Episode Transcript
Speaker 2 00:07 <inaudible>.
Speaker 0 00:12 Hey there, welcome to to travel. That's podcast. I'm Rob, I'm Chris. And today we are talking about one of our favorite things in Florida. We've been talking a lot about Florida, but one of the best things about Florida is the really amazing, or are there really amazing fresh water Springs? Do you love them? Oh, I think they're beautiful. I don't know if we align on the, um, them being the number one thing in Florida. However, they're amazing. We'll get to that super beautiful or we can conquer that right now. What do you think is the best thing about going to Florida? Oh, the beach. Okay. Number. Yeah. I just like to swim in the ocean. Well, I mean the beach is the best. Yes. But if you can't go to the beach, this is the next best thing. Yes. You can't go to the beach.
Speaker 0 00:57 Check out the Springs. Yeah. So anyways, so, um, we are gonna work our way from the kind of Northwestern corner down to the earth. Sorry, Northeastern corner down to the Southwestern kind of side of the Gulf coast. I'm talking about some of the mini Springs that we visited and our favorites and why each is awesome and its own way. Um, know that there's over a thousand freshwater Springs in Florida, so we're definitely not going to talk about all of them. In fact, I think we'll probably only hit maybe 10, but so a lot that is still a lot and you can make an entire road trip just based off of visiting Springs. And um, there is one spring we'll talk about that is at the heart of some really awful political activity. Hmm. Yeah. I don't think you know about this. Oh my gosh. It's intense.
Speaker 0 01:43 Like, anyways, so let's start with, um, well let's just ask Chris, what is your favorite of all the Florida Springs that you've gotten to visit? So thinking about the many different trips we've taken, um, everything from rainbow Springs to blue Springs, Dalian Springs, which is the one that was by that really amazing, um, old sugar mill that was daily owned Springs named after Ponce de Leon. Well, that makes sense. I just, I, I remember the old sugar mill. Well then why don't we start there? Because that's in our first region that we're going to talk about. Oh, is that, yeah. So the first area that we're gonna talk about is the stuff that's accessible from, um, North Florida, from the North Florida coast, like Jacksonville, st Augustine, Daytona beach. Um, and the first spring is Dalian Springs. So it is pretty cool. And you just heard Chris mentioned the sugar mill.
Speaker 0 02:35 Do you want to say what that is? Yeah, it's um, it's a really great breakfast spot, uh, that we, when you go in, uh, you know, and you get your table. This is not a standard table. It's actually, um, there's a griddle in the middle and there's a griddle in the middle of the games. Oliver or Elliot would love that. Um, but uh, and so one of my friends was like, you actually have to make your own pancakes. Yes. Awesome. You get like the self checkout stand at Safeway. Yeah. But much better because you get a, pick your batter, you get a pick your ingredients in terms of like, you want blueberries, chocolate chips, whatever. And if you want eggs or scramble eggs, whatever, they'll bring you your egg so you can just make everything how you want it done on McGriddle. And I thought that was awesome.
Speaker 0 03:18 Super fun. Slightly maybe dangerous for the kids, like don't touch the middle of the table. Yeah. Um, but I still thought it was amazing. There is an element of danger, but yeah, it is super cool. And I love that we're starting talking about Springs, about talking about breakfast. Well it's how you get your day started. It is correct. And in fact when we were there, that is how we started. We went and we made pancakes before we visited the Springs. So yeah, so Dalian Springs, it is, um, outside the town of Deland, Florida or <inaudible> I think it's actually said Deland. Um, and yeah, it's about 30 minutes West of Daytona beach. So it's totally something that you can tack on to beach vacation and, um, the highlight of the Springs itself. So the Springs are there and you can swim in them, you know, jump in and it is really cool.
Speaker 0 04:09 It's like an open faced cave. And you could see the limestone and the water literally just gushing out. And there's some nice little waterfalls flowing from the Springs down to the river. But then, um, Dylan Springs has eco tours, so they've got nay naturalists. I was going to say naturists not quiet, but you know what, it's Florida. I'm sure there's nitrous close by. Um, so they've got naturalists who take you out on the river to teach you about the Springs and everything that there is in the river. And while we were there, we saw, we saw Manatee, we saw tons of birds of different sorts. Uh, there was alligators or there were alligators and turtles. I don't know that I saw alligators while I was swimming, so that was nice. Well, no, not while you're swimming, but I have pictures of alligators from the boat when we did our eco tour.
Speaker 0 04:55 So that part is cool. I'm just like thinking people are listening and wondering like, Oh my gosh, am I gonna like go swimming in this spring, like next to alligators? Or was that, what was I going to be about? Here's our safety disclaimer that it's just like a canvas across this whole episode. Any of the Florida Springs could have alligators swimming towards them. So just consider before you jump into the water at any of the Springs. Um, know that there's alligators that live in the rivers that are fed by the Springs. Is that a good enough safety disclaimer? That's a great safety disclaimer button. What I will say is that like as we went swimming, we weren't the only people swimming, so there's a lot of people around. So if you're going to gender like a highly populated area, it's highly likely that there's going to be alligators right there.
Speaker 0 05:39 But just wanted people to know as they're visualizing the experience as we're talking about it, that you're not really going to experience alligators. And now actually I had this really cool image in my head of a spring, which is beautiful. It's got that beautiful turquoise water and then alligators just kind of at the bubbling mouth of it and people trying to go swimming, alligators kind of guarding it and yeah, well but that's not what it's like. It's cold water being turquoise. But I guess what's really great is that, uh, not only is it turquoise, it is just completely clear. Like you can see the bottom, which is several feet deep. And so you can quickly see if there's an alligator that you need to be Wario. Yeah, there won't be. Yeah. So some of the Springs we're talking about, they go as deep as like 80 feet in visibility, but because the water is so clear, it looks like it's 10, 15 feet at the most.
Speaker 0 06:28 So it's kind of crazy misleading. And some of these are ones that you can actually, um, scuba into, but um, we haven't done that so I'm not going to give any advice there. But yeah. Anyways, so Ponce de Leon Springs state park, pretty cool. It's got the old sugar mill for making pancakes on the table. They've got eco tours, they've got manatees if you're there at the right moment. Um, moving on from there is my favorite spring and it is pretty close. It's in the city of orange and that is blue spring state park. So if you Google blue Springs, you're going to find something in Missouri. Um, but blue spring is the state park where literally in the winter months, hundreds of manatees, Poland, they've got their own, the manatees have their own Facebook page because there are so many of them and it's awesome. Um, yeah, gosh, I'm trying to think about where to even start with that.
Speaker 0 07:19 Um, I got to go paddle boarding there without everybody else. And that was one of the most special wildlife encounters I've ever had went out with um, paddleboard or Orlando, which it's about an hour from Orlando. But that's okay. They make the journey cause it's so cool. Um, but yeah, you hop in your paddleboard and you kind of paddle up the st John's river against the current, which is a really intense workout and you really have to have good balance, but whatever, it's worth it. Um, and then you don't get to go in towards the spring. Um, you have to stay out at the mouth because there are so many manatees that um, yeah, they, they block it off from w what do you call some odd questions? Somebody who's a pedestrian but in the water, Oh, swimmer, I'm a swimmer. But I feel like it should have its own name.
Speaker 0 08:03 All right. I think as a swimmer, okay, so they block it off from swimmers or kayakers paddle boarders, anybody like that. People, people, humans. Um, but you can kind of hang out at the mouth of the Springs, um, where it meets up with the st John's river and the manatees. They know that people are there and they're really curious and they like to come up and kind of bump your paddleboard and they hang out and they just, they want to be with humans and it's really kinda funny. Um, but it's awesome and you know, you don't touch them if you happen to like have your hand dangling in the water and they come by because they will come by and they'll just kind of rub on it then great. That's how you pet Manatee. But you're not supposed to intentionally touch them, you know? But it's true.
Speaker 0 08:44 It's really cool and really special and they have really bad breath, but it's really cute because they blow bubbles and bubble blow Blake bubble kisses at you. It's adorable. What I think is there's on the show notes page. I think what's great too is like, is that at blues or even if there's not the manatees, again, it's another place where you can go swimming and um, what's cool about the Springs is they're their constant temperature, right? So even at a, at blue Springs, um, it provides like a constant, uh, water temperature of about like 72 degrees. And that's why the man's, he doesn't run the windows. He's love him in the winter. Um, but that, that's also why it's great to just be able to go swim there. Um, I know we did that and stuff with the kids and um, you know, had a really good time and stuff and the water manatees weren't there at the time, but it was, uh, yeah, still a lot of fun to be able to take a little trip to the Springs.
Speaker 0 09:31 It's like you're in a beautiful jungle. Right? The colors are just so amazing. Yeah. Blue Springs state parks really cool because it has this elevated boardwalk that goes through a Palm jungle. So it's almost like you're walking through this long tree house hallway. Um, and then, I mean, the, the spring itself is so deep and gorgeous that when you get to the end of the trail, you kind of want to jump off the, the tall boardwalk into it, but you shouldn't because that's dangerous, but you can still, um, when it's open to swimming, you can swim all the way to the headwaters. And it's really super cool. And that's, um, that is very similar to some of the other Springs that we've gotten to visit. Um, another one that I did without the family was, um, uh, what key whisperings and that is closer to Orlando.
Speaker 0 10:16 So that's about a half an hour outside of Orlando. And it is, um, if you jump on Instagram and search for King's landing, you'll either get Dubrovnik from game of Thrones stuff or you'll get this really amazing turquoise watered tropical jungle in the middle of Florida. And that's, um, rock Springs in Wiki with Springs. So the Wikia river, um, flows out of there. And, um, so we were talking about alligators. That is actually kind of a fun and interestingly nerve wracking place because when you are paddleboarding and the Wiki river, um, there are Gators all around you and um, might not be the most kid friendly of destinations if you want to be on the water. But as an adult, um, with good balance, I thought it was the coolest, but yeah, Chris has no feedback. I would love to go paddle boarding, but Oh, and you know what, there was the big spiders there to yuck.
Speaker 0 11:13 No interested in those whatsoever. Yeah. So the big spiders are golden silk spiders and um, yeah, they're all along the shores and they're amazing. But that is not what we're talking about today. And we'll talk, we'll say we'll have, we should have a whole podcast episode about spiders. I would love that. Um, anyways, so the other Springs is right there is rock screen, rock Springs. You need to either rent a paddleboard or book a tour to go and visit that because it's deep in the jungle. Um, but definitely it's one of those Florida bucket list places. So, um, let's kind of bounced over to the coast. Would you wear? Where do you want to talk about? You want to talk about rainbow Springs or Homosassa Springs? I was thinking about that and I remember Homosassa um, is being a very interesting place. It was not what I was expecting.
Speaker 0 12:07 Um, well because it's a little bit more than just the Springs, right? Yeah. So Homosassa Springs used to be one of the Florida state attraction parks instead of just a state park. It was an attraction park and now it's got a zoo kind of, so there's the homeless has Springs, but then it has a Florida native wildlife park where they have, you know, living species of all kinds of different animals that are found in Florida from the Florida Panther to um, spoonbills alligators. They actually have, um, a Manatee paddock. And that's actually, that's where, when there's a Manatee that gets injured, cause that's actually a big problem in Florida is boaters in dream manatees with their propellers or hitting them with their boats. Um, when they have to help a Manatee, they try to get them to the treatment center at Homosassa Springs. So it's this kind of weird thing at the like just built off the river where it almost looks like locks, like the boats would go through, but it's for manatees.
Speaker 0 13:06 Yeah. I think they also have a, um, hippos there too, right there. Oh gosh. What's the name of a program? I feel like the hippo who's been there has been there for like 50 or 60 years, maybe Lucy or Lou hoop. That's worth Googling real quick. Um, but yeah, it's the weird, um, random animal that doesn't really belong at Homosassa Springs, but his been there for so long that um, yeah, they, they, they keep her. So, um, but yeah, Lucy is the name or Lou of that hippo. Good times. Yeah. Thanks for bringing that up and reminding me of that. Yeah, you're welcome. One other, uh, one other little highlight about Homosassa Springs state park is it's actually got an underwater viewing room directly over the headwater spring. Do you remember that? <inaudible> yeah. So like when you first entered the park, you can either go to the right and that will take you, you know, along the river and like in to the the zoo part or you can go to the left and that's where there is, um, this weird floating building.
Speaker 0 14:11 And, and you walked downstairs to this room and it's like you are inside an aquarium, you know? Hmm. That's the best. You don't remember that. Yup. But that's okay. So yeah, that's Homosassa Springs. It's not when you can swim at. So, um, there's a, cause there's boating towards I, there's just a lot of activity there. Yeah. It's a crazy spot attraction. Yeah. But when you can swim at that is pretty close by. Um, it's about 45 minutes away from there is rainbow Springs state park. And for the longest time I thought that was the prettiest place I've ever been until I went to blue Springs. But, um, rainbow Springs and the rainbow river, there are Gators year round. So that is one where they do have signs everywhere that warns you about Gators. But, um, rainbow Springs used to be another one of the Florida state attraction parks.
Speaker 0 14:54 So they had a zoo there, but now it's actually zoo ruins, which is kind of creepy and cool. And they have waterfalls that are manmade. And then there's the whole swimming area, um, out of all of these Springs. For me it's like swimming is just really amazing cause the water is just so clear and it's just so beautiful. And so blue Springs women and all of them have spring subsets on necessar? No, we're at rainbow rainbow Springs so that I could swim it all of the Springs except for Homosassa. Well, so with, um, with rainbow Springs, uh, they actually have swimming platforms. So when you want to jump in the water, you actually do get to jump directly into the spring area. So it, it looks magical when you jump in. It feels magical when you look down the river because of the different, like algae on the banks and the colors of the water, it is rainbow colored all the way down the river.
Speaker 0 15:44 So it's beautiful on its own, whether you're a swimmer or not. Yeah, yeah. Um, one that we didn't get to go to that's also right there. We drove past it, but we didn't go in was, um, Weeki Wachee Springs and say that 10 times fast. No, no, but it's really funny cause I ha I had all ever translate and, you know, stumbled. Um, but Weeki Wachee Springs, uh, is where they've got real live mermaids. So since interesting, since the 60s, they've done mermaid shows at the Wiki, <inaudible> Springs. So they've got underwater viewing. They're just like get Homosassa only it's much, much bigger. And they have, um, mermaids who do shows and they do like synchronized swimming and it's pretty cool and it's hilarious. And we didn't do that, did we? No, we didn't do that. But now that, like I learned about it, I wish that we would have, because number one, the kids would've thought it was hilarious or awesome or they would've loved it.
Speaker 0 16:42 But, um, yeah, I think I just would've laughed the whole time and I would've enjoyed it very much. Um, it would've been like that, that place that we went to in Colorado. Oh no. Like Casa Bonita, Casa Bonita. No, I think that's something for a different episode too. Um, no I don't think it's like Casa Bonita. I think it's actually cool. And because it has vintage Florida, they make sure that it stays cool. We'll have to find out. Um, but moving by the long, um, there really are so many Springs that you gotta just kind of like bounce from spring. Just bring on a day. Um, the next one that I want to talk about, cause it was a really special time for all of us, was crystal river and crystal Springs. Um, so crystal river Florida is its own town and that's actually if you want to go swimming with the manatees, that is where you can do it.
Speaker 0 17:36 And it is sanctioned and they've got guidelines and trained guides. So we got to go out. We stayed at the plantation, um, at crystal river. So that's, you know, a big hotel and their big thing is, um, golf and manatees. So what did you think about, I mean we were there, we weren't the first boat of the day, so the water had gotten kind of murky from propellers. But did you think that is something you would want to do again, the whole swim with manatees? Or do you feel like, did you feel like we were intruding or not? I do feel like we were intruding. Like we knew that they were there and we were taking advantage of that experience to go swim with the manatees. Um, but while you're also still in the water, um, you have a responsibility to keep your bubble, um, and not approach the manatees and follow the rules and guidelines.
Speaker 0 18:28 So while at the same time, yes, I feel like we were encroaching on their space. You can also do it in a respectful way. Yeah. And actually now that I'm thinking about it, I do remember when we, before we went out, so we had wetsuits and everything going out right. And early in the morning and even in Florida, the mornings cold, um, we had to watch a safety video and, and go through a safety instruction. That included talking about not reaching out to touch the manatees. Of course, I don't do that. Yeah. So, I mean, if they like a no brainer, if they want to swim by you and they want to pet you, that's okay. But at the end of the day, we're all like beings on this planet so we can all be here and um, but also at the same time you have to respect their space. But that's crystal Springs.
Speaker 0 19:10 So crystal Springs, it is a pretty cool spot and it's a really cool experience to get to be in the water with, you know, snorkel mask and everything. Just watching the Manti swim round if you're going to do it, we totally recommend being there first thing in the morning and being one of those first groups before all the boats have come through and started stirring up the river bottom because then the water gets murky. You can't see quite as well. Yeah. But um, yeah, it's, it's definitely, it's another Florida bucket list sort of spot. Um, and then really close to, there is also the three sisters Springs refuge, which is another kind of Haven for manatees. Um, you can't get in the water there because it is really, uh, strictly designated refuge. But it's another great spot to go and just observe. So same area, not difficult to add on.
Speaker 0 19:58 Um, the most recent spring we went to and then, and then we're going to talk about our, um, the controversial spring. The most recent spring we went to was silver Springs. Um, that was really interesting. Um, cause it is so extremely built up. It's actually, I was surprised to learn that that is where they've done a ton of underwater filming for everything from what all the James Bond movie or James Bond, the creature from the black creature from the black lagoon. Is that what it's called? I think so. Like that really <inaudible> it was crew chief and yeah. Um, just a whole bunch of movies had been filmed there and there's actually still film props underwater. So when you go on the tour, they have glass bottom boats that take you all around silver Springs. There's, um, gosh, somewhere around a hundred Springs actually. Like, yeah, there's a lot just in that one area because basic basically, you know, it's wherever the aquifer can bubble up to the limestone.
Speaker 0 20:52 So right there and like specifically as you're going along, you just bounce from spring to spring and each one is kind of different. And there's just fish and turtles and movie props underwater. Oh, there's also a Gators. And there were alligators too, of course, because like we said, there's always going to be Gators even if you don't see him. So that was it. I called that crystal Springs tonight. No, you call this silver spring. Okay, good. Yeah. So silver Springs. Yeah. Um, and that one is kind of right smack between rainbow Springs and then, um, the coast. So it's right outside of, I'll call it. Oh, Carla, Florida. Um, so yeah. Yeah. And there's a lot of stuff to do there. I mean, uh, we did the glass bottom boat tore, which I'm throwing these cool. I, I think that they're kind of like a really walkabout <inaudible> really cool.
Speaker 0 21:44 Um, and it's a really nice long tour. Um, but I think, you know, as Bob mentioned, you can do kayaks or also, um, like different animal exhibits. There are lots of like hiking trails. We can walk around this spring and like a wilderness trail. Um, there's like a petting zoo. I think there was also a movie sets that weren't underwater probably. Um, and uh, so lots of different things to do. They've got a, you know, some rides, they're mutating stuff outside so, um, you can really spend like almost a full day there. Yeah. It's, it's funny cause as you walk up to silver Springs state park at the entrance, um Oh wow. He pulled up that I the first, I thought that was a Disneyland map. Oh, it's a Disneyland map. Just haven't actually seen that map of silver Springs. Okay. Check the show notes for this because this is actually really cool.
Speaker 0 22:28 It looks just like a vintage Disneyland map with rivers of America only at silver Springs state park. Um, what was I gonna say? I have no idea. Oh, when you walk up it looks like Disneyland cause you have to go through, you know that pavilion and there's ticket booths and stuff. Never mind. I didn't get to go to Disney land like back in the 80s. Okay, well it's, no, it's like Disneyland today. Oh, Oh, Oh, let me not, nevermind. Ignore me. Um, the last spring that I wanted to talk about that is, um, worth visiting is Ginnie Springs, which we haven't gotten to go there. Um, but our good buddy Angie from Angie way, she, um, that's their camping spot. But that, the reason I want to talk about it, even though we haven't been there is cause it is at the heart of political controversy right now. Ginnie Springs like G. I. N. N. Y. G. I. N. N. I. E. okay.
Speaker 0 23:24 Genie. Um, so do you know why it is controversial right now? Not at all. Nestle wants to bottle water from it. Ridiculous. Right. So right now it's been, um, kind of held up in courts and with petitions and protests and stuff, but, um, they want to use Ginnie Springs, which is this really awesome natural area, but it is privately owned. They want to turn that into a water bottling facility for Nestle, which is ridiculous. Um, because it's very limited. Who actually needs bottled water here in America. Um, and there are other places that that can be done. That's it. Yeah. Like, basically it. Yeah. So let's just other places like that. Yeah. So, but with that, there's tons of wildlife that would be impacted. And the local economy as far as tourism, um, all the local businesses who rely on the thousands of people who go camping and vacation into Ginnie Springs each year, it would all be impacted.
Speaker 0 24:27 So it is currently, and this is to 2019 that we're recording this. It's currently at the heart of huge internal Florida political debate. And you know, Florida gets a bad rap for lots of reasons. One of them is not caring too much about the environment, which is ironic. Yeah, there is. But, um, I mean that's what Florida's best feature is, is the environment all over. So Ginnie Springs right now, hot topic. So anyways, I just wanted to make sure we talked about that because it's something that people should know about, especially if they're traveling around Florida and want a fun place to go camping and a place that might not be there forever. So, um, was there anything else that you wanted to call out about visiting Springs? Any special tips you have or no, just make sure you bring a swimsuit when you go in a towel because you really want to jump in that water because it's super warm.
Speaker 0 25:17 It's super clear and beautiful and it's a great experience. And um, so if you're from Florida, you probably think that the water is not that warm and you think people are crazy when they're swimming in there. In January, I jumped into Wiki with Springs on January 31st last year. And it wasn't a polar plunge. It was not a polar plunge. It was absolutely amazing because it was still like 75 degrees out and the water was like 72. It was not shocking. It felt awesome. And I just celebrated the fact that I was swimming in January. So anyways, so yeah, bring swimsuits, whatever time of year you're going, it is not bad. Make sure you pay attention to signs regarding watching for alligators and watching for manatees. And if it says it's closed because of mentees obey that. Oh, the other thing, um, something you'll find in a lot of Florida rivers is the Florida Gar.
Speaker 0 26:08 Do you remember seeing all the Gar? They are like four or five foot long fish. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. They look like these huge floating sticks and um, if you're not sure what they are, they look kind of creepy. But um, they are just these pretty harmless fish that are just all through the rivers and just hanging out. So I'm watch for them. They're fun to photograph and see. So yeah. Good times. Well that's about it for what we want to share about the Florida Springs. It's a great way to make a little road trip. We've got a great blog post about it. So check that out. It's linked in the show notes. Um, if you get any questions sure. That you will. Sorry, I was just remembering one last thing about the area around the Springs and I think it was around crystal river.
Speaker 0 26:51 Um, and another really great spot to have breakfast. Um, do you remember that really great little restaurant they went to is like a like grandma's cafe or granny's country cooking restaurant. I have no idea what you're talking about. Yeah, I think that's like what it was. Cause we were around like Chris, whoever, we're trying to find a really good local place to have breakfast. Um, and I think I found that place. Um, and it was like right there on the corner, granny's restaurant, uh, McChrystal river, Grady's restaurant, granny's restaurant. It was just like right on the corner. Um, and uh, highly recommend that you check it out. I think I had really good biscuits and gravy there. So that's how we'll finish talking about Springs is go find the biscuits and gravy it granny's restaurant in crystal river. Yup. That was it. Granny's good job.
Speaker 0 27:44 So yeah, when we do stuff, Chris's job is to find his food. My job is to find his fun. So food is fun. Like, yeah. Okay, cool. Anyways, thanks for listening. If you get any questions, send us a message or leave us a comment. We will be happy to help you out or answer your question. And in the meantime have a great day and we'll talk to you next time. Bye. See you guys to travel. That podcast is written by Rob and Chris Taylor and produced by Rob Taylor in Suquamish, Washington. If you would like to be a guest on the two travel dads podcast or would like to sponsor it, go ahead and visit us that bit. Be ID dot L Y slash two T D work.
