OKEFENOKEE SWAMP / 700 sq miles of gaitors and swamp

One of our last trips in Georgia before we left to Cedar Key Florida was to visit the Okefenokee Swamp in the Southern part of the State. We took the 3 hour boat tour and really enjoyed the incredible scenic views! The Swamp is full of Alligators and hundreds of species of birds. You can also canoe or kayak with many miles of trails that take you into the heart of the swamp where you can camp overnight at various campsites. The Okefenokee Swamp is the most extensive of Georgia's natural wonders in terms of area. This wildlife refuge in southeastern Georgia covers about 700 square miles and makes up part of four counties. The Okefenokee (from the Seminole, meaning "land of trembling earth") includes a wide variety of ecological features, ranging from sandy ridges to wet, grassy savannahs and marshes to narrow water channels and small islands, all of which support a vast range of flora and fauna. LINK: https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/okefenokee-swamp-folklore
 Chesser Island was named for the family who first settled this 592-acre island adjacent to the swamp. See how the early settlers lived in the swamp at the restored Chesser homestead.
LINK: http://www.greywolf.bravepages.com/pages2/CH.html


                                                                                       

Boat we took into the swamp

Lurking eyes

Turtles everywhere

Great Blue Heron

Mossy oak trees add to the eiery swamp feeling

Red tail hawk

Old gaitor

There is a bird there!

Listen and you will hear!

The Chesser Homestead

Deep in the swamp

Our Time in Crooked River State Park is fast ending

Only a couple of weeks to go and we will be leaving our home for the winter and heading to SUNNY FLORDIA! Geni and I will be spending the next couple of months on the island of Cedar Key Florida and we are getting excited about the prospects of going to a small town that sits on the warm waters of  The Gulf  New Mexico.
LINK: http://cedarkey.org/

Geni and I have met a few new friends here at Crooked River State Park and look forward to staying in touch with them. The really positive thing about our nomadic lifestyle is all the really nice people we meet on our journey! That's what make this lifestyle so rewarding not only do we get to see the Beauty of America but we meet life longs friends too!
                                                                                            
                                                                                         

Park is loaded with turtles

Full moon over the Crooked River

White Herron in Marsh

Pond at Crooked River Campground

Wild mushrooms are everywhere

The most different mushrooms I have ever seen

Micro brewery in town only open on Thursday 

Geni making a selection

They have a wall you can sign

We did

Best fresh seafood in town

We did mass here in this 1836 Church

Only one day a month its open

Bait shop at Park

Fresh shrimp for bait

Our camp Oct to March

Sunset

St. Augustine FL. - Oldest City in the USA

Geni and I paid a visit to St. Augustine FL. last week and boy were we impressed with the history of this City! The whole city is a National Historic Landmark, with many buildings dating to the early 1700's! It also has a really amazing Spanish fort, Spanish military base established in 1565 by Don Pedro Menéndez de Aviles.(It was closed for gov shut down). The Spanish Mission Church
built in 1797 was incredible in size and detail! The cobble stone streets are just as they were when Florida was a Spanish colony. The Part of Ponce de León's 1513 claim to La Florida.
LINK: https://www.tripstodiscover.com/historic-sites-in-st-augustine-fl/
CHURCH LINK: http://cannundrum.blogspot.com/2013/02/cathedral-basilica-of-st-augustine.html
FORT LINK: https://www.nps.gov/casa/index.htm

Cobble stone streets

Spanish Fort

Entrance to Church

Gateway to City