2. Dinner at the Bait Shop?

Don't believe that title? Just read on .....

Driving from Nashville to the Atlanta area always seems like an easy drive, and this time was no exception. Having camped at McKinney Corps of Engineers campground a few times before, we had reserved our favorite camping spot, one the the Ranger told us was the best one in the park. 

We met our friend Sam that evening for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. We had a nice visit and lots of food!

While traveling, we are only make about 250 – 300 miles per day. This is because we start later in the day and stop earlier, its more tiring driving a big rig, the pets (and us) need a stop every few hours, and we simply don't have a tight schedule.

Our next leg of the journey was a pretty long drive (for us), about 6 ½ hours total to White Springs, Florida. We arrived at Steven Foster Folk Culture State Park in north central Florida with enough time to explore the park a bit. This park honors one of America's most notable composers who wrote such songs as Old Folks at Home, immortalizing the park's Suwannee river, Oh! Susanna, The Glendy Burke, and many more. Although he died tragically in 1864, his music is still played and resonates with all Americans.

A centerpiece of the park is its 200 foot tall tower housing the 97 bell tubular carrilon, one of the largest musical instruments in the Western Hemisphere. It chimes on the hour and periodically plays some of Foster's hugely popular songs.

The Carrilon, comprised of 97 tubular bells, was built in 1958 by J. C. Deagan Inc., in Chicago. A model of its internal workings was displayed in the tower.

With its huge open campsites, museum, and many trails, we wished we had a little more than just one evening and the following morning to explore this interesting Florida park. 

This vintage piano was used to play for a Jenny Lind concert and is similar to one Foster used for compositions.

Our only disappointment with Stephen Foster Folk Culture State Park was learneing that Foster was actually born in Pennsylvania and used the Suwannee River name in his iconic song just because it sounded good! He may have never even visited Florida. Oh, well!

A short drive to the southeast, and we arrived at Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area. 

Named after a folk singer who died heroically trying to save a swimmer in the waters off of the shore here, the park itself is little more than a few acres along the ocean with somewhat small sandy campsites. However, the beautiful Atlantic views compensate for any shortcomings in the campground.

You can see the campers overlooking the ocean on the left of this photo.

Our site was on the other side of the row of sites that face the water. We could see some of the Atlantic through our front window. A short walk down the boardwalk led to the ocean.

Just after our arrival, there was a pretty big rainstorm that must have dumped 2 or 3 inches, but after that the weather was beautiful, though a little cool.The storm washed up quite a few critters, including Starfish and Cannonball Jellyfish. The latter can cause some pretty nasty stings.

The reddish hue to the beach is from the reddish sand whose origin is the  coquina shell, a small clam abundant in the Eastern US tidal zones.  It made for some especially pretty morning and evening scenes.

Duffy wasn't quite ready to take the plunge here, but he wasn't afraid of those waves, either.

Daytona Beach, about 20 miles south, is one of the few places that you can drive on the beach, and so we just had to give it a try. 

We couldn't leave Daytona without going to the Farmers/Flea Market.

One day we drove north to Washington Oaks Gardens State Park. With its formal gardens and pristine shoreline, it was quite the feast for the eye!

Once she had seen the views of the Intracoastal and was presented with her beef brisket dinner, Anne wasn't too disappointed that we went to a bait shop for dinner! 

We wonder if the fish around Captain's like the fare as much as we did.