When you open yourself up to life, Life opens up to you!: Blue Springs State Park, Orange City, Florida

Been a while since I posted and am still playing catch up from not having reliable internet for several weeks. Planned on doing that but instead, going to fast forward and share our day at Blue Springs State Park, located in Orange City, Florida. It's about 5 mile from where we are staying and even looked into camping there but no luck getting a site this time of year. I'll go back in time after this post.

2/5/2020

We are at a campground (oh excuse me) a RV Resort, they all call themselves that these days, in Orange City, Florida. While checking out the area, came upon Blue Springs State Park, billed as Winter Home of Manatee. Ooh, that sounds promising, oh and look they have boat tours and, and Segway Tour around the park. Oh that is a must. Hadn't tried a Segway yet, but have wanted to, so thought this would be a perfect opportunity. Not on city streets but in the quietude of a park. Oh and what fun it was. They give you about a 15 minute lesson on how to ride and control the Segway, (which really is enough for the basics) and then away you go on a 2 hour tour. Nervous, yes, scary, a little, fun, yes indeed. What a good time, and such a beautiful park. We kept to the back trails stopping here and there along the way; saw lots of birds and some deer.

Stopped at one area where there is a large depression with trees growing in it, turns out it is a sink hole. Cool, have heard about them and know Florida is full of them and now got to see one. It's a old one seeming to be stable and rather cool see the tree tops on an otherwise flat terrain. Also saw the damage being done by the feral pigs that have moved into the area. Another stop along the tour was to the Springs, and Manatee! What huge but oh so graceful looking creatures. Perhaps more on that later. The guide, Sean, was informative, talking about the area, the springs and the wildlife that can be found there, educational and fun, my kind of perfect. Headed back and celebrated neither of us falling off. LOL

Would I ride a Segway again, oh yes, even in a busier area. Great way to get around.

We were going on the boat tour later in the day so had a couple of hours on our own to walk around. There is a well maintained boardwalk that runs along the spring and you can while away the time moseying along watching the manatee, and many species of fish that swim in the spring. The Blue Spring runs off the St Johns River, the venting at the top of the spring keeps the waters at around 72 degrees even in the colder weather. This is perfect for the manatee and they flock there during the winter months. High count recently was 333 in one day. While we where there the count went up to 243. Now mind you they are not all at the spring at the same time but you can easily see fifty or more just as you walk along. The waters are so clear you can see the bottom, beautiful bluish color. During the summer you can swim, dive, snorkel, and paddle the spring but it is closed to that between November and March due to the Manatee. (Note: Checked the count today: Yesterday 434!!)

Blue Spring State Park was at one time a Steamboat Landing site. Here is an excerpt from the parks website:

“Blue Spring is a first magnitude spring on the St. Johns River. Gold Rush prospector turned orange-grower Louis Thursby purchased Blue Spring in 1856. Before the railroad rolled through in the 1880s, Thursby's Blue Spring Landing was a hotbed of steamboat activity, shipping tourists and goods to Jacksonville and beyond. Mrs. Thursby was Orange City's first postmistress. 'The Forgotten Mermaids,'

an episode of the Underwater World of Jacques Cousteau, was

filmed here in 1971. The documentary brought attention to the manatee and the importance of Blue Spring as a winter refuge, greatly influencing the state's decision to purchase the land.”

You can tour the Thursby house while at the park. Sorry no photo.

Now it was time for our Boat Tour on the St. Johns River, the tour company aptly named: St Johns River Cruises. How exciting, while waiting to load we got to see a Momma and Baby swim by! Again had a great time seeing, birdlife, manatee, alligators, even some wild turkey. The guide again was fun, informative, and educational. Definitely worth the money.