Panhandle, Day 2

Tuesday, Oct 8

We continue north on US 19 through Fanning Springs and Cross City. Stop in Perry to visit the Forest Capital State Museum and Cracker Homestead. Turns out the museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. We spot a red-headed woodpecker, which is rare in Central Florida. Take a few photos of the cracker homestead and the pines in the early morning light. Pick up US 98 in Perry and head north west. Next stop is an abandoned quarry which has a variety of wildflowers nearby. Continue on US 98 to SR 14, which takes us to Econfina State Park. Not much to see there. Continue west on US 98 to SR 59 and St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. Lots of scattered islands as we drive to the lighthouse. Switch to SR 267 and take it to Wakulla State Park, where we sign up for two nights at the picturesque 1937 lodge there. After we check in, we walk down to the springs and watch kids jumping off the 30-ft. high-dive into the springs. We take a boat ride down the Wakulla Springs River. Several old movies were made at the springs, including some Tarzan movies and "The Creature from the Black Lagoon." We have dinner in the lodge dining room. Good food, elegant surroundings.

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