Experiencing our nation through its environments, animals, people and history.

Galatians 5:1

Friday, November 13, 2009

More Suwannee!

Look at this!! we went up river a little bit and found shores of white sand.... we thought the white sand was only at the beaches, but we are starting to think the whole state is made up of it. We are hoping to get really familiar with the white sand over the next few months.
Meanwhile, we are still checking out this Suwannee River. Not only is the Florida state song titled after it, it apparently was a big tourist draw before Walt came to town.
It is lined with Cypress trees, which are easy to distinguish by their root system that has "knees." Cypress are really common all over the south, we learned about them up in Virginia Beach at the "Dragon Run." Myths up there say that those knobby knees actually turn into little hobbit people when no one is around.
So why was the Suwannee so famous? At this point in the river, there are mineral springs that supposedly could "cure any ailment." Approaching the springs you can smell the sulfur, and the water sure feels clean and refreshing. I (Cheryl) decided to stick my chronically ingrown toenail in there and see if it would be healed.
(I'll keep you posted.) The springs were walled off, there used to be a hotel, and it was a big deal!! The hotel has since burned down and the springs are now part of a deserted park.
We decided to float our boat back down to camp.... and Jo again was the brave one. He wanted to tow behind and practice his snorkling. He is working on the breathing part.
Which he has apparently gotten down, but not quite to the point where he can hold the fishing net at the same time. We lost that in the depths of the Sweet Tea river, oh well!! We love the Jo!!

Daddy got over his grief by showing the kids how to scope out the river and see if its safe to jump off the side.
Home schooling is going well.

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