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Crystal River, Florida: Three Sisters Springs, Gopher Tortoises & Life at Rock Crusher Canyon

March 30, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: May 2026

Crystal River sits on Florida’s Nature Coast, a stretch of Gulf shoreline north of Tampa where spring-fed rivers empty into shallow bays and the development pressure of the coasts hasn’t quite arrived. The town is best known as the winter home of the West Indian manatee — hundreds gather in the warm spring water of Kings Bay each winter when Gulf temperatures drop — and for Three Sisters Springs, a crystalline system where visitors can swim or snorkel alongside them. We came for the manatees, needed the wifi, and stayed a week. The week did not go entirely as planned.

Crystal River waterway, Florida Nature Coast

Cedar Key, Florida: John Muir’s 1,000-Mile Journey End, Civil War Salt Raids & Sunrise Ospreys

March 25, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: May 2026

From Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, we made the hour-long drive southwest of Gainesville to Cedar Key — a cluster of islands on the Gulf of Mexico named after the eastern red cedar that once blanketed the surrounding coast. The population is only about 700, though on weekends the numbers swell considerably with tourists, motorcyclists in particular. Cedar Key runs on two things: tourism and aquaculture. Farm-raised clams and oysters are a thriving multimillion-dollar industry here, and the waterfront is genuinely charming. The town is compact and easy to explore on foot or by bicycle — and we found ourselves staying longer than planned.

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Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, Florida: Bison, Gopher Tortoises & Why Florida’s Cowboys Were Called Crackers

March 19, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: May 2026

From White Springs and the Suwannee River, we headed south to Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park — a 21,000-acre savanna in Micanopy, Florida, just south of Gainesville. Florida acquired the land in 1970 and has been steadily restoring it to a more natural condition ever since. With over 270 species of birds, wild bison, Florida Cracker horses, and one very patient gopher tortoise who finally decided to show itself after three months of teasing us with road signs, it turned out to be one of the more educational stops of our entire winter.

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White Springs, Florida: The Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center, Carillons & Early Spring Blooms Along the Suwannee

March 7, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: May 2026

The Suwannee River runs through the northern Florida interior with quiet authority, draining the Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia and making its slow, dark-watered way to the Gulf of Mexico some 240 miles away. “Way down upon the Suwannee River” — the opening line of Stephen Foster’s 1851 song “Old Folks at Home” — made this otherwise obscure waterway the most recognized river name in American popular music. We’d already visited Suwannee River State Park at the river’s confluence with the Withlacoochee; now, heading back south through the Florida Panhandle, we stopped in White Springs — a small town the river bends around — and found more than we expected.

Suwannee River Resort, White Springs, Florida

RV travel through north Florida, route to White Springs

Blackwater River State Park, Florida: One of America’s Purest Rivers, Tea-Dark Water & Trails of Appalachian Sand

March 3, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: March 3, 2017

From Bella Terra we headed back into Florida and into one of its lesser-known gems. Blackwater River State Park opened in 1968 and covers about 600 acres in the Florida Panhandle — a destination built around one of the purest sand-bottom rivers in the United States. We came looking forward to canoeing, got rained out of the trails, and still left thoroughly impressed.

The dark tannin-stained water of Blackwater River flowing through Blackwater River State Park, Florida

Bella Terra RV Resort, Gulf Shores, Alabama: Lakeside Recovery, Magnolia Springs & the Best Mushroom Risotto in the South

February 25, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: February 25, 2017

After weeks of state parks — beautiful, quiet, and trail-filled as they were — we were ready for a different kind of stop. Bella Terra of Gulf Shores is an upscale Class A motorhome resort in southern Alabama, and we chose it deliberately: we needed to receive mail and packages, catch up on bills and phone calls, and give Michael’s still-healing ribs and wrist a few days without a hiking agenda. It also has a pool and spa, which after the state park circuit felt like pure luxury.