What a wonderful way to begin the month of May. Mom, Britt, Joyce, and I went on another trip, this time to Rainbow Springs. Rainbow is the fourth largest springs in Florida and certainly one of the most beautiful. It's located just north of Dunnellon.
For many years, Rainbow Springs was operated as a privately-owned attraction. Now it is a state park and has been largely given back to nature. There used to be animal exhibits, for example, but all that remains are the enclosures where the animals were kept.
Britt recollects from when he was a kid, a "leaf ride", in which three or four riders sat in a "leaf" and were taken on an elevated ride up and through the trees and around the park. I wish that ride was still there; it would be a lot of fun!
Here we are with the swimming area right behind us. The water remains a constant 72 degrees year round, and this day was very hot, about 95 or so. Many folks were in the water, although 72 seems a little cool to me. But it might feel really great when it's 100 degrees! Also, in some of the pictures, the water appears to be dark green and murky, but the whole springs and the river (as in the top picture) is a gorgeous blue-green and perfectly clear. The lighter colored areas are sand with the darker areas vegetation. It just makes you want to jump in!
Can you see the fish in this picture? The water is about three feet deep here and just like crystal.This headsprings and the Rainbow River is well-known for swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, and canoeing. Just a little while after these pictures were taken, there were about ten canoes right around the swimming area, the passengers paddling lazily, but also trying to avoid one another. I'm surprised we didn't see a couple of tipovers, haha! You can also tube down the Rainbow River from another location. I just know that would be so much fun.
Joyce was kind enough to take a picture of the three of us.
A fellow "tourist" was kind enough to take a picture of all of us in front of one of the waterfalls. The waterfalls are actually man-made, left over from the attraction days. They are soothing and nice to look at and, if you don't look too closely, quite natural-looking. I sat on a rock (in my white pants) beside another waterfall and dipped some cool water to splash my face. Felt good!
Just a couple more pictures....
Joyce snapped this when we stopped as we were leaving the park to get the picture of the sign. You might be able to tell that we were hot and sweaty!
And of course, lunch! We went to The Front Porch, a little country-style restaurant just down the road from Rainbow Springs. I had country-fried steak, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, and fried okra. I had enough to bring home and have the same thing for supper. It was very good!
We had a good time. Wish you could have been with us.
No comments:
Post a Comment