Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park in Florida and The Grove Museum Tallahassee Florida

Recently we went on a little get away for a couple of days, to visit Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park in Florida, and we also explored the Tallahassee Florida area including The State Capital Building and The Grove Museum.....

(Photos taken April 29 & 30th 2025)

On our first day of exploring we went to Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park. This is a photo of the backside of the Lodge, it is so unique....the whole place was beautiful and the ceilings were especially beautiful....they were artistically hand painted....from the minute you walk into the lodge, it feels like you are stepping back in time...

Inside the Lodge there is a gift shop, with an old fashioned vintage soda fountain bar that had stools to sit at, and they sold all kinds of snacks...coke floats, ice cream, and hot dogs. On the other side of the Lodge there is a very nice sit down restaurant that had white tablecloths and a great selection of menu items at affordable prices. The lobby was full of charm with leather sofas to sit in and watch the black and white movie they had playing, which was Creature From The Black Lagoon....of course it's an actual Lodge, so there are rooms for lodging there as well....

Just beyond the windows of the Lodge are the crystal clear waters of Wakulla Springs and the swimming area....

The grounds of the park are so pretty and well kept....

I didn't get a close up of the swimming area because it was busy with swimmers, but the water is very clear and pretty, and a lot of people were enjoyed the cool water....you might can see it just beyond the fence....

 Some old movies have been filmed here to include Tarzan's Secret Treasure and Creature From The Black Lagoon.....

My husband booked us a reservation in advance the day before, so we could take the scenic boat ride, which lasted about 45 minutes....the scenery was so pretty and we saw some alligators, birds, turtles and a deer....

These little model boats in miniature size were inside one of the cases that were inside the Waterfront Visitor Center,.....I think they are so cute! There were a lot of interesting things to look at inside the Visitor Center, as we waited for it to be time for our boat ride, it was fun looking at all the things....

On the grounds of the park were some storyboards that were interesting too....

There are nature trails at the State Park as well. We took a walk on one of them...they are wooded with native old growth trees, so nice, shady and peaceful....

This is the entrance to the Lodge near the parking area. We enjoyed our time spent here at Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park! 

Day 2  We explored a little bit of Tallahassee Florida, and the downtown area, we went to the Historic State Capital Building first, and then we went to the New State Capital Building that's behind it, to see city views from the 23rd floor, (the observation floor), and the views were great of the city....

Here we are standing behind the Victorian Era life size cut-out people inside the Historic Capital Building...

Here's the rotunda with it's pretty stained glass....there were a lot of storyboards to read and we spent a lot of time there.

After exploring downtown, we went to The Grove Museum....The historic mansion and grounds are beautiful....it's a hidden oasis inside the city limits of Tallahassee, you wouldn't even know it was there.... it's location was very surprising....

I took photos of a couple of the rooms inside....there were many storyboards to read about the history here, a guided tour was available as well, but we didn't get there in time to do that tour. After we got here, we actually wished we had spent less time at the Capital Buildings, and more time here, because it was so peaceful and relaxing here. So anyway, we just took the self guided tour, because we didn't allow for enough time to do all we wanted to do. This place has a rich and interesting history and the old mansion is truly a work of art. 

This is a special place.....while standing underneath the big old trees....I wanted to stay longer and longer...and just let my imagination carry me away to another place in time....that's what places like this do, and I think that's why I love visiting them every chance I can. We were in awe and amazed by the size of these massive old trees....and love the southern charm of the moss draping them! We will definitely visit here again if we are in the area again, and next time we'll bring a picnic...they have several picnic tables. (By the way the parking and entry fee is free).

It was a fun few days of exploring things we had never seen before! 

Thanks for coming along with us!

To find out more about The Grove Museum you can visit their official website HERE

To find out more about Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park you can visit their official website HERE

If you are looking for more things to see and do in the Tallahassee Florida area, be sure to check out my post on Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park  HERE  

Winter Views at Harborwalk and The Boardwalk in Florida

 We live in Florida, about an hour from the Gulf of Mexico and so we went for a ride to take in the winter views and go for a walk at both The Harborwalk Village in Destin, Florida and The Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island Ft. Walton Beach, Florida.  It's winter so it was quiet, the air was crisp and cool, it was a cloudy day, but it was beautiful ...it was coat wearing weather for me, but I'll take it over the humid heat of summertime... summer heat will be returning again before we know it....so I'm enjoying this cozy cool weather season, it's my favorite season in Florida...

Photos taken Saturday January 4, 2025

We started out in the early the afternoon to take our walk at the Harborwalk Village, and we got to see a couple of dolphins in the Harbor, just before sunset from the upper level at the harbor. There are restaurants and shops, dolphin cruises, and charter boats at the Harborwalk Village....there is less going on there this time of year, but most places were open ..

After we walked at the Harborwalk, we road down the road a little bit to The Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island at Ft. Walton Beach, Florida and took in the views there of the beach and sky, just before sunset, and listened to the ocean waves. There are a few restaurants there as well, and some were open the day that we were there....

Both of these places are open to the public and are free. We were here in the wintertime, so there was plenty of parking, and parking was free. In the summertime, it is a very busy area and getting parking may be a little more of a challenge, so I'd get there early for the best parking. 

It was a beautiful winter day.... I'm so glad we decided to go for a walk. Thanks for coming along with us! 

Mobile Alabama Spring April 2024

It was nice to take a spring little getaway trip....(these photos are from April 5, 2024 when we visited the Mobile Alabama area and Bellingrath Gardens in Theodore Alabama to see the gardens, you can scroll the page to my previous post to see more) We stayed in the Historic Downtown of Mobile Alabama since it was just a short drive to the gardens at Theodore from Mobile. The historic district of Mobile is so beautiful and walkable...we love the French influence of the architecture in the downtown area and there are some pretty parks too....last time we visited Mobile a few years ago we toured one of the historic mansions, you can click HERE to see that post. 

Here's a few photos we captured while we were there this time....

I wish I had gotten more photos of downtown, but we made some great memories here, and it was a fun little trip! I love the photo above that we took in front of this historic church, I was so impressed by the beautiful ironwork of the fence and gate, and we stopped to get a selfie. At the time, we had not even noticed that the  gold cross was in the background of our photo.... until later on when we looked back at the photos....I loved the symbolism that it means to us, God's always present and with us, each of us, and that we captured the cross in the background...I believe it is a reminder that God is surely with us. I'm thankful that He has kept us safe again during our travels. 

Thanks for coming along with us today! 

If you'd like to take a stroll with us through Bellingrath Gardens, you can scroll down to my last post or click HERE