Lisa is a beach girl- loves the beach and warm sun, has great memories of the beach. For her it was going to the Cajun Riveria, aka Destin, Fl with family at first, then with friends, and then with her branch of the family- Ant, Ash, Tony, and Alex. Douglas on the other hand isn’t as much of a beach person. He grew up in Florida and enjoyed the beach and spent numerous hours in the water riding the waves on rented blue rafts and just his body after learning how to body surf. But is wasn’t the beach, but the water that drew him.
Growing up in Florida, there is a massive freshwater aquifer under the state running from the north to the south (and limited portions of GA, AL, MS, and SC). It touches 100,000 square miles and supplies drinking water to over ten million people. Occasionally there would be a place were the aquifer had broken thru to the surface and created natural springs- fresh water, filtered thru limestone. There are also incidents where land above the aquifer gave way and collapsed, causing a “sink hole.” One of the most famous in Florida was in the Orlando – Winter Park area where the land under a Porsche repair shop gave way and partially swallowed a bunch of Porsches. It was big new then, and today it is just another small central Florida lake. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/os-fla360-looking-back-at-winter-parks-famous-sinkhole-20121113-story.html
Growing up, the Mazina clan used to go to Rock Springs and several other springs north of Orlando to swim, ride the current and picnic. Some of these eventually were purchased with the surrounding land by developers who built private, gated neighborhoods, some were purchased and became tourist attractions, and some became public parks. Many of these springs were worked on by the Civilian Conservation Corps to furnish jobs during the depression and create parks for the public good.
We made it to two of the Springs that Douglas remembered having been to when a child and as teenager and camped and swam in the cool water. This first was Juniper Springs in the Ocala National Forest.
and Salt Springs a little further north in Ocala:
More info on visiting Florida Springs: http://www.floridasprings.org/visit/
