Wakulla Springs Jaunt

Wakulla springs late afternoon.

 

We arrived at the Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Lodge around 4:30 in the afternoon, checked in and then I went outside to take some photos. I remembered our first trip here in 2015, and how cold and windy it had been that afternoon... I'd sat on one of the benches in the hotel's garden to paint the lovely scene, and managed to stay there for about an hour before being so thoroughly chilled that I had to come in to thaw out. I was grateful the lodge had a roaring fire going in the fireplace in the lobby.

This time around the afternoon was pleasantly warm and still, and there was no fire in the fireplace--the spring water was crystal clear. Later on Herb and I ordered a bottle of champagne to drink in the lobby before going in to dinner. 

We had reservations to go on the "Jungle Cruise" on the Wakulla river the following morning. We'd done this on our previous trip and it was a joy to be able to do it again. We'd seen so many birds and wildlife on that first trip! This time around our boat tour guide was the "Singing Ranger" the nickname of Collin Johnson, who regaled us with his songs about the Wakulla River and its denizens at the beginning and the end of our tour.

 

Wakulla River bald cypress

I remember photographing this iconic cypress above the previous time we'd taken the Jungle Cruise--it was still standing, a little more weather-beaten, but still so beautiful!. I find these moss-draped bare bald cypresses so romantic... 

 

The brown stuff floating on the surface is burnt Hydrilla, an invasive weed that the park is trying to combat by burning, in order to avoid herbicides that could compromise the rest of the fragile ecosystem.

 

 

More cypresses on the Wakulla

 

Cypresses on the Wakulla

 

 

 

 

There were lots of Anhingas perched on the cypress knees drying their wings, ducks--wood and Hooded Mergansers--Ibises, little white and blue herons, Gallinules, alligators (naturally) and turtles basking along the banks of the river.

 

 

Female Anhinga drying its wings

  

A little white heron

A group of Hooded Merganser ducks

Male Hooded Merganser

The cruise travels only about a mile or so down the river, and then turns back along the far bank to go behind a small island toward a densely wooded area where Sally Ward creek drains into the river. The movie "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" was filmed here in the 1950's. The cruise was coming to an end much too soon, but there were many manatees swimming around the spring. We must have seen at least fifteen, possibly more.

 

 

 

Manatees swim in Wakulla Spring

 

Manatee mothers with their babies

 

 

After the cruise ended, we went up on the observation tower to continue watching the manatees--one seemed to really enjoy rubbing against one of the floats in the roped-off swimming area. Their slow yet graceful movements were so relaxing to watch! They are very sociable mammals, and usually stay in small groups, the mothers with their babies, and often with another yearling nearby.

 

I made this short video as they were swimming away.

 

 

 

 

After our cruise and manatee watch, I went out and painted this small watercolor of the view from the Lodge's garden. The harsh overhead mid-day light isn't my favorite time of the day to paint, but gives a sense of what the scene looked like.

 

 

 

Wakulla Springs Afternoon, watercolor, 6" x 9"

 

 

After finishing my sketch, the afternoon was warm enough for me to dare a quick dip in the spring--I changed into my bathing suit and went out for a swim. The water was a bit chillier than I'd imagined--69 degrees--so I stayed in just long enough to swim to the float and back to the shore. I can now say that I've experienced almost everything that Wakulla Springs has to offer. 

 

The next morning it was time to check out and start the long drive back home. Goodbye Florida, it was nice to get a break from the winter blues for ten days! I hope we get back there again soon, and visit Wakulla Springs!

 

Florida Sketches

 

Staghorn Fern (Platycerium superbum), watercolor, 10"h x 8"w.

I spent a week in Homosassa Springs recently, and managed to do a few paintings and sketches on location. I was fascinated by these huge staghorn ferns hanging from the porch of the owner's house next door to our rental cottage. I learned on-line that the staghorn ferns (Platycerium superbum) have two kinds of fronds: the sterile fronts are those plate-like flat leaves from which the horn-like fertile fronds emerge. The spores develop on the underside of the fertile leaves as brown patches at the tips.

 

Bald Cypress in Homosassa, watercolor sketch 8"h x 5"w.

 

Our rental cottage was right on the water, and had a wonderful view of the Homosassa River, with two lovely bald cypresses covered with Spanish moss and bromeliads shading the small yard. The views were fabulous!

 

The Homosassa River from our rental cottage.

Cloudy Morning in Homosassa, watercolor, 5"h x 8"w.

Dragon Boat on the Homosassa.

 

The owner of our rental cottage was kind enough to loan us two kayaks so we could paddle up to the main spring, which we did. It was a breezy day, and the distance turned out to be a bit more than we'd anticipated--the paddle upstream was a good workout. There were many manatees at the main spring, and lots of boaters, kayakers, snorkelers and divers there on this beautiful day. Unfortunately, the kayaks were open and I was afraid to get either my phone or camera wet, so I left them behind and didn't get any photos of the gorgeous scenery.

 

Blue heron in mating plumage.

 

A blue heron visited our yard one evening--this seemed to be his habitual turf, and he had no fear of us getting close. Lots of ibises, wood ducks, and other birds congregated on the opposite shore in the morning and evenings.

 

Ibises on the river.

Crystal River Archeological Park, watercolor, 14" x 10"

We spent an afternoon at Crystal River's Archeological Park, where I painted this watercolor of the view from the top of the largest of the Indian mounds found there. Another afternoon we drove out to the Chassahowitzka River, and it was packed like Grand Central Station there! Such a ruckus from the many radios/MP players from the boats on the water, nary a manatee dared to show. I didn't finish my watercolor of the view, though I made a promising start.

 

Pages 1-2 from my new Travel Journal.

Pages 3-4 of Travel Journal.

 

I filled in several pages of my new custom-made Travel Journal with sketches of an aloe on the porch next door, bromeliads that blew down from the bald cypresses, and a bald cypress seed from one of the opening cones--those little devils were resin-y and had very sharp points! On another page I drew a terminal branch from a loquat tree and a small branch from a live oak tree that was starting to put forth its blossoms.

 

Florida coontie (Zamia integrifolia).

Page 5 of Travel Journal.

At the Archeological Park in Crystal River I came across some coonties, a native Florida cycad (Zamia integrifolia). This cycad is dioecious--that is, there are male and female plants, and both have cone-like structures that develop at the base of the fronds. Only the female cones have seeds, of course--I managed to collect these two, which I'm going to try to sprout and grow at home. Attractive as they seem, these seeds are very poisonous, as is the rest of the plant. The Calusa Indians dug up the roots and leached the poisonous chemicals out of them to make a kind of flour.