Living & Exploring Life ~ Wakulla Springs State Park

 Hello, Beautiful friends!  Welcome to this cozy spot! I am sharing our vacation adventures. We took a very long overdue vacation to celebrate a few years of missed anniversaries and vacations. Empty Nesting allows us to do this now. :) I am sharing our first stop as we travelled to Florida. Grab a drink and a cozy blanket and let me take you on a little trip.....

We hit the road bright and early from the good ole' state of Mississippi. We headed toward Tallahassee, Florida. This was our first stop of MANY stops. We started our explorations at Wakulla Springs State Park in Wakulla Springs, FL. 

The first thing we did was hop on a boat to tour the spring. We saw a ton of alligators, birds, and ducks, and the sounds of these birds were absolutely amazing. One literally made a sound like a monkey. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of it. 

The boat ride was well worth the $7 a person. It costs a few dollars to enter this state park. There are many hiking trails, swimming, and so much more. We were pressed for time, so we just enjoyed the boat ride and made reservations to eat at the only lodge in a Florida State Park. It was good. Nothing fantastic, but it was nice to eat there after our boat ride. We planned our boat ride at 4 and then dinner at 5:30. It was a perfect plan. 

I saw my first manatee in person. I know I shared this on Sunday, but I am so in love with them. They are gentle, loving creatures, so they say.

Wakulla had no shortage of wildlife. We saw more alligators here at this stop than we did on our tour in the Everglades National Park. 

I had a hard time catching images of them because they were well hidden. But we did see a 12 ft one, according to the guide. He was massive!!!!! Here are a few shots of some wildlife and our tour.

The film from the 50's called the Creature of the Black Lagoon was filmed here as well as a Tarzan film in 1941. I could totally see how this location would be perfect for it.

 

 

This was the lodge where we had dinner and dessert. It had beautiful architecture. The Chocolate Torte was delish. 

Here is a mama gator and she had some babies close by. 

The spring was absolutely clear and and overall, I give this place a 4 out of 5 trees (trees besides stars when it comes to rating parks and outdoor things), and I would love to go back when I have more time to really take advantage of hiking the trails. 

I hope you enjoyed our little recap of our trip!!

With Love, 

Chrissy T