A Re-visit To Wakulla Springs State Park

Pictures of the Lodge

Mike & Jim

And we set out on the Wakulla River

Until we meet again,  Good-bye Wakulla Park!

Our Walk on the Beach Yesterday

Mike and I

Another Dog on the Beach.  That's Tucker trying to keep up

He had one speed:  50 mph...

Carrabelle Beach RV Resort

It's 61 degrees out there right now (1:01 pm) and it's a clear day. We had a Pancake breakfast in the Clubhouse put on by one of the Campers here.

We have a full house today!  One or two vacancies.

I decided to take a walk around and share some pictures

You can see in this photo the Gulf on the other side of the trees

Daisy is the 2nd up up in the last row

Chris & Bob, these are the modular homes across the street

I also found a fellow camper who plays Rummikub, so I am off to find them and play a couple games

Wakulla Springs State Park Florida

Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park, 465 Wakulla Park Drive, Wakulla Springs, FL  32327
(850) 561-7276  (Park is open 365 days a year, 8:00 am until sunset).

Wakulla Springs State Park is a 6,000-acre wildlife sanctuary quietly hidden in Spanish moss-draped Florida woodlands.  30 minutes from Tallahassee, the heart of the park is the world famous Wakulla Springs.  Cool water flows from the majestic springs to create the Wakulla River, one of the last pristine rivers in Florida.

Today we took a ride on their boat tour.  It's a 3 mile River Tour, and takes about 45 minutes to cruise on the river.  Here are some pictures I took.  I saw my first manatee, allegator and many birds.

Click on any picture to enlarge it for viewing. I had fun looking up these birds I saw.

3 Manatee's touching noses.  They look like "blobs" under the water, so even though I saw many today, I won't post any more pictures of them.

Hooded Merganser (male & female)

The dock where we launched our boat from.  Notice the trees.

White Ibis

Moorhen

Osprey

Cormorant

Cormorant

Turtles piled up to sun on a log plus a Cormorant

White Ibis

Moorhen

Anhinga

Crocodile

Crocodile

Crocodile

Wakulla Springs Lodge, Florida

In 1937, fanancier Edward Ball took his idea of quiet elegance and placed it gently in the most serene place he'd found on his international travels...Wakulla Springs. He imported marble and tile, hired artisans in iron and stone, and introduced to the world a most unique retreat. To explore the history of this grand hotel is to take a voyage back in time...to Florida's "land boom"...those glorious days when people and money flowed in the Sunshine State, braving swamps and mud slides...with an eye to the future. Two such visionaries were Alfred I. DuPont, and his brother-in-law and business manager...Edward Ball. Edward Ball personally handled all facets of the design and construction of Wakulla Springs Lodge, and construction began on the two-story hotel in 1935.

The Spanish influence is evident in the massive masonry and stucco walls, tile roofs, arched windows and wrought iron grill work surrounding the windows and doorways. The interior of the walls is built-up brick face, then a layer of concrete, and then a finish of plaster.

The ceiling of the lobby is "heart" cypress as are all doors and other major uses of wood. Heart cypress is the very interior of the tree. And all of the cypress logs used in the Lodge were obtained locally as "dead heads"...a cypress that has fallen into water and been immersed for 50 years or longer, makingit impervious to rot. The lobby ceiling gets the most attention from its decorative painting, which was actually an afterthought. A German named Piplack approached Ball in the lobby and explained that he could paint "nice designs" on the ceiling. Ball accepted the offer with glorious results apparent.

It was later revealed that Mr. Piplack was not just another painter...he had been the last court painter for Kaiser Wilhelm. His work is breathtaking in scope and inspired in detail. Art of three cultures are blended so harmoniously that it appears at first to be Spanish-Moorish. But closer examination shows it to be a combination of European fold art-a motif common from Italy through Scandinavia, notably Germanic, with intricate Arabic scroll work - and Native American, depicting local wildlife scenes.

The world's longest known marble bar, at 70 feet three inches, is in the gift shop.  This marble is "face matched"...eight pieces that were cut from one block of marble.  This process is known as quarter-sawing:  a block of marble is cut in half, they are each cut in half again, and each quarter in half...to get eight panels...thereby producing a matching grain pattern.