A couple months ago we went to Weeki Wachee. I've seen a lot of people posting that this is their favorite spring in all of Florida. Although the springs were beautiful I have to say, they were my least favorite we have visited so far for so many reasons.
I read that the springs fill up early so we headed out really early to get there when they open at 08:00. We got there at 08:07 and the lot was already almost full. We got in the line that was already probably 1/4 mile long and waited for it to start moving. The line was in the sun and it was a hot muggy morning. By the time we got halfway through the line the fire department was already showing up because someone passed out. That was the first of two visits from the fire department over a heat stroke event that day.
It took us about 45 minutes to get through the line and pay. Once we got in we went to setup our site. At every other spring there was a lot of shade. Here there was nothing. Just palm trees and sun. They have grass spots to sit in and you can rent a tent for those spots, or there's the sand where you can rent an umbrella for 20 bucks. They nickel and dime the hell out of you there. You can't bring in your own tubes, you have to rent those as well. They have lockers but those are gonna cost you too. It's a state park that felt more like an amusement park. They had loud music blaring and it was the complete opposite atmosphere I'm looking for when visiting a spring. Oh, and did I mention the sun!
We did have fun. They have waterslides, and despite the ridiculous sun the water was cold. Initially the shock would hit and it was hard to get in. Jump in head under water and it feels great after that. It was a fun day but not a spring I would return to unless we had visitors that really wanted to go there. There are just so many better springs in Florida in my opinion.
And no, we did not watch the mermaid show. Perhaps the mermaid lovers are the ones that rated this spring so highly.
We did not tube that day. I didn't feel like shelling out more money to tube when we could do it without a rental during our next trip to Kelly Park, another post.
This was taken from the sandy spot. To the right you can see where the water slide ends in the springs. I didn't get pictures of the slides but they were pretty big. They had a dock out there that people could swim to and jump off of.
Juniper Springs was supposed to be the first springs we stopped at in Florida but we got rained out just before we got there. So a couple weeks later we took a weekend and drove a little over an hour to the springs.
I liked Juniper better than Wekiva Springs. It cost a lot more to get in but it was far less crowded probably because it's so far away from the major cities. Allegedly there are 3 vents in this basin producing 8 million gallons of water a day. I found one of the vents by the platform at the end and was able to swim down close to rocks. There is an old mill there that runs off the water leaving the spring and in the river we found a couple bubbling spots where water was coming up.
The mill was build in the 1930's to produce electricity for the campground.
The boardwalks were closed. I don't know why they haven't fixed them with what they charge to get in this park.
Under the platform at the end of the springs.
The bridge was closed too because it's eroding.
Bamboo forest by the picnic area.
Hey Zach, why do squirrels swim on their backs?
One of the spots where the water is bubbling up from the ground.
Dean was being a turd and threw a soda can by out of the mill house. Zachy snuck into the walkway that says employees only to retrieve the can and throw it away.
Adri snuck up on the platform to hose down Natalie relaxing on her raft.
After moving into our house our first trip was supposed to be at Kelly Park to do the tube float. Well we got there too late and there were police blocking off the entrance with a sign saying it's closed. I decided to try our luck at Wekiwa Springs instead. We had been here once about 10 years ago when Adri was little. I had Natalie call ahead and they said they were crowded and would probably be full by noon. We made it with an hour to spare.
Zach has been trying hard to hate Florida but every time we take a trip he loves it. He says he likes it 1% more. Every week we take a trip and lately he's been playing Starcraft 2 with me while we're home so I think he's pretty much over the move. I don't know where Adri is on this move yet but Dean is the one kid that it didn't even phase him at all. Dean loves going to the springs but until yesterday at King's Landing (another post coming soon) he hasn't been getting in the water. He loves the beach the most and says he never wants to leave.
Like most Florida springs the water here was 72 degrees. On a hot day the water feels better at the springs than at the beach.
This is the no swim zone where everyone goes canoeing. This is all part of the same system as King's Landing and Kelly Park.
Sunday we went to Wekiwa Springs, not to be confused with the nearby city Wekvia Springs or the Wekvia river which have similiar spelling. I have to say that I was really surprised about the hills in this area. Florida's highest point, Mount Britton, is only 345 feet above sea level making Florida the flattest state. In Broward county the highest point is something like 25 feet so there are no hills down south unless you're talking about Mt. Trashmore. But driving through Seminole and Volusia county we actually drove up and down some pretty decent hills and you get nice views of the rivers, lakes, and bluffs. Around this spring there are hills probably close to 100 feet tall so you can look out over the river and the spring and a lot of people setup their day camps on the hill above the spring. I know it sounds crazy talking about these little hills but for anyone that has lived in Florida it's a real shocker. Not a big deal if you grew up in California where you have mountains and hills everywhere. Where you can walk a mile and gain more elevation than you would if you crossed the entire state of Florida.
The weather was a little better here than the previous day at DeLeon Springs but still not as good as the nearly 90 degree weather at home. It took a few seconds to adjust to getting in the water but once we were in it was quite refreshing. Adri didn't seem to mind at all.
This park has a nature center with a baby alligator and other animals, 13 miles of trails, bike rentals, canoe rentals, camping etc, so there's enough stuff there to keep you busy for a couple days. There is also epic Redneck/Cholo watching in all these springs. It's almost like going to the local Walmart. Almost everyone at this spring had a tattoo and I wish I would have taken pictures and started a website "tattoos of the Florida springs". Some of the most epic include the guy with Elmo tattooed on his boob, the guy with angel wings on his back, and the girl with two lines with who knows what going across both of her huge thighs. There was also a girl with hoop earings big enough for me to put my leg through. Yes people watching is quite fun at this park.
The first thing Adri said when she saw the water was "go swimming at the beach". I had to teach her to say spring instead of beach. We had to wait a little while before getting in the water and it wasn't easy to control this kid once she saw the water. I was able to distract her though by having her chase a broad headed skink we found.
Once she finally got in the water she had a blast. As you can see I put on her life jacket and was throwing her, one of her favorite games. I taught her to say "throw the baby 1,2,3". One of her other favorite games is telling me "eyes 1,2,3" and then pushing my head under the water (picture below). When I do come up for air I tried to come up as fast as I can and throw her up in the air.. It makes her laugh everytime. After a good swim we took Adri out and let her warm up in the sun. I decided to take her for one last swim before we left so I could wash all the dirt off her. By this time she was so tired she just put her head down on me.
After swimming we decided to get food and I took Adri in the nature center. They have a small Florida black bear and Adri was kissing the glass. You can see by the size of this thing why Florida has never had a bear attack. These bears are tiny compared to the bears up north or back west.
I don't know which spring I liked better, DeLeon or Wekiwa. They both have a lot of activities to offer. I think my favorite though is still Blue Spring, just a few miles away from DeLeon Springs.
After a 3 hour drive home I went out back and found that Adri's butterflies had come out of their cocoons. We opened up the cage and let 8 of them go. I thought we recorded it but Natalie is still learning how to use the video camera so we found out later it didn't get recorded.
There were a lot of these Broad-headed Skinks in the park.
