Yeah...really starting to hate that toothbrush.
Anyway! It was a beautiful day...
Our itinerary for the day included an excursion to...a couple of State Parks! (Surprise!)
First up, Falling Waters State Park, home to the only naturally occurring waterfall in the state of FL. Also home to the tallest hill in FL, but more about that later.
First: SINKHOLES!!
This entire place (waterfall included) exists because this area of FL is prone to sinkholes. Not really a comforting discovery when you're standing around reading a sign...
The locals harnessed the power of the river to grind corn. A practice they quickly gave up on when they discovered that they could just make whiskey instead.
"Ah history, you funny cause you true."
Limestone + Water = Sinkhole.
Boom!
Now you don't have to read that sign.
To sum up again: Limestone + Water = Sinkhole.
Dear Tourist,
Sinkholes are dangerous.
Smooches,
FL
I have to admit I was delighted to discover that Sparkleberry is actually a real thing!
As opposed to just being a My Little Pony.
And yes...I was also hoping to run across a Glitter bush, just to make it a matched set.
What? Inside I'm like 12.
Oh, and I found a neat bug!
But he didn't want to be friends.
He just kinda looked at me and then tried really hard to pretend he was a leaf.
Jerk.
And then I found the waterfall!
And it was lovely. And peaceful.
And just a little bit scary...cause to get to it you have to climb down a bunch of steps suspended from a hillside in an area prone to sinkholes and then stand on a platform suspended over the sinkhole that the waterfall cascades into and they don't actually know how deep the hole is because NOBODY has managed to repel all the way to the bottom yet.
My uncle...the electric toothbrush owner.
But he's like...the greatest uncle ever.
So I just accept that the electric toothbrush thing is a quirk.
My aunt.
She's fabulous.
And we have an amazing relationship.
Her kids are jealous cause she likes me best.
The wall of the waterfall, covered in lichens.
Now on to the other highlight of this particular state park.
The tallest hill in the entire state of FL.
At the top of this hill you are higher above sea level than ANYWHERE else in the state.
Ta-da!
What?
That's it...back there...that little swell of trees and dirt just beyond the parking lot.
It's 324 feet above sea level.
Don't everybody crowd up during the flood.
*****
Our next stop was Florida Caverns State Park, home to the only known cave system in the state of FL...because SINKHOLES!!!
Actually, no. But a girl's gotta tie things together somehow.
Anyway! Since I have some mild claustrophobia issues now (side effect of other adventures), I decide to do everyone in the tour group a favor and NOT spend the next hour underground.
I wandered through the visitor's center instead. And there, amongst the displays about FL natural history and Native Tribes, I found a video of a trip through the caverns created expressly for people like me who are all "hey, that's super neat but no thank you."
It was both entertaining AND informative.
But that's not what I enjoyed the most about this particular state park.
You see...down at the other end of the room was a display all about local wildlife.
And you guys???
THERE WERE TURTLES!!!
This is Linda, one of the park volunteers.
She introduced me to all of her shell-loving buddies.
I giggled like an idiot.
Linda was super okay with it.
We're like BFFs now.
So thanks for the adventures, Panama City Beach!
Maybe I'll come back for another visit when it's warm!
love and kisses,
- HistoryDiva
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