Hontoon Island

Last weekend, the state of Florida was offering free admission to all state parks with a library card.  So, we decided to visit a park we had never been to.  Funny enough, the one we picked doesn't charge admission!

Anyway, this park is an island in the middle of one of two northward flowing rivers in the world (the St. Johns).  We had a nice drive up there and a picnic under the huge oak trees.

 We saw a Great Blue Heron that landed very near our picnic table.  The kids followed it for a ways until it finally flew off again. 

 We then decided to rent a canoe and venture out around the island.  We had a nice time paddling along. 

 We saw a turtle sunning himself on a log,

 waterwalkers, two deer, three buzzards,

and a red shouldered hawk. 

Near the end of our canoe trip, we decided to let the girls have a try at paddling.  This was a first for both of them and they both did terriffic! 

After our canoe trip, we went in the visitor center and saw an exhibit of all the different animals that are native to Hontoon Island, a video about conservation of our natural resources, the composition of the island (it has an old Native American midden on it), lots of Native American tools, and some about the industries that existed on the island over time.

Shhhh!!! Don't tell the kids, but I think they might have learned something!