I have been enjoying pondering over many favourite Florida experiences and now I have come to The State Parks.
It took us many years to discover the State Parks; in fact it coincided with when we discovered staying in a villa beat hotels by a country mile.
The first State Park we ever visited was THe Ding Darling State Park in Sanibel. This little piece of heaven inspired us to take a brochure and plot a few more visits.
That was 18 years ago and since then we have visited many of them; some of them twice.
The next park to steal my heart was Homassassas. This is really different to most others since it is somewhere between a natural park and a zoo. Throw in the fact that you get a free boat ride from the pay entrance on the main road to the park entrance and it is a strong contender.
For the last few years there has barely been a visit when we have not been to Lake Louisa. Here there are stunning lakes, a beach on Lake Louisa itself and walking trails. And best of all it is located ony 15 minutes from our home.
Another enjoyable visit was to De Leon Springs. What a day we had; a pleasant drive to the park was followed by a relaxing boat ride.
After this we had a pancake lunch at the old Sugar Mill and a walk through the trails. There is a spring that you can swim in adjascent to the mill but we had not thought to bring our costumes.
Next up for consideration is Blue Springs. This was a bit less than 2 hours from our home and even though it was a weekday it was pretty busy.
I had packed a scrumptious picnic and we kicked off by enjoying this at one of the many picnic tables under the trees.
We then made our way to the ramp for the boat ride and what a good thing I had booked since it was absolutely full.
We spied a lot of wildlife during the trip, though unfortunately not a manatee. The commentary is very informative and at less than $20 each it was good value.
As we walked back down the river we saw many great photo ops in windows along the banks. We then had a self guided tour through the historic house and stopped awhile to relax on the rocking chairs.
So what gets my number one spot? after much consideration it is going to go to Homossassas; all that natural beauty plus the chance to see so many animals just swings it.
It took us many years to discover the State Parks; in fact it coincided with when we discovered staying in a villa beat hotels by a country mile.
The first State Park we ever visited was THe Ding Darling State Park in Sanibel. This little piece of heaven inspired us to take a brochure and plot a few more visits.
That was 18 years ago and since then we have visited many of them; some of them twice.
The next park to steal my heart was Homassassas. This is really different to most others since it is somewhere between a natural park and a zoo. Throw in the fact that you get a free boat ride from the pay entrance on the main road to the park entrance and it is a strong contender.
For the last few years there has barely been a visit when we have not been to Lake Louisa. Here there are stunning lakes, a beach on Lake Louisa itself and walking trails. And best of all it is located ony 15 minutes from our home.
Another enjoyable visit was to De Leon Springs. What a day we had; a pleasant drive to the park was followed by a relaxing boat ride.
After this we had a pancake lunch at the old Sugar Mill and a walk through the trails. There is a spring that you can swim in adjascent to the mill but we had not thought to bring our costumes.
Next up for consideration is Blue Springs. This was a bit less than 2 hours from our home and even though it was a weekday it was pretty busy.
I had packed a scrumptious picnic and we kicked off by enjoying this at one of the many picnic tables under the trees.
We then made our way to the ramp for the boat ride and what a good thing I had booked since it was absolutely full.
We spied a lot of wildlife during the trip, though unfortunately not a manatee. The commentary is very informative and at less than $20 each it was good value.
As we walked back down the river we saw many great photo ops in windows along the banks. We then had a self guided tour through the historic house and stopped awhile to relax on the rocking chairs.
So what gets my number one spot? after much consideration it is going to go to Homossassas; all that natural beauty plus the chance to see so many animals just swings it.