Didn’t know what to do this morning until we started the truck (at 9:00)…
Flipped a coin and drove to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (Swamp), where we stayed until about 2:30...
The Entrance Road is about 2½ miles long, which winds it’s way through a very “open” forest of longleaf pine trees… The forest floor is covered in a carpet of palms, and Lu took picture after picture, of which some survived my editing…
The park measures almost 402,000 acres (about 163,000 hectares), and we “covered” maybe a fraction of a fraction of that…
They were just opening up when we arrived, so we spent some time in the Visitor’s Center, getting as much info as we could… Even took in a 20-minute movie, which was well worth the cost…
Oh, that’s right… No cost… And no cost for entering the park either, since I’m a “Golden Member”
(One who gets in free at all National Parks)…
Picked the brain of the young Ranger who greeted us… Got some brochures, and moseyed over to the “Okefenokee Adventures” concession building, where we inquired about a boat tour…
One had just left, and we had an hour to do things on our own…
Jumped in the truck and took a nine mile trip into the heart of the beast on Swamp Island Drive…
Parked at the Chesser Island Homestead, and, after having chatted with the Ranger Guide (who was comfortably settled into a rocker on the front porch), we took a self guided tour of the place…
It’s a big house, unlike the one and two room shacks you usually find in the Swamp…
Evidently, Mr. Chesser did quite well for himself, his wife and seven children, and made a living making and selling sugar and turpentine…
You can probably find out more about them on the internet…
We left the truck, and hiked out to “The Owls Roost” observation tower, on a wooden boardwalk…
Spotted a gator basking in the sun, just feet away from the path…
Lu went gaga…
Took lots of pictures… Some survived the editing process…
Got a beautiful view from the top of the tower, and spotted a couple of alligators through the telescope (fastened to a stand at one corner of the top platform), but, unfortunately, they were too far away for my camera to pick up, so we had to settle for the one along the boardwalk, and the BIG one we encountered when we got back to the Visitor’s center…
By that time, we were pretty well pooped form all the walking, and decided not to take the boat ride, but to get in the truck and head out to Emelia Island for a last “quality” time with the Beach…
We’re heading to Clermont (a few miles away from Orlando) tomorrow morning, where we’ll be staying for two weeks… I don’t think the Beach is in the picture when Disney World is beckoning, do you?
Anyway, we were starving when we got to the beach, so we parked in front of the “Sandy Bottoms Beach Bar and Grill,” walked in and had an early dinner…
Then hiked the beach for an hour…
My poor “sticks” is getting a workout, I tell you…
Don’t think I’ll have any trouble sleeping tonight…
And that’s your clue that this conversation is over…
Night all…
Take care and keep an eye on us, will you…
PICTURES: http://cid-44d18849bf3983e9.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/OKEFENOKEE%20SWAMP%5EJ%20GA%20and%20EMELIA%20ISLAND%5EJ%20FL%20%5E5NOV.%207%5EJ%202009%5E6
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