Paddling the Fountain of Youth

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

 Hi Blog!

We're not getting any younger, so for our last paddle near DeLand, we decided to paddle to the Fountain of Youth. As you know, the Fountain of Youth is a mythical spring which allegedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, the first Governor of Puerto Rico, was supposedly searching for the Fountain of Youth when he traveled to Florida in 1513. 

By the late 1800s, Spring Garden Spring became a tourist destination. To attract more tourists to the spring, local residents changed the name from Spring Garden to Ponce de Leon Springs and referred to the spring as the Fountain of Youth. Remnants of the old drinking fountain still remain.

There is a restaurant in the park located in an old mill. Constructed in 1832, the mill was originally used to crush sugar cane using the power from the flowing spring. It was destroyed by the Seminole Indians during the second Seminole War, and again during the Civil War, while being used to supply corn meal to confederate troops. In 1961, Peter Schwarze restored the mill and made the area his home. Today, his daughter, Patty Schwarze, owns and manages the restaurant.

The Old Spanish Sugar Mill is not your typical run-of-the-mill pancake house. Entering the restaurant is like taking a step back into old Florida.  This quaint little establishment has one very unique feature. Each table is equipped with its very own commercial grade griddle. They supply you with your choice of homemade buttermilk or stone ground batter, and leave you to flip your flapjacks to your heart’s content. Kathy has her flipper well in hand.

After breakfast, we launched our kayaks from the park's boat launch. Just in case there is any truth to the whole Fountain of Youth legend, Kathy got right up to the rushing spring and enjoyed the cool spray. While it may not stop the aging process, it did make us feel young at heart!

While the pancakes were great and the history interesting, we were really here to paddle down Spring Garden Creek into the Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge. We no sooner started then we were surrounded by wildlife. After scaring away an alligator and a couple herons, we managed to capture this anhinga.

The lakes and creeks in the area are full of all kinds of fish, including largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, catfish and chain pickerel. All the fish made for easy fishing for the local osprey. We watched osprey flying back to their nests with fish in tow.

Lake Woodruff NWR was established in 1964 as a migratory bird refuge, part of five million-plus acres purchased by US Fish & Wildlife Service with proceeds from the Federal Duck Stamp Program. It is located in Volusia County, Florida near the community of DeLeon Springs. The famed St Johns River forms the western boundary of the 22,000-acre refuge. The refuge contains myriad habitats; among them are marshes, swamps, creeks, hammocks and uplands.

Here are a couple residents of the refuge.

It's always fun to watch the osprey fish. They circle around until they find the perfect fish. They will hover and then dive right into the water.

A couple turtles took advantage of a fallen tree for a little sunbathing.

Limpkins are gangly, brown-and-white birds that look a bit like a giant rail or perhaps a young night-heron. A limpkin's long bill is bent and twisted at the tip, an adaptation for removing snails from the shell. Limpkins are tropical wetland birds whose range reaches into Florida. They specialize in eating apple snails, which they hunt both day and night, and they often leave telltale piles of snail shells at the edges of freshwater wetlands where hunting is good. This bird’s haunting cries, heard mostly at night, are otherworldly and unforgettable.

Finding a dry spot in a wetland can be a challenge. We came upon a tiny palm hammock and took a chance climbing out to stretch our legs and eat our lunch. Rest assured, there were no alligators anywhere near us, even though this looked like a popular gator hangout.

However, there were a number of snail shells, which means that a limpkin likes to dine on this little hammock.

We were hoping to reach Lake Woodruff, but after 3.5 miles, it was time to turnaround. With the sun now behind us, we found the light was better for picture taking.

For most of our paddle, we were surrounded by green. The swamp maple has started sprouting its samara. These bright red seed pods stood out against the green backdrop.  As children, we used to call these little seed pods helicopters or whirly gigs. In England, a samara is called a spinning jenny.

Great blue herons are excellent fishers. These birds can be spotted around shorelines and in shallow marshes, either slowly wading through the water or waiting patiently for their prey. Once their next meal is spotted, they will stretch out their long neck and freeze in place.

Great egrets are a little smaller than the white-phase great blue heron, but the real giveaway is the color of the legs. Great egrets have black legs while white-phase great blue herons have much lighter legs. Herons also have slightly heavier beaks and “shaggier” feathers on their breast.

We saw several alligators swimming along the creek, but were not able to catch a photo. We already paddled past this gator before we saw him. Dave did his best to grab the shot, but the glare on the camera screen made it difficult to center the subject. So, here's our photo of the headless gator.

For most of our paddle, we had the place to ourselves. We only encountered a couple fisherman. As the day warmed up, we could hear the airboats on Spring Garden Lake. It wasn't until we were almost back to the State Park before one of the airboats caught up with us. Interestingly, while the airboat flew by, its draft is so shallow that we hardly noticed the wake. We did, however, notice the noise.

About 100 yards from the boat launch, Kathy encountered some manatees. The curious ones poked their head out to check out the kayak, but quickly sunk back into the deep section of the creek. Kathy tried to get Dave to come back for a photo, but the water was too dark. While Dave waited for Kathy to catch up, he didn't notice the GIANT alligator snoozing on the bank. The Great Gator didn't like Dave pausing in its territory, so it charged down the bank and chased Dave away. You can understand why there was no photo. To make up for it, here's a picture of a cute little lizard.

On Wednesday, we move over to the West Coast of Florida with hopes of finding a few more springs and a few more manatees. Stay tuned.