About a week ago I had gotten a notice that the Old City Farmer's Market I regularly table at was going to be cancelled this past weekend. After the joy created from our Thanksgiving camping getaway, I got online right away and quickly planned a last-minute camping trip. This time we would drive just over three hours and spend Friday night northwest of Tallahassee in Florida Caverns State Park, and Saturday night along the Gulf at St. George Island State Park.
We arrived at the Florida Caverns State Park at the perfect time, as 100 children boarded two school buses and left the park. Alex and I immediately signed up for the cave tour and were fortunate enough to get a private tour of one of Florida's natural features!
The tour lasted just shy of an hour and we visited about eight or nine rooms that showed off a bunch of formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, and more. Our State Park Ranger guide was knowledgeable and pretty cool to talk with. We learned the cave was originally excavated by the Civilian Conservation Corps during Roosevelt's presidential term. There were still remnants of nails and trail markings that helped them to shape the cave floor to allow visitors and navigate in near pitch black conditions.
Toward the end of the tour, one of the rooms was lit with different colored lights, which I renamed the "grateful dead room." I wasn't a fan of the novelty during our walk around the room, but I have to admit it made for some really neat photos.
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| Walking down to the entrance of the cave |
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| Fall leaves!! |
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| Did you know that it takes 100 years to form just one cubic inch of a cave formation?!? |
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| Marveling at the cave formations. Yes, we're dorks. |
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| "The Greatful Dead Room" |
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| Stalactites, stalagmites, cave curtains and more in the "Greatful Dead Room" |
At the end of the tour, we headed to our campsite. Since we booked so late, the only sites left were next to the "equestrian area." I'm really surprised by how great these somewhat-secluded primitive sites were. There were three next to each other with small foot trails connecting each of them. It would be great for a small group for the weekend that just wants to get away. I highly recommend it!
The rest of the day we took a nice hike around some beautiful native trees, sinkholes and a tunnel cave. Living in the northern part of the sub-tropics, we had a blast kicking up leaves and actually utilizing our heavier duty trekking boots. We swam in a nearby spring named "Blue Hole," and cooked a healthy dinner over an open fire.
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| Great campsite near the equestrian stables. |
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| Starting the heat for our dinner |
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| Dinner! Steamed squash, zucchini, mushrooms, bell peppers and onions. |
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| Had a visitor during dinner. Still haven't found out what kind of arachnid he is. Maybe a wolf spider? |
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| Leaves! Fall! Boots! |
Check out Thursday's post for Part 2 of our Gulf Coast Camping Excursion!
Looks like a great time. I didn't realize there were caverns in Florida. The "Grateful Dead Room" looks beautiful with all those lights!
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