MON., OCT 23 thru WED., OCT 25, 2023
We spent one last night in Georgia at Twin Oaks RV Park in the town of Elko then woke up the next morning and traveled 163 miles south to arrive at Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center SP in White Springs, FL. It’s named after the same Stephen Foster who is known as the “father of American music.” He wrote 200 songs including Oh Susanna, Camptown Races, My Old Kentucky Home, and most importantly to Florida… “The Swanee River” (aka Old Folks at Home) which is Florida’s state song.
The State Park houses the largest tubular bell carillon in the world, with 97 bells. In case you aren’t familiar with the term, a carillon is a percussion instrument comprised of bells and played using a piano-like keyboard. It was installed in 1958 at the state park and rises 200 ft in the air and contains 97 tubular bells ranging in size from 3.5 ft to 12.5 ft long and weighing 69 to 426 pounds. Unfortunately, it’s currently being restored so no bells ringing on this visit. Although Gary & I have heard them on a previous stop at this state park. We’ve also seen great Christmas decorations here but we’re too early for them this year.
They have a nice (if old) visitor’s center which is in the style of an old plantation and called the Folk Culture Center. It includes dioramas depicting scenes from some of Stephen Foster’s songs as well as sharing info about his life. Unfortunately he died at 37 years of age quite tragically. “In January 1864, while at the American Hotel, Stephen Foster was taken with ague and fever. After two or three days he arose, and while washing himself fainted and fell across the wash basin, which broke and cut a gash in his neck and face.” He was found alive but lying in a pool of blood and subsequently died at Bellevue Hospital 3 days later. Some think he sought to take his own life as there was a scrap of paper found in his wallet that said “Dear friends and gentle hearts.” I like to think he was working on a new song…
The actual Suwannee River runs through this state park. We hiked beside it following the Florida/Appalachian Trail. It was hotter than we were accustomed to and the trail wasn’t cleared as much as we might have liked. Some pod members were complaining, but we persevered! We hiked about 2.5 miles total. That was enough!
The Suwannee River is considered a Blackwater River. It has a slow-moving channel that flows thru wetlands and forested swamps. As vegetation decays in the water, tannins are leached out resulting in transparent acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling tea. It’s actually quite pretty! Most major Blackwater River systems are in the Amazon or in the Southern US.
Beautiful sites here at the state park with tall live oaks draped in Spanish moss, palm trees, and saw palmettos. Feels a bit like Jurassic Park! Tomorrow we move on to Silver Springs SP.
