Wauchula, FL-Peace River Thousand Trails Week 2

Like I said last week, Peace River was growing on us and by the end of the week we were a little sad to be leaving. We ended up having a very good time.

Since we were camping right next to the Peace River, we decided to take a canoe trip. Greg loves to go canoeing and kayaking. I love it for about 10 minutes. I definitely prefer a boat with a motor :)

It was a good time though. We all fit it one canoe. Canoe Outpost drove us up the river a few miles and then we made the two hour journey back. Along the way, we spotted 8 alligators. We were NOT brave enough though to go fossil hunting in the waters! I am so amazed at how comfortable people were to just get out of their canoe and dig in the riverbed. This is the SAME water where the alligators swim!

We did get out at a couple of areas but not after a quick look around for gators and I knew I could see anything in the ½ inch of water we were wading in!

Later we visited Pioneer Park which is just across the road from the campground. They have a little museum there called the Cracker Trail Museum and surrounding the museum are some old Pioneer buildings.  It is named the Cracker Trail because of the sound the whips made when the cowboys drove the cattle across the state.

There was a cute log cabin from 1879, a smokehouse, an outhouse and a post office. The kids enjoyed seeing all of this since we were still reading Little House in the Big Woods and they could point out things we had read about in the book. Jordan is convinced that they took Laura and Mary's things to display there :)

The park also had this old Baldwin Locomotive engine on display and

a special pit for “fossil digging”. This is how we do it instead of searching through alligator inhabited rivers! (Yes, the fossils were planted there. One of the mining plants donates them to the museum when they find them).

My favorite area of Pioneer Park was the wildlife refuge in the back. It was not a huge place but was so pretty and had enough to make it interesting. We saw alligators (of course), otters, deer, a large tortoise, ostrich, a bear, raccoons, bobcats and a cougar. The kids and I were able to visit the museum and the wildlife area for $9 total. What a deal!

Later, all four of us took a drive about 30 minutes to Highlands Hammock State Park. The park was built by the CCC and is one of the oldest in Florida.

It was evening time but we were able to hike a couple of the short trails. The trails were very nice and some of them included a boardwalk through swampy areas.  With all of hiking and biking trails, playgrounds and the CCC museum, it would be a very nice park to camp in.

We also did more of the usual resort campground activities this week:

arts and crafts,

shuffleboard and lots of playing with friends (David, Grant and Lucy and Savannah).

Our last outing was to Solomon's Castle. The castle was built by Howard Solomon, who is now in his late 70s, out of old metal newspaper printing plates. In fact, all of his sculptures are made out of discarded materials. 

The second knight needed to go grab some lunch so Jordan gladly took his place to stand guard!

Here are a few of Mr. Solomon's pieces...

his self portrait made from wood scraps,

my favorite, a bird made from garden tools,

an elephant from oil drums,

a giraffe made entirely of clothes hangers

and this motorcycle titled “Evil Kornevil”.

Apparently Mr. Solomon has a very “punny” sense of humor. They have modeled their tour after this character trait. It was EXTREMELY “punny” and not very funny. I had that same nauseated feeling that I got on the swamp tour in New Orleans! It left us a little disappointed since we paid $28 and felt like the whole experience would have been better if we had NOT had a tour guide and could stand and marvel at each piece a little longer. In any case, we are glad we went because of its uniqueness.

Here are a couple more buildings that he created in addition to his castle:

the “Boat in the Moat” which is a very WONDERFUL smelling restaurant (we did not eat there so I am not sure about the food) and

the “Alashmo”.

Towards the end of our stay at Peace River, we were attending a comedy performance in the meeting hall. Well, it was supposed to be comical, but I could understand where Jacob was coming from when, 20 minutes into the performance, he asked me “Why isn't the funny stuff starting?” I just had to laugh because, well, that was the funniest thing I had heard (at least in the past 20 minutes).

Greg stepped out to take Jordan to the bathroom and on his way back, he heard a call for help. An elderly woman, who was camping just diagonal from us, was walking through the parking lot, when she tripped and fell. He ran back to grab the park manager and me. As all head lacerations do, she was bleeding copiously and had about a golf ball sized knot forming. Fortunately, it was nothing too serious.

The kids were so wonderful. They stayed nearby in one spot so that we could give that poor, sweet woman the attention that she needed. I was so proud of them and they continue to express compassion for her. After delivering her to her campsite, the kids made her “Get Well” cards that we gave to her when we went to check up on her. We went to go see her again the next day, which helped the kids to see that she was going to be fine.

So, while I started out not loving the place, my feelings changed quite a bit.  After talking with some of the other campers, we found some interesting places to check out not too far away. We had a fun time and look forward to our return next winter.  But for now, we are off to the EVERGLADES!