The Wakulla Springs State Park Boat Tour or, Why You Should Always Take a Guide Book with You on Vacation

July 20, 2012

Dear reader, you may have noticed that I haven't been posting blogs recently. Well, I have just returned from a two-week family vacation to Florida, principally so that my son could have THE ORLANDO THEME PARK EXPERIENCE.  Wanting to avoid THE ORLANDO THEME PARK EXPERIENCE during the week of the 4th of July, we planned to spend our first week slowly working our way along the Gulf Coast, from Pensacola to Tampa. The second week would be devoted wholly to THE ORLANDO THEME PARK EXPERIENCE. In preparation, I checked out the Fodor’s 2012 Florida Guidebook, which I took with me. I’m so glad I did, as without it I would have missed one of the greatest vacation bargains of all time.

I’m not talking about discount THE ORLANDO THEME PARK EXPERIENCE tickets. Those of you who have read this blog since its beginning know of my fowl obsession. We had already planned to spend the night in Tallahassee so that I could visit St. Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge to fit a little birding in between lounging on the beach and THE ORLANDO THEME PARK EXPERIENCE. En route to Tallahassee, I opened the guidebook to see what else there was to do in the area. And then I found something interesting: the $8 Wakulla Springs State Park boat tour.

If you’re a nature lover, this is probably the best $8 you will spend in your entire life. For this ridiculously low price, you gain entry into NATURE'S OWN THEME PARK EXPERIENCE of huge cypress trees, curtains of Spanish moss, alligators, manatees, and water birds galore. You'll feel as if you’ve travelled into a primeval wilderness, even though you’re less than 30 minutes from downtown Tallahassee.

Make sure you’re there at 9:00 a.m., so you can get on the earliest tour of the day. That’s when the wildlife is most active, especially during the hot summer months. The wildlife is very accustomed to the presence of the boats, so don’t forget your cameras. Normally, skittish birds such as night herons and anhingas allow the boat to approach to within a few feet!

I honestly could have spent the rest of the day just riding the boat tour over and over again. But we had to be moving on to St. Mark’s NWR (which was actually a bit of a letdown after the up close and personal experience at WSP), and then on to Tampa by nightfall. I’m already planning a trip back to Florida this fall or winter. You can bet that Wakulla Springs State Park will be on the itinerary, and that I will be scouring the guidebooks for other overlooked gems as well.

-Jeff D.
Grandview Branch

P.S. - I discovered that you can actually do quite a lot of birding while having THE ORLANDO THEME PARK EXPERIENCE. The birds don't have to pay to get in, so they are all over the parks where there is food galore, especially at SeaWorld where they steal the fish you bought to feed the dolphins/seals/sharks/stingrays. I will get my $5 back from those egrets and wood storks if it's the last thing I do!