TOUR AMERICA 2019: FLORIDA PANHANDLE

Home Is Where We Park It:  Blackwater River State Park

Date:  May 3, 2019

Hiking – Discovery – Learning

Two of us have adjusted to Central Time, want to guess who hasn’t?  Come this morning, come 5:30 am and Mr. Marti thinking it was really 6:30 am demanded his first potty break.  Oh well, at least he wasn’t doing his business on the rug inside.  Maybe by tomorrow he will know better.

Today we had nothing concrete planned.  We were going to sit back and plan the next several days of sight-seeing.  Which we did.  However, once that was done I got restless and decided to learn a bit more about Blackwater River State Park.

Blackwater River State Park was established in 1967. The park opened to the public on November 22, 1968 and consisted of 360 acres. On July 17, 1981, the park acquired 230 acres from the Division of Forestry. Today, the park contains 590 acres of upland pine forests, swamps, and scrubby ridges and is surrounded by the Blackwater River State Forest.

Blackwater River State Park is considered one of the purest sandbottom rivers in the world, the Blackwater River is in its natural state for almost its entire length. Beginning

45 miles upstream in Alabama, it continues downstream for 13 miles before emptying into Blackwater Bay. The river’s sand bottom, dark tannin waters and contrasting large, white sandbars have drawn worldwide attention and provide the perfect setting for this 590- acre park.

Enough history let’s go for a hike and we’ll begin here.

Away we go!  An easy trail at this point.

First lesson learned on the trail.

Now we learn about the Florida Pinelands.

Onto the boardwalk that leads across the swamp.

Look what we see next!  Really?  Time to watch my step.

I much prefer this sign which I came upon next as I moved across the boardwalk.

A wetland alongside the boardwalk.  Unfortunately, no turtles nor alligators today.

This is the campers beach.  I guess you could call it a beach, the river here is only about two feet deep, the water is rather warm, and the sand is really fine.  A perfect place to either get a tan or stick a toe in and sort of cool off.

Time to move on.  I believe we’ll go down this trail today and discover where it leads.

Off we go, one foot in front of the other.  I wonder where I’ll end up?

I bet someone with an artistic mind and wood working skills could really make something out of this piece of driftwood.

Decision time, right or left?   Since I once again had forgotten my map I really had no idea where either would lead me.  I went right this time.

Steps or roots, I always seem to find one or the other or sometimes both!  Watch your step!

Another discovery on the trail.  The green plant to the left of the plaque is called Yupon which is a true holly and is often used in Christmas decorations.

I finally found the boardwalk and the pavilion.  I still had no idea where I was but that was OK with me.

Next discovery.

The 1982 Florida Champion, recognized as the largest of its species.

Continuing on the trail of discovery.

This I was told was the way out.

So it was!  A sidewalk that lead to a parking lot, then to the road to our camping area.

Back home in the camper area I noticed this.  How neat.  It’s got a really short wheelbase so it can’t be all that long.  I hope to meet its owner in the next couple of days.  I especially would like to hear the story behind it’s name.

Time now to meet another of God’s beautiful people.  This is Jeff.  Later in the day I would meet his wonderful wife and her mother.

Jeff is a Veteran. who lives in Pensacola.   He just bought a trailer and and comes here on weekends.  We spent some time just sharing stories and getting acquainted.  I hope to spend some more time with him over the next couple of days.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  Once again it was a wonderful day from start to finish.  As always we did it our way, traveling along, hand in hand, singing our song.

Thanks for coming along with us it was great having you with us.  Join us again tomorrow as we embark on our first sight seeing trip.  Till then have a good night.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road