DE LEON SPRINGS (Day 2)

We spent the afternoon at De Leon Springs State Park. De Leon Spring is named after Juan Ponce de Leon, who led a Spanish expedition in 1513 in search of the 'fountain of youth'. The spring looked more like a swimming pool that flowed via a small waterfall out to the lagoon. Subterranean rivers flow through crevices and caverns in the Florida Aquifer, a thick bed of limestone throughout the state. One of those channels comes up here, pumping out 19 million gallons of water per day.

We rented a canoe and paddled out for a short ride. The Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge contains some 18,000 acres of lakes and marshes.

We made our way down the lagoon then out into a giant lake filled with tons of islands. The water looked to be only a couple inches deep... until we dipped an oar all the way in and realized we weren’t looking at the bottom but rather at the murky level where thick bright green mossy plants grew... perfect camouflage for alligators (and motivation not to tip over)! Sometimes columns of bubbles would rise up and break the surface. We wove our way through the maze of water created by the islands then eventually headed back.

We had lunch at the Old Spanish Sugar Mill Grill and Griddle House located within the park. Each table is equipped with an embedded griddle on which you can make your own pancakes and other items (such as bacon and eggs).

Back near Edgewater, we stopped at Bethune Beach and watched some dolphins play in the Halifax River.

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