Spring into Saturday: Silver Glen

I didn’t blog Friday. I took the day off to go to Silver Glen Springs with my daughter. There’s no phone service or Wi-Fi there. I’ll be doing the same later this week when I go camping at Manatee Springs.  My brain really requires tech-free resets. I spend a week in the woods in the summer camping at Elkmont in the Smokey Mountains. It’s both tech and shower free. It’s indulgent time wise to move at the speed of slow. It feels luxurious tome. The pace of my work can seem relentless a to me because there’s an urgency and so many to work with. That’s why a spring day is so restorative. 

Florida has the highest density of freshwater springs in the world with over 500.  Silver Glen Springs, a first magnitude spring, is one of a few in the Ocala National forest. It’s my daughter’s favorite. She saw her first mermaid swimming there. She’s had many a February birthday there. It’s where she brought her friends when she could finally drive. It’s where I knew would go when she asked me to take the day off.

Its spring-print is its wide pool that gradually increases in depth. In the summer or on the weekends mom’s will lounge in chairs in the 2 feet edge area while kids lazily float or snorkel around the pool.  It feeds out into the which leads to Lake George. Houseboats often anchor there and it’s the site of day parties. Their pool is ringed by palms and live oaks and the sides are limestone. At the deepest part of the pool is a crevasse from which the 65 million gallons of water a day push out. The water is a constant 72 degrees year round.

One area is currently closed off because they are trying to capture a rare species of crayfish, unique to that spring. They have also restored part of the basin by increasing the fencing around the rim of the spring by bringing it about 10 feet back. There’s still plenty of room to lounge in the sun, throw a frisbee and picnic. We did all three. If you’re inclined, you can rent a canoe and paddle the run, Juniper Creek, which flows into Lake George. I’m content to swim and read and recharge.