White Springs was a popular hot spring location until the spring stopped flowing in 1990. Spanish explorers discovered that native Indian tribes consider the area sacred and a safe place to bathe and heal. Later, White Springs became a refuge during the Civil War. Over the years the surrounding area developed, but not like other parts of Florida. The area is known for the Suwannee River running through it.
The “Nations Oldest City” is what St. Augustine is often referred to. It was founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers. It is the oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in the mainland United States. San Juan, Puerto Rico is the oldest settlement, founded in 1521. Eventually, Spain ceded Florida to the United States in 1819. At the time, St. Augustine was the capital of the Florida Territory but it was moved to Tallahassee in 1824.
Williston was only an hour drive from Grand Oaks Resort in Lady Lake, Florida. This is our first time staying in the area so we wanted to explore it especially because it’s so close to Gainesville.
Grand Oaks Resort is an RV park and an equestrian center located in Lady Lake, Florida, which is just southeast of Ocala near The Villages. We stayed at this RV park before and really enjoyed it, so we returned for a week. From Ormond Beach it was only about a 1.5 hour drive to Grand Oaks.
Ormond Beach in located on the east coast of Florida just north of Daytona Beach. In the past we stayed in Flagler Beach, which is a little north of Ormond Beach. Unfortunately, our stay was plagued by a bitter cold, windy and wet storm. We only had a couple days of sunshine in a week. Even though we missed out on daily beach walks because of the weather, we were treated with views of a dramatic Atlantic stormy winter sea, which we didn’t get a good photo of. This was the nicest day.
Indian Mound Fish Camp is an RV park and boat launch located in Oak Hill Florida. Our views were of the Indian River North, which is part of an intracoastal waterway along the east coast of Florida just north of Cape Canaveral.
