Snowbird Season

Posted in Birds, Florida, Photography, RVing, WildlifeTagged , , , , , ,

Snowbird – one who travels to warm climes for the winter (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

No, we’re not snowbirding this year – yet. Doctor’s appointments and household chores caused us to get a late start this year. Instead of hitting Florida during the peak snowbird season we will be arriving in Florida in early March just before spring break.

While we have been home, I’ve been thinking about all the places in Florida we have enjoyed. Here are just a few highlights from our snowbirding adventures from past years.

We had white sandy beaches almost completely to ourselves at St. Joseph Peninsula State Park.

The beach at sunset at St. Joseph Peninsula State Park
The beach at sunset at St. Joseph Peninsula State Park

Watching the sunset was a perfect way to end the day at Cedar Key.

20090217Cedar Key (118)
Cedar Key Sunset

We loved Everglades National Park and camped at the Flamingo Campground twice.

Pa-Hay-Otee Overlook in Everglades National Park
Pa-Hay-Otee Overlook in Everglades National Park

There was a lot of bird watching in Cedar Key.

White Pelicans and Cormorants at Cedar Key
White Pelicans and Cormorants at Cedar Key

And  lots of alligators in Everglades National Park.

Alligators along the Anhinga Trial, Everglades National Park 2012
Alligators along the Anhinga Trial, Everglades National Park 2012

It was fun seeing manatees at Homossassa Springs Wildlife State Park.

Manatee in Homossassa Springs
Manatee in Homossassa Springs

This Gopher Tortoise walked across our campsite at Silver River State Park (now Silver Springs State Park).

Gopher Tortoise at our campsite Silver River State Park
Gopher Tortoise at our campsite Silver River State Park

We rode the Fort Gate Ferry across the St. John’s River near Salt Springs Recreation Area.

Waiting to cross the St. John's River on the Fort Gates Ferry
Waiting to cross the St. John’s River on the Fort Gates Ferry

And of course we went for boat rides.

Went for a boat ride in the Salt Springs Run
Went for a boat ride in the Salt Springs Run

We ate our fill of stone crab claws and other fresh seafood.

Delicious Stone Crab Claws in Everglades City, Florida
Delicious Stone Crab Claws in Everglades City, Florida

Soon we will be hitching up the fifth wheel to do a little late snowbirding this year. We are going to a few new places and returning to a couple of favorites. Stay tuned to see where we wander next!

This is my contribution to the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge. For more Seasons photography go to WordPress Photo Challenge: Seasons

33 thoughts on “Snowbird Season”

  3. Florida has so many beautiful places. While we thought we’ve seen most of Florida, you’ve show us a few places we’d like to go. We had hoped to hit a few new places but the repairs from our blowout have us grounded in Lake Wales. Not a bad deal…..
    Hope you have reservations. Everyone is complaining how hard it’s been to get in. Lower gas prices have filled the campgrounds and RV Resorts.

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          1. We had so much fun in the panhandle last year. We had hoped to get there but we’ve just lost three weeks here in central Florida getting repairs! We’re not sure when we’ll be able to start moving….we thought we’d try Georgia again but we are running out of time. We want to see more of Georgia!

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          2. I hope your repairs will soon be finished and you can move on. Lots of beautiful places in Georgia. Beaches, lakes, antebellum homes, mountains, historic cities and towns, live oak trees, Spanish Moss, Okefenokee Swamp, salt marsh, museums, forts. I could go on and on!

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          3. Oh yes! We loved our times in Milledgeville and Jekyll Island – just gave us a wonderful “taste” of how awesome it is! We do stay on the border of GA/FL a lot when we have to “make time” which is more often than we care to think about….we had hoped to have two weeks there, having fun, instead, here we sit in the parking lot of the collision repair shop! But at least we have full hook ups and no extra charge….😍

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  5. Beautiful photos tempting me to wander further east than TX. There’s no way I could pick between the coast and the desert. Love’m. I’m very fortunate to enjoy both… just requires a little strategic planning 🙂

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    1. I’ve always been a coastal girl but I enjoy the desert, too. Most of the Florida Gulf Coast is crowded and the traffic is awful but there are a few places north of Tampa that are still unspoiled and with fewer tourists. The Florida state parks are some of the best we’ve seen. I loved the Texas Gulf Coast and would love to return there someday.

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  6. Hello from Colorado. Enjoy your travels to FL. We drove across the panhandle several winters ago to visit our daughter in Miami. The white sand was so gorgeous and it was so secluded compared to South Florida. We’re about to pull the trigger and order our 5th wheel in the next few weeks. Excited! Planning to stay close to home and get the bugs out during the summer, but off to the SE to enjoy part of the lazy fall weather and camp near those white sands (which is now about 4 hours from our daughter in GA). Should be an adventure. And we’re very happy about diesel prices now even without pulling anything. Hope they stay low!

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    1. Congratulations on ordering your Fifth Wheel! You are fortunate that you have so many beautiful places to visit close to home before venturing farther away. There are several beautiful places to camp in the Florida Panhandle. There are also some great places farther south along the Forgotten Coast and beyond to about Cedar Key. Florida has some of the best State Parks we have found.

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      1. Nice to know about the FL parks. Your post of favorite places will be very helpful as we plan our journey. We ARE fortunate in Colorado to have a wealth of places to camp. But lots of tourists too, so we avoid the popular places on the big weekends. Even walking in Garden of the Gods during the summer can be a challenge because so many tourists use the park. It’s a Colorado Springs city park, which most people visiting don’t realize. We try not to take it for granted just because we get to live nearby.

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  7. Glad to hear you’re finally getting a chance to get away.
    I’m sure you’ll have a blast and keep us posted on where you go.
    We finally got our door lock fixed — today — and only the toppers remain on our list of to-do’s for this winter.
    The longer we spend here, getting to know the place, the better we feel about being here and you know there’s no way to see the whole state in one year’s season.
    Our ear’s are peaked and waiting to hear about your travels.

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    1. Glad you are almost done checking things off your to do list. Yes, there is no way to see all of Florida in one year. We’ve actually been vacationing in Florida since the 70’s and there are still places we haven’t seen!

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      1. We went some 20 years of wanting to visit/vacation/travel in Florida and each time — and there were several — something would come up just before our departure and we’d be forced to change/cancel our plans. We’re enjoying ourselves but it’s an odd time in our lives I guess…

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  10. How funny that snowbirding for us means coming to your neck of the woods on the Georgia coast. You are short-migration birds! Enjoy Florida, I expect the campgrounds will be packed.

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  12. We love our winters in Florida, too. I’m a native Floridian and people often don’t realize just how beautiful and unspoiled “Old Florida” is. Looks like you’ve explored many of our favorite places! We’ve been here since late November and are heading back west at the end of March. It’s been lovely and adventure filled, as always. Safe travels and enjoy!

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    1. Glad to know a native Floridian! I’m sure you have seen many changes over the years. We started going to Florida many years ago. Before we got the RV we went to several places up and down the east coast and spent a lot of time in the Keys. We discovered the Gulf Coast when our daughter lived in Tampa several years ago. There are still a lot of places we’ve never been.

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