Ichetucknee Springs

So we have kinda been on a relaxing streak since we got back from our New York trip and when we decided we wanted to do something stress free. We rented a vehicle from Enterprise; we chose a Chevy Malibu and headed north to Ichetucknee springs. Now the state park is where the spring is actually located but literally just across the road from the parks boarder is a large camp ground. Now we are getting a little to old for camping but the park offers several small cabins, each with two queen sized beds so we made reservations to rent one of these cabins. We had to wait an extra day for a vacancy but we got the cabin nonetheless.

The campgrounds are actually quite large and at this time of year there really wasn’t a lot of people there. We dropped our stuff in the cabin and made a walk about the campground just to get our bearings. Now on the Ichetucknee River or Spring you generally float down on tubes, so at the front desk or shop we had to rent our tubes for the next morning. We got a large three person raft and figured we would use the extra room to spread out. It was a good idea because I don’t think I could have sat cross legged for three hours… yes the ride is that long.

Don’t get me wrong, every minute of those three hours is filled with incredible sites and animals. We went down the river and saw an abundance of fish in all sizes. The plants and water are beautiful, and every corner presented a new photo opportunity, my wife was aggravated that we hadn’t taken the camera. But the fact that we were riding on water seemed too dangerous for her expensive camera. We saw a few otters and a few water snakes, not poisonous but still snakes none the less.

One you get to the end you can either return your raft or take it back up to the half way point and ride half way down the stream again. We decided that we really weren’t up to riding down again, so we returned our raft and hopped on the tram to return to our car. There was a food stand and we decided that we wanted some hot fries, so when we ordered them we sat down by the river and ate. Keep in mind that this entire time I wanted my fishing rod, the fish here are monstrous, and because the water has less oxygen than the lakes in the area the fish have to jump to collect it. But as far as I see it, the fish are just jumping to taunt me.

This is a fun and very inexpensive vacation for us. We only went down the river once but we think if we ever visit again we may try to do it three days in a row. And my wife is already online looking for a waterproof case for her camera, she seems really exited about going back, so it appears as if I will have to book another trip soon.