Loblolly revisited

Wow, a creek has such personality. One day a gentle wading spot, the next a deep, swift, gurgling river of debris. It was still fun, though. But take a look. This is a friend wading to the other side, just across from "zany island". You can see how high the water is on him, and how it surrounds the island, where in the photo in the post below there is dry sand around the island, and the place he was walking was only a few inches deep.

So keep in mind how much rain there's been if you plan a trip. Either way was fun, but we got a lot wetter the second, after-storm visit!

Loblolly

We like creeks. They are secret little magic places just barely out of sight of traffic, usually just yards away. (Sometimes the traffic is right overhead, which is wicked awesome. )

Loblolly is a little greenway along hogtown creek, and it allows you to walk right through one of the busiest areas of Gainesville and feel like you're out in the middle of no where. On 34th Street, between Westside Park and University Avenue (closer to University) you'll see a little green sign on the East side of the road pointing you to "Loblolly". There are about 4 parking spaces in there. The building was closed this evening, but there is a building with bathrooms, and, presumably, some stuffed critters or posters or dioramas.

Go behind the building to the trail. It's a lovely walking trail, but after a bit you'll come to a wooden fence and an off-trail leading down to the creek. A creek that's just right for playing Hobbit or Trolls or Island.

Below is Zany Island (Solomon's name for it), which, you gotta admit, is a boy's childhood memory in the making.



There was lots of Hobbit themed play, mixed with Spiderwick and Spiderman for a long afternoon of pretend. The light filtering in through the trees in the evening is magical. Am I being too poetic about a stream of urban runoff? But look at this bridge, under which a troll so clearly lives that while we didn't hesitate to cross other log bridges, this one was made spooky be the mythology they created for it, so it was avoided.


So far my recommended play sites in Hogtown seem to revolve around getting wet and/or sandy. It usually involves vacuuming the car and air-drying some baby seats. But I love these creeks.



If you keep following the trail, you end up on 8th Avenue, just across from Westside Park and near the "Jupiter" obelisk. These are real fun to look at up close. Lots of little details and references to scientists and mythology.


If you keep following the creek, you end up UNDER 8th Avenue, which, talk about Trolls! There are 3 viaducts you can go through (and adult can stand full height in it) and it's just kind of cool to be standing UNDER the ROAD! We caught lots of specimens with our nets and picked up a few shark teeth, even. A friend found a big hunk of chert (we've been looking for some so we could try making our own arrowheads).



So your car will end up wet and sandy, but it's an extremely cool activity. Four stars from the Hogtown Sparky team.

Underwater Cameras

The good photo/ complete trash ratio on this roll is not good. But I suppose I've been spoiled by the infinity chances of digital cameras. Anyway, it's been fun to get an underwater disposable camera every year at the beginning of the summer, and develop it at the end of the season. I admit it was a bit more challenging this year since I was always holding a baby, but you get something beyond the usual photos.

Here you see the YMCA pool and Blue Springs. The top one I'm underwater and the boys are topside. Kind of interesting, even if not exactly frame-worthy. Beach underwater shots have never come out very clear, though the waterproof casing allows you the freedom to follow your subjects into the waves. Bright bright sunlight and clear water, like a pool or clear springs give the best results. And I suppose it's the film they use for those - they are assuming the bulk of the photos will include water and sky - but you get some incredibly vivid blues when using these underwater cameras. Like the sky in that bottom one. But beware - skin tones and greens, like trees, don't look so great if you aren't underwater.

Blue Springs Park

Different from Blue Springs State Park, this is a private park. That charges admission. Ten bucks per adult head ($3 for each child 5 or older.) The grass is mowed, the trash picked up, and the showers clean and warm. And that's costly for them and reaaaally nice. But after we paid our $16 to get in, we walked the boardwalk to the Santa Fe River and looked across and upriver to Rum Island spring. Which is free. And I felt a little foolish. Like I'd just bought into a gated community with an overpriced HOA.
Here's Blue Springs Park (again, the private park near Poe Springs, not the state park), $16 for me and the kids:

GORGEOUS. If you don't mind forkin' out the bucks, you will be richly rewarded with clean bathrooms, a deep blue spring to eyeball, a vast expanse of shallow sandy beach for the shorties, and, perhaps the main reason people pay (kinda like gated communities), to be surrounded by other patrons who don't mind forkin' out the bucks.

Here's Rum Island, free, but you never know if you'll find beer bottles or undies lying about (kind of like my cool old downtown neighborhood):

I'd like to explore other springs in the area (please - leave comments for suggestions!), but maybe we'll wait til school starts and we can go on some quiet weekday morning and enjoy the springs as they were meant to be enjoyed - ALL MINE!