Real Florida Springs

RAINBOW SPRINGS STATE PARK, Dunnellon, FL

Hot and cold running water. Millions and millions of gallons of it every day. Florida has over 700 springs, more than any other comparable area in the world. Thirty-three of them are first magnitude, which means that each produces more than 65 million gallons of water a day.

Over the ages, people have been drawn to Florida’s springs, mesmerized by the color and clarity of the water. For ten thousand years, they were gathering places for native peoples. When Europeans came, they became playgrounds for the well-to-do. Now they’re popular recreational areas for all of us.

You can be a kid again in these places. Cast-off in an inner tube. Let the water carry you through a lush green world. Put on goggles and tour a beautiful ecosystem. Be adventurous and scuba dive hundreds of feet into an underwater world.

At Rainbow Springs I sit by the water’s edge and imagine the wooly mammoth coming down to drink.

More of Fran's Favorite Photos will appear on this blog throughout 2009. Fran and her fab photos may be reached at FranPalmeri at comcast.net