Steviek
 United Kingdom
318 Posts
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Status: offline |  Posted - 19 Jun 2005 : 20:50:11  
| Saw this on another website and it sounded so great thought everyone here would like to hear about it. Im sure Florida Pete wont mind
We had heard of DE LEON SPRINGS State Recreational Area before but, this February, we decided to spend a Saturday finding out all about it for ourselves. Quite apart from it being a recreational park we had heard that it also had a natural spring and another ‘special attraction’, with audience participation, which you will hear about as my story unfolds.
We set out from Kissimmee by using I/4 East (it’s north actually) and driving through (nay, over) Downtown Orlando, up past Lake Mary and Heathrow, past Sanford and over the bridge at Lake Jessup (wonderful view of the St. John River) until we reached Exit 54. There we left I/4 and followed the signs for Hwy. 17 posted “Deltona”. After driving through Orange City we quickly came upon Deltona, a small town which is right out of Mainstreet USA at Magic Kingdom. This ‘turn of the century’ town has been lovingly restored with its block-paved pavements, quaint shops and canopy-shaded walkways. It is well worth a few minutes pause for your driver to stretch his legs. The drive onwards and upwards, through Stetson University, with its rolling lawns, colonial halls, until you reach the small ‘hicksville’ town of De Land. Watch out very carefully for the sign for the Post Office and follow it, turning across the main road, leading you into the road to De Leon Springs. There is also a brown sign for the Springs but it is easily missed. Within just a few minutes you will see the impressive entrance to the park and the warden will be there to welcome you, in exchange for your $4.00 for the whole car full of passengers, for the whole day !
Once inside you will follow the winding access road to where there is plenty of parking, some in the shade of trees. Be sure to bring a picnic with you - even food to barbecue if you get really enthusiastic. All the facilities are there awaiting you !
The 603 acres of De Leon Springs Park is named after Juan Ponce de Leon, the leader of Spanish forces in the 1500’s who first ‘discovered’ Florida (except, they so easily forget, that Indians had lived there for centuries before). It is ‘rumoured’ that he passed this way and so it gives a convenient name to this very attractive park which is centred on a natural spring. This spring provides the focus of the park with its constant 72 degree waters pouring upwards out of the earth at the rate of millions of gallons each day. Here is a very safe bathing lake for all with a special shallow section roped off for small children. Bath-houses (changing rooms) as well as full ‘restroom’ facilities are available - and kept constantly clean. When we visited there were, seemingly, hundreds of people enjoying the warm‘ish’ waters and having a great time. Swimming tubes can also be hired to float around the lake - though they cannot venture out of the spring and into the river proper.
Picnic tables and BBQ grills are provided in the shade of the centuries old Live Oak trees, some of which are also within the protection of Pavilions, and many families had come well prepared with gingham table clothes, cool boxes and all the paraphernalia of the American family at play. We simply got our folding beach chairs out of the trunk of our car and pitched camp with our ‘sarnies’ and a couple of cans of sodas. But we are just simple Brits !
There are many walking trails to wander through the woodlands, exploring for the kids ‘discovering’ a bald cypress tree and Monkey Island. In the Spring there was also lots of Azalea and Rhododendron bushes in a beautiful blaze of colour.
The more adventurous can rent Indian style canoes, Eskimo style kayaks or Mediterranean style pedalo’s to explore the Spring Garden Creek as it leaves the spring and makes it’s way to Lake Woodruff. The less adventurous, like us, can simply take the “Safari River Tour” which leaves the Spring dock at regular intervals. It is a flat-bottomed pontoon boat which take its passengers in shaded comfort a few miles down the creek, across Lake Woodruff and back with your guide pointing out all the wonderful sub-tropical wildlife which can be seen along the banks. On our trip we were fortunate enough to see many graceful white Ibis and Egrets, Greater Blue Herons, Osprey’s nesting, even one Bald Eagle, and many, many Alligators ‘snoozing’ in the shallows along the banks. It certainly was worth the few extra dollars which the cruise cost us (at Seniors rates of course).
By the time we had enjoyed our picnic lunch, walked a little, taken the cruise and returned to the dock, it was time for tea ! And here is where the ‘special attraction’ comes in ! At the “old Spanish Sugar mill” adjacent to the spring waters, you will find dining - with a difference. You get to do the cooking ! All the tables have a central ‘griddle’ (hot-plate) on which the diners cook their own pancakes ! The server brings large jugs of pancake mix to your table in two varieties - buttermilk and stone ground - together with your ‘tools’ and fa***ree cooking spray. You order whatever ‘fillings’ you need - we went for blueberries, bananas and strawberries. Then you simply heat the griddle up (they’re electric), spray on the ‘fat’ before pouring a pool of batter from your jug. My tip is that you should add the ‘extras’ at this point so they cook with the pancake and are already embedded in the pancake when time comes to ‘flip’ it over. When you see the edges of the pancake becoming firm and, using the spatula provided, just lift the edge to check that its ready to ‘flip’ and then do side two. After that it’s onto your plate, with lashings of maple syrup and sugar. E-N-J-O-Y !! Mmm....
The problem is - I challenge you to finish off both jugs of mix ! They are SO filling !
With unlimited coffee and all the fun of this DIY experience the cost is very reasonable. They even ‘trust’ you to go to the register and ‘tell’ them what you had before you leave. No checks. Of course, if you just don’t like pancakes, there is a wide ranging menu of other things, cooked in their kitchens, on offer.
In order to ‘shake it all down’ a little before setting out on our return journey we walked around the spring one more time and came across their ‘historic centre’ which gives an intriguing insight into how this park came to be. Quite apart from it having been the site of Indian encampments over the centuries, and they have a Seminole dug-out canoe which was unearthed at the site of excavations to prove it, the land was later owned by the English who traded European goods with the Indians for furs and deerskins. Later the Spanish took over again and established sugar cane plantations (hence the sugar mill). In 1821 Florida became US territory and in 1832 John James Audubon, the famous botanical and ornithological artist visited De Leon Springs.
In the early years of the 1900’s the springs became a popular Victorian ‘tourist attraction’ (decades before Disney arrived) with the visiting wealthy north east US industrialists who wintered in Florida. An impressive Resort Hotel was built and lots of attractions were developed at De Leon Springs (including a water-skiing elephant ?). However, with the coming of better attractions south of Orlando, its fortunes waned and the land was acquired as a State Park in 1982. So, the park is now an ‘attraction’ of a more natural kind and well worth the 35 mile drive from Orlando. We thoroughly enjoyed our day there ! And it is so cheap too !
For further information, or for directions, you can call the Park Warden on: (904) 985 4212. TIP: avoid weekends and public holidays - visit mid-week if you can !
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