props from the 1960s TV series I Spy. The props were abandoned after filming in a lake at the Silver Springs State Park in Florida."

[source] 

Moving too fast for a good photo of the statues

WE DID IT!

We had an amazing time - Florida is beautiful! And with our boat coming within 16 feet of the posted coordinates, we can claim our D/T 3/5 Virtual and ticked another box in our Fizzy!

30 Pieces of Silver Virtual GC7B6G0

Now, time for lunch. How does dining on the Gulf of Mexico sound? Off to Gulfport!