Spring RV Trip - Okefenokee Swamp

 We left Chiefland and made a short trip to Lake Park, Georgia. We picked this spot - Eagle's Roost RV Resort - because it is right off of I-75, and only an hour from Stephen C Foster State Park - which is in the Okefenokee Swamp.

The St. Mary's River and the Suwannee River both start in the Okefenokee.  The state park is named after Foster because he wrote the song "Swannee River" (along with Oh Susanna, Camptown Races, Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair, among others).

We walked the nature trail and had a picnic. It was a nice, warm day.  It's really pretty, lots of pine tree farms along the way.  I can't imagine living around here, though.  So much water....the bugs and humidity in the summer must just be horrible!

Our campsite is really pretty with all the trees and Spanish Moss. There's a big lake just behind the park.

The nature trail.  We could hear alligators bellowing out there. It was kind of creepy!

The slow-growing Cypress trees were nearly decimated for their lumber in the late 1800's, early 1900's.

This one is just a baby!

Spring RV Trip - Dudley Homestead State Historic Place, Florida

 Today we drove just north of Newberry to explore the Dudley Farmhouse State Park.  All of the buildings and furnishings are original; just restored.  It was a cool, windy day, so walking around the old homestead was enjoyable.

Mike said it reminded him of his Uncle Lovick's farm in Buford, where Mike earned his first $20.  Mike said that Lovick's farm was very much like this (including the stove, outhouse, well, and mule driven hay baler) up until the mid 50's.

Built in the 1880's, the Dudleys had 8 girls and 4 boys.  Four rooms around a central hall, girls bedroom upstairs.

The kitchen was a separate building due to the fire hazard.  Mike's Aunt Idele cooked on a stove like this.

Laundry room (ha!), and dairy shed. Aunt Idele and Mike's Mom did laundry like this (until Mike and his brothers were pre-teens!)

Family outhouse.  That's a syrup cane field in the background.

The cane was crushed by using a mule, and the juice was processed in the vats on the right.  The vats were also used for lard processing and lye soap-making.

The Tom turkey was all puffed up.  They kept turkeys like these on the farm, as well as chickens.