Way Up on the Suwannee River

It's been a little while since I've written, but things have been slow on the writing front lately.  Since last I wrote spring has come on strong here in Florida.  All the flowers in our yard are blooming and our lime tree is so full of delicious-smelling little white flowers. We're going to be swimming in limes this year.

Yesterday was the Wild Azalea Festival in White Springs, a little town about twenty minutes north of Lake City.  We decided to drive up there and check it out.  When my mom first started making and selling quilts at festivals we would do White Springs, but we haven't been in years because this festival is really small.  I really wanted to be a Mori Girl and I started out in a few layers, but I changed into a more simple Mori outfit before we left, anticipating the heat.  Here in Florida spring feels like summer, except everything is blooming.  And Florida in summer is sometimes what I imagine hell is like.  I would have died in my original outfit.

Everything in White Springs was blooming, including the abundance of wisteria that seemed to be draped over every tree.  When we first got there it seemed a bit dead because things were just getting started.  We perused the booths but didn't see anything we couldn't live without.  After that we went to check out Adams Country Store, which is a really old building in the town.  It's usually not open but yesterday it was.  There are mostly just antiques there now, but they're everyday antiques, not vases and teacups.
 

 

 
 

 

 

I really liked this beautiful stein.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My dad said that when he was little they had one of these in his house with a built in flour sifter.

 

 

 

 

My mom was in love with these canisters.

 

 

I actually did spot some teacups!

 

 

This dresser was beautiful!  And you can see my outfit in the reflection.

 

 

This bellows was bigger than me.  It was probably as big as a cow.

 

I wanted this writing desk.

 

 

I also wanted all these trunks.

 

 

My mom knew what this was as soon as she saw it.  I didn't.  It's a refrigerator!

 

Mom immediately wanted this to put the TV on, and then she proceeded to realize it was way too big.

 

 



 

Afterwards we went out back where there were a few sheds and whatnot.

 

 

 


 

My mom didn't know I was taking this picture.  Te he he!

 

There was a really pretty gate out front beside the store.

 

 After checking out the festival we went over to check out the river, and in White Springs that usually means going down to see the bath house.  The bath house is kind of a part of Stephen Foster State Park, which means it sits on the banks of the Suwannee River.  I spent my childhood on this river, which is why I frequently call it "my river."

 

The bath house used to be a tourist attraction where people would come to swim or "bathe."  The bath house is situated over a natural sulphur spring and people visited to basically renew their health and have fun.  It's not open for that kind of thing anymore, and all the lower levels shown in the old photos are gone, but it's still an interesting place to go.  My dad said it was still open when he was a child and he swam there.

 

 

 

Look at those swim suits!  I could get used to that again.

 

 

 

This bridge leads to the state park.

 

 

If you look closely in the center you can see a woodpecker.

 

 

 

Here are my parents, figuring out technology.

 

Alligators are a geographical hazard when you're a Floridian, but that doesn't usually stop us.

 

Usually you can walk all the way down and around to the outside but the river was up a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Normally you  look down from here and see the bank, but not today.  While the water was up more than usual it's been a lot higher before.  Back when tropical storm Debbie came through in 2012 only the roof and the rails were visible. 

 

More surreptitious photo taking.

 

 

 

 

After the bath house we were getting hungry and none of the festival food appealed to us so we decided to head back to Lake City.  On the way back we stopped at a boat ramp on the river and sat in a swing for a bit.

 

 

 

 When we were leaving a cat came along to lay under a picnic table.  She was so pretty, and stayed still long enough for me to take her picture, though she probably would have run if I'd made any sudden movements.  She was one of the highlights of the day.  I need a cat so much.