Kids can learn things just about anywhere!

During a recent trip to Florida, in addition to visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, we took a side trip to Blue Spring State Park on a whim.  We’d never heard of it but Google led us there in hopes of spotting a manatee, the elusive creature who’d avoided us on our last few trips south.

Blue Spring State Park is less than an hour north of Orlando in Orange City, FL.  It was an easy drive and included crossing a bridge over Lake Jesup, home to the state’s densest population of alligators.  This can come in quite handy if the children are misbehaving in the car…”You don’t want to fall into the lake, now, do you?”  Or, if you’re just looking for learning opportunities for your kids, it’s a great beginning to a conversation about alligators, ecosystems, and animal habitats.  Either way, it’s an interesting fact, don’t you think?  I must admit that I felt a bit squeamish even though I understood we were way up on a large structure made of concrete and steel and not really within reach of the beasts.  But, really?  The densest population of alligators?  Yuck!

Keep driving north, and you’ll find yourself at the park, where you can also snorkel, scuba dive, swim, tube, canoe, kayak and camp at various times during the year.  We discovered that manatee season is mid-November through March, and because the natural spring keeps the water at about 73 degrees, the manatees love to swim there.  The park is a designated Manatee Refuge, and swimming with the manatees isn’t permitted, although I’m not sure why you’d want to anyway.  They’re not small!

Since we were there in December, we lucked out and saw not just one or two, but probably twenty or more manatees, a gator, a turtle, and, of course, plenty of fish.

see the gator?

There are several hiking tails, and we enjoyed walking along the boardwalk through the beautiful park.

The park has signposts that offer tidbits about the areas history, and facts about the local habitat.

All in all, I found it more than worth the drive.