St. Johns Botanical Garden & nature preserve

Conservation at the St. Johns Botanical Garden & nature preserve at 8310 County Road 13 South in Hastings is about preserving the species of plants from around the world as well as native plants.

 

 

 

 

Pick up a map at the front of the park and enjoy the beauty of the plants that line the trails. Benches are placed throughout the garden. Sit on a bench and listen to the soothing sounds of a water fountain.

The Saguaro Cactus native to Arizona is the largest cactus in the United States can weigh up to 4,800 pounds and can live up to two hundred years. Other varieties of cacti are planted in the surrounding area.

Hundreds of palms are found throughout the garden. Champagne Bottle Palm native to the Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. The palm is a slow growing tree that reaches maturity at 10 feet.

Serdang Palm native to the Philippines grows to a height of fifty feet and used as an ornamental tree.

The Hurricane Palm native to the Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Given the name Hurricane Palm because of its ability to survive hurricane winds.

Live Oak, also named the Southern Oak found in the garden. A fast-growing tree is said to be 300 or 400 years old. Acorns are the fruit of the tree.

 

 

 

 

Sit and relax in the Oasis Outpost while enjoying the beautiful surroundings. The outpost provides shade and different varieties of plants. Have a picnic in the designated picnic areas.

Spend the day visiting the botanical garden, nature preserve, and the wilderness area of the nature preserve. Hours of operation and admission prices are located on the website.

George C. McGough Nature Park

 

 

 

 

Walk along the boardwalk, stand at the edge, and watch the turtles basking in the sun at 11901 146^th Street in Largo at the George C. McGough Nature Park. Named after the ex-mayor who was instrumental in establishing the park.

 

 

 

 

Read the bricks along the sidewalk donated for friends and businesses. Interpretive signs include photographs of Florida turtles, venomous and non-venomous snakes that describe in detail the species and the habitat of each one.

Two trails in the park, part of the distance can be walked along a boardwalk. A map includes the areas along the trails. Plants and animals along the Flatwoods, Salt Marsh, Mesic Hammock, and the Intracoastal Waterway.

Inside the nature center an array of tanks holds distinct species of fish from the Pacific Ocean, frogs from Africa, Painted Turtles from North America, and Mud Turtles found in North and South America. King Arthur a Kingsnake a non-venomous snake found in the Everglades. The Mexican Red-Knee Tarantula can be found in deserts and scrublands. Four species of owls are nocturnal. Certain species are active during dawn and dusk.

Rocks and minerals are displayed. Eight of the rarest minerals are found in only five countries on earth.

Bring a lunch and have a picnic in a pavilion. A playground for children and a butterfly garden. I recommend the nature center and park. Hours of operation on the website.

Chinsegut Hill Historic Site

 

 

 

 

Drive up the winding road to Chinsegut Hill Historic Site at 22495 Chinsegut Road in Brooksville. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, formerly a plantation, the home is situated on 114 acres. The docent told the story of the four families; each had their own relationship to the land that include photographs throughout the home that bring to life their personal stories. All the families that bought the Chinsegut Hill property were from South Carolina.

Colonel Bird T. Pearson bought 160 acres in Hernando County. He built a cabin on the property and with his enslaved people planted sugarcane. He was a lawyer and served on the Florida Supreme Court from the mid-1850s to the late 1850s.

Francis Ederington bought the property from Colonel Pearson. He started construction on the house and named it Mount Airy. On the plantation with his enslaved people, they planted sugar cane, cotton, and corn. He had a large family and after he and his wife died his daughter Charlotte who was only 18 years old raised six of her siblings.

Dr. Joseph Snow and Charlotte Ederington married and bought Mount Airy and renamed the property Snow Hill. He practiced dentistry and had a practice at the home.

The Robins family were the most influential family to live at the home. Elizabeth Colonel Raymond Robin’s sister bought the home for her brother and her in the early part of the 20^th century. He spent time in Alaska and panned for gold. When he returned to Brooksville, he married Margaret and they moved to the home and named the home Chinsegut an Innuit name that means “The spirit of things lost and regained.” Rooms were added to the home throughout their life. He lived at the home until his death and donated the estate to the government. Raymond engaged in politics and Margaret was the president of the National Women’s Trade Union League.

During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was used as a sub-tropical agricultural research station.

Walk around the grounds and read the signs that give a detailed history of the different buildings on the property. I enjoyed touring the home. The docent was knowledgeable, I recommend visiting the site. Prices and hours of operation are on the website.

Boyd Hill Nature Preserve

Boyd Hill Nature Preserve at 1101 Country Club Way South. Founded in 1943 a 245-acre preserve in downtown St. Petersburg. The park was named after Boyd Hill, the first superintendent of the park.

 

 

 

 

A knowledgeable docent took us on a 1-1/2 hour tram tour throughout the preserve. We walked across a bridge and saw a young alligator lift his head in Lake Maggiore. Passed a Gopher Tortoise along the way. They live on land and build burrows that are used by sixty varied species of animals.

Pick up a trail map before walking along the trails. On display along the trail an Armadillo Sculpture made of metal parts created by Paul Eppling who lived in St. Petersburg. The aviary is the permanent home of the distinct species of birds that can’t be rehabbed because of a permanent injury to their wings.

 

 

 

 

After walking the eight miles of trails step inside the Lake Maggiore Environmental Center and explore the different habitats on display. Lake Maggiore a 300-acre lake, Uplands, ten species of turtles, and wetlands.

Pick up numerous brochures while in the environmental educational center on how to save varied species, Natural History Speaker Series, and Wild Florida Series.

I recommend the preserve and education center, so many activities for people to enjoy. Admission prices and hours of operation on the website. Tram rides are offered on Saturday at 10 and 1 pm and on Sunday at 1 pm.

McLarty Treasure Museum

The name Treasure Coast is derived from the one hundred miles of Treasures found on the beach. In 1974, McLarty Treasure Museum a landmark at 13180 North A1A in Vero Beach dedicated to the 1715 Spanish Plate Fleet Survivors’ & Salvaging Camp. Two-thousand passengers as well as treasures from around the world for the Queen’s dowry loaded on the ships bound for Spain. The film gives a thorough account of the disaster.

Over twelve glass displays in the museum. Ceramics and Glass, Worked Metals, Life aboard the Ship, Spanish Shipwreck Archaeology, The Spanish World of Trade and Spanish Treasures and Cargo exhibited. Weapons of war and a cannon reproduction on display. The tour guide gave an account of how the coins were made and told us what the coins are worth in today’s market. You can search for coins walking on the beach using a metal detector. Admission prices and hours of operation are located on the website.

Mala Compra Plantation Archaeological Site at Bing’s Landing

 

 

 

 

A former plantation Mala Compra means “bad bargain” an archaeological site founded by workers who were cleaning the site for Bing’s Landing Park at 5862 N Ocean Shore Boulevard in Palm Coast. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

 

 

 

 

Walk up the paved walkway to the archaeological site and listen to a narrated story by Joseph M. Hernandez. The first Hispanic U.S. Senator a Minorcan born in St. Augustine in the late 18^th century. His parents came to Florida from Minorca an island off the coast of Spain.

Walk throughout the site and read the plaques that depict the historical account of the daily lives of the enslaved people. Joseph Hernandez also owned San Jose and Bella Vista plantations. When he was away on business his wife Ana Maria ran the plantations.

 

 

 

 

Plantations were made of tabby and coquina. Push a button on the interpretive exhibits throughout the site that lights up the well, hearth in the kitchen, and the main hearth in the house.

Mala Compra was abandoned at the start of The Second Seminole War that started in 1835. The residents fled to St. Augustine. The army occupied the plantation and when the soldiers temporarily evacuated the Seminoles came back and burned down the buildings. Several slaves were captured, and the rest were let go. The war lasted over six years and ended in 1842. In 1845 Joseph Hernandez was elected mayor of St. Augustine.

After visiting the site sit on a bench and look out at the Intracoastal Waterway. and watch the boaters launch their boats. Bring a pair of binoculars for viewing wildlife, a playground for children, a pavilion for picnics with tables and grills. I recommend the park and archaeological site as a wonderful way to spend the day.

Loggerhead Marinelife Center

Seven species of sea turtles are threatened or endangered because of human interactions. Loggerhead Marinelife Center rehabilitates adult sea turtles and hatchlings in the Sea Turtle Hospital at 14200 U.S. Hwy 1, in Juno Beach. The center also has a research laboratory.

While visiting the outdoor hospital listen to the Hospital Interpreters explain the life of the sea turtles and why they were brought to the hospital for rehab. If a turtle can’t be released into the wild because of a permanent injury they’re put into a long-term care facility.

The powerful jaws of the Loggerhead are used to crush their prey. They eat crabs, jellyfish, and mollusks. Female Loggerheads reach maturity at 35 years of age.

Green Sea Turtles reach adulthood by the age of twenty-four when the females start laying eggs. She can lay one hundred eggs at a time, and it takes 2 months for the eggs to hatch. Only 1 in 1,000 reach adulthood. Their diet consists of sea grasses and sea algae.

Forty species of coral inhabit the coral reefs in Florida. The Coral Reef Exhibit displays corals, fish, and invertebrates that dwell in the exhibit.

Shrubs and trees are part of the mangrove ecosystem. The Mango Shore Exhibit describes how important the mangroves are to the ecosystem. Fish, snakes, tree crabs, and snakes inhabit the exhibit.

A combination of 5 main tanks and 9 quarantine tanks are on display at the center. Invasive and native species of fish inhabit the tanks. I highly recommend visiting the center a lot to see and do. Hours of operation on the website. Free admission donations accepted.

Hobe Sound Nature Center

Spaniards originally pronounced the Jobé Tribe as Ho-bay, but eventually changed to Hobe. The Nature Center inside the Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge at 13640 S.E. Federal Highway in Hobe Sound. Permelia and Joseph Reed instrumental in the founding of the refuge in the late 1960s.

The nature center hosts programs for various species of wildlife. An estuary tank holds a variety of baby fish that include Baby Puffer, Flounder, and Goby fish. After reaching adulthood the fish will be released into the Indian River Lagoon which inhabits over 4,000 species of plants and animals.

Aquariums on display throughout the nature center shows the Gopher tortoise native to the Southeastern part of the United States. The Florida Pine Snake can reach up to seven feet long. The Eastern Slender Glass Lizard is a legless lizard.

Volunteers held up the varied species of snakes throughout the center. An adult Ball Python 5 to 6 feet in length is 30 years old. A juvenile Velvet Alligator reaches 5 to 6 feet in length in adulthood. A young Baby Red Rat Snake between ½ to 1 1/2 feet in length that was abandoned in the woods. The Red Rat Snake found throughout the southeastern United States.

 

 

 

 

A historical timeline through the periods of BC and AD. Open the drawers and look inside to see the stone artifacts on display.

All species of Sea Turtles in the United States are threatened or endangered with extinction. A conservation effort has been in existence since the early 1970s. Five species of sea turtles are found in the refuge.

 

 

 

 

 

An exhibit on reefs that describes in detail the plants, and animals that inhabit them. Read about the mangrove forests, fish, and wildlife that live in the mangroves.

Before leaving the center browse inside the gift shop. Stuffed animals, toys, children’s books, and assorted items found in gift shops.

After visiting the nature center hike on one of the seven trails in the refuge. I recommend the nature center they have different exhibits and wildlife to see up close.

Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge: Kings Bay Manatee Refuge

 

 

 

 

Spend time in the Visitor Center at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge: Kings Bay Manatee Refuge at 1502 SE Kings Bay Drive and read about the Manatees and how the refuge was created to protect the endangered species.

A thousand Manatees inhabit Kings Bay when the temperature in the Gulf of Mexico drops below 68 degrees. A presentation using a touch screen kiosk chronicles the story of the Three Sisters Springs from 1900 through the 1980s.

Diverse dioramas throughout the visitor center depict habitat life in the refuge. Karst limestone formed millions of years ago and is on display. Habitat warnings due to man-made pollution and environmental changes that cause sea levels to rise, affecting sea grasses and aquatic plants that Manatees feed on.

Collisions with watercraft are threats to the Manatees. Photographs with descriptions on how to protect them. Varied species of wildlife in the springs. Maintaining the springs and the restoration of Kings Bay project will preserve the eco system.

Browse the gift shop for books on touring Florida Springs, Canoeing, Kayaking in Florida, and the usual items sold in gift shops.

After visiting the center walk outside and sit on one of the rocking chairs. Relax, enjoy the breeze while looking out at the bay. I recommend the visitor center dedicated to the survival of the Manatees.

Hogtown Creek Headwaters Nature Park & Nature Center

Hogtown Creek Headwaters Nature Park & Nature Center at 1500 NW 45^th Avenue in Gainesville originally was the Hartman home and dairy farm. The Hartman family bought land in the late 1880s in the town named Paradise founded in the 1830s and is now part of Gainesville. After Mr. Hartman died his widow sold the property in 1961.

Poster Exhibits throughout the nature center describe the watershed, and how the name Hogtown came about. Varied species of animals inhabit the park. On display are photographs and descriptions of the different animals.

Fish, mussels, and beetles inhabit the aquarium. Ghost Shrimp is used for cleaning the aquarium and food for other fish. Florida Shiny Spike Mussel, and the Loggerhead Musk Turtle also reside in the aquarium. The smallest of the loggerhead turtles is only 4.5 inches in length. They live up to 23 years in captivity and 21 years in the wild.

Cedar Key, and Fernandina Beach were all connected to Gainesville via the railroads in the late 1850s. The tourists came, and hotels, restaurants and sightseeing venues were built to accommodate them.

Exhibits on display describe historical facts about the environment, first people who arrived over 12,000 years ago, early agriculture can be seen at the nature center.

 

 

 

 

Leslie Tharp, a local Metal Artist has a couple of art displays on site. After visiting the nature center take a half-mile loop trail. While walking the trail you might encounter animals. I recommend the nature park and nature center. Bring lunch and have a picnic. Hours of operation on the website.