Quick blog tonight…We arrived at this park about 2PM..It is just South of Gainesville, FL…and a very nice park…The sites are a little tight, what with the hanging trees and some are a bit narrow…Here are a few pics….
This is McGyver trying to find a hole through the trees for our TV satellite…We didn’t unhook here, the site was pretty level…It is a bit sandy, and I am trying to keep from tracking the sand in the camper…At our last site, it was the gravel, here is it sand…”Oh well, that’s why they call it CAMPING for God’s sake, Donna!!” (That was a direct quote from none other than….)
We took a walk on a paved walkway that took us through the beautiful Palmetto and moss draped Live Oaks..This place IS literally dripping with Southern ambience…
There was a wonderful pavilion with huge bricked-in quadruple charcoal grill…and an amphitheater overlooking the lake with benches for lectures and presentations…We also found a great playground for kids on this walkway…
This kid was a little too big to play on it…I really loved this walk…I need to mention that this park is not far from the home of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, the American author who wrote, among other books, The Yearling…We are staying at Griffin Lake on our way back North, which is also very close to her home..I really want to visit her Florida home, as our Aunt Jeanette told us about it…She and Uncle Jr. visited it before it became a historic landmark, back in the 60’s….and you all know me and my “channeling history”….
We arrive at LaBelle, FL tomorrow for 2 weeks..You know darn well I will blog more from there….OK, I told you this was to be a quick blog….and it is already waaaay past cocktail hour….I MUST TAKE LEAVE!! MY RUM BOTTLE IS CALLING ME!! Hang on Captain, I will get you down from the shelf shortly..
Welcome to the south!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Judy!! We haven't been here since our daughter got married at Long Boat Key in 2005...and we were chased by Hurricane Katrina all they way to the Georgia border....Thinking of you next week...Good Karma is coming your way, girlfriend!!
Deleteone of the best things about the rio grande valley is the proximity to Progreso Mexico where the Captain can be had for 24 dollars for TWO bottles...
ReplyDeletePayne Prairie State Park looks great. I want to make it to the Rawlings house this year too.(We are near Longboat Key for the month of January.) A fellow blogger wrote about the Rawlings house and inspired me to check it out. Watching the original movie of The Yearling with Gregory Peck would be fun too.
ReplyDeleteRawlings house
Cheers! hope you enjoyed happy hour!!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy yourselves! And tell the Captain hello...
ReplyDeleteWe were at Paynes Prairee last week and saw the Bison and Wild horses while we were there - pretty great campground and lots and lots of biking opportunities. Pretty common to see the wild horses, but the bison are usually a little.. reserved - also lots (and I mean lots) of large gators.
ReplyDeleteJust accidently came by your blog. Read sometime ago the home of Ms Rawlings was closed by the state - the confounding economy, you know. Wish it weren't so - I visited in '91, Quite unique. A closet glassed on the outside kept her garments dry from the humidity. Would loved to have seen it all again at a slower pace. Later I read all her books I could find. Soon I will be traveling/living in Ocala AND Tennessee. Good times ahead! Family all over Florida. Whoopee!
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