Darn Youths

Day Ten

We woke up and discussed the interesting things that had happened in the night.  There was a dog that barked at us for about an hour. A truck that played country music loudly for about thirty minutes.  A speed boat with a Guy Fieri look a like.  Surely some of these things were hallucinations? No.  The Suwannee is just a weird place. 

We wanted to get to Manatee Springs by the end of the day which meant we had to go about 23 miles. We planned to take a halfway stop at Fanning Springs because it is beautiful and because there is food.  Also, Fanning Springs was one of the mile markers I was most excited for.  Passing under i-75 earlier in the week had been a cool moment because I had driven over the same spot before but passing under 19 was something I was especially looking forward to since I pass it everytime I drive home from FSU and have always liked looking out over the bridge and down at the river below it. 

We started seeing more and more houses along the river banks as the day passed and even started seeing some alligators again.  Only fifty miles earlier it would have shocked me to see a boat racing by but at this point in the river it is a sight we see every thirty or so minutes.  We are in the most crowded section of the river and our days are going to be, unfortunatly, less flexible since soon there will be only marsh on the sides of the river and campsites will be harder to find.  

At around 12:30 we tied off at Fanning Springs and paid our fee at the honor box.  We walked into town to eat lunch at The Lighthouse Restaurant and get a few supplies from a convenience store.  We spent about two hours at the spring swimming and playing in the water.  We slathered on some fresh sunscreen, admired turtles, got some clean water, borrowed an outlet, and then pushed on.  

We paddled slowly, doing more drifting than paddling, and stopped multiple times to swim and admire interesting flowers or climb trees.  We are having trouble with bugs for the first time since we started but we learned that if you wedge a stick of citronella incense in the deck bungee or hold it behind your ear while it burns that it pretty effectively keeps the mosquitos away.  

Around 7:30 we got to Manatee Springs State Park.  I have since learned that perhaps we were not supposed to camp here.  But it was dark and there was a walkway between the dock that was at least a quarter mile so I am not sure if there was a sign that I missed or if we were allowed to do that. We put our money in the honor box and hung our hammocks out on the dock.  After cooking our dinners (more macaroni and cheese) we were more than ready for bed.  25 miles will wear you right out.  

At some point in the night some local youths were standing on the dock no less than ten feet from our hammocks shining flashlights into the water looking for gators, peeing off the edge of the dock, commenting on our bravery for camping on a dock where alligators would crawl up and eat us, and generally doing a good job of being loud and annoying.  I’m glad they were enjoying Manatee Springs as well but it made me feel like an old woman because I only wanted to shake my fist at them and demand that they simmer down. I appreciate their enthusiasm and admiration but I would appreciate even more a solid sleep.

We heard sturgeon splashing and gators calling all night.  We had been told that there might be manatees further up the spring but when we woke up this morning we saw nothing except for one million turtles.  I love turtles so although I was disappointed with the lack of manatees I was not too upset about the situation. Turtles are always an appreciated consolation.