Wakulla Springs

Up and out at 8:30 AM today to go to Wakulla Springs. It is one of the largest and deepest freshwater springs in the world. The large spring opening lies 185 ft below the surface of the clean, clear water. Roughly 400 million gallons of water flow from the spring per day and maintains a nearly constant water temperature of 69 degrees. The spring is in the headwater of the Wakulla River, which flows about 9 miles to meet with the St. Marks River.

By the springs, Wakulla Springs Lodge was built in 1937 by financier Edward Ball. He was the brother-in-law of Alfred I. du Pont. That relationship made him a very wealthy man. It's a very nice lodge with some impressive features like the stenciled ceiling in the Great Lobby. It was painted by a John Piplack who was the last court painter for Kaiser Wilhelm the last German Emperor and King of Prussia. "Old Joe" is also in the Lobby and we don't mean our friend Joe C;) He was a very large alligator that hung around the springs not bothering a soul. In 1966 he was killed. A reward of $5,000 was offered by the National Audubon Society for the guilty party to no avail. The Lobby also has an interesting art deco elevator which is the only known surviving period art deco elevator still in use. Reminded us of the elevator you enter for Tower of

Terror in Disney World.

Speaking of make believe, a few movies were shot here including "Airport 77." They submerged an airplane in the spring. " Creature from the Black Lagoon" and" Tarzan's Secret Treasure" were also filmed here. This one starred Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan; our favorite Tarzan as kids.

From the Lodge we walked down to the spring and boarded a boat for a guided tour of a portion of the Wakulla River which is a protected area in the State Park. It was an overcast morning. We saw lots of birds, plants and plenty of alligators.

Wakulla Springs State Park and Lodge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated as a National Natural

Landmark.

After our tour our group headed to Seineyard, a local fish restaurant. Choice of Cat, Mullet or Grouper fish baskets with corn fritters and a side. Good but fried which is not our usual choice.

Back to our camp. Since both of us have experienced sea sickness, we spent some time on line figuring out what we needed for the cruise to avoid this. Spoke with a doctor on our caravan and he recommended not using patches unless we get very sea sick. We decided that we are going to get sea bands, ginger capsules but still get the prescription, just in case.