Silver Springs State Park, Silver Springs, Florida
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ ~ Revelation 7:17
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR BROTHER-IN-LAW, ERIC!
AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR GOOD FRIEND, JEANNINE!
This is a terrific Park for riding bikes around, and it’s large, so biking is a better idea than walking if you want to get somewhere.
Our outing today took us around the campground loops and the cottages loop, and then back out to the Spring Head; where the glass-bottom boats are.
One of about a dozen cottages you can rent here for $135-145/night.
Six people or four adults only. No exceptions.
Off we go! Into the woods!
The boardwalk takes you to an observation area for Silver River.
These next couple of pictures are of the Head Spring.
We just can’t seem to capture the intense beauty of this! There’s always ripples from boats or wind, and it’s so deep, the camera just can’t capture it.
But our miraculous God-given sight can!
We parked the bikes and walked all around on their trails (both paved and not) and checked out the very small museum area. Nothing too exciting today, especially considering the other things we’ve done here!
Silly Blaine! He posed me for these pictures. : )
I’m no angel, as many can attest. : )
Don’t know why this fence is here, or painted like this, but it’s cute, don’t you think?
On our map, this is just called “The Mansion”. There’s no explanation, but it seems to be set up like a stage. We’re thinking weddings and other functions.
Pretty!
Look! It’s Lloyd!
A view of Silver River from an observation area.
This is where they say Sea Hunt was filmed.
Let’s walk the short loop trail!
These wildflowers are all over the place. They’re only about the size of a quarter.
That’s about the biggest leaf we’ve ever seen!
This water is actually part of the Paddle Trail we were one the other day.
These guys were scrounging around near the boat dock area.
They weren’t at all concerned about the people walking by.
An orange tree!
Always tempting, but we (especially Blaine) remember how sour these things are! Remember when we discovered them at Highlands Hammock last year?
This is Indy. Too bad he’s got his head buried.
Remember? We saw otters in the river?
Fortunately, we did NOT see this creature!
But it was interesting to see the information on all the shows and movies they filmed here in the past.
Here’s a list compiled by the nonprofit Ocala Film Foundation, which holds the Silver Springs International Film Festival every year.
The site lists “The Seven Swans” of 1916; “Signal Lost 909″ made in 2013; six Tarzan movies starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan, made from 1932 to 1942; “Moon Over Miami” in 1941; “The Yearling” in 1946 with Gregory Peck; “The Barefoot Mailman” of 1951 with Robert Cummings; “The Frogmen” in 1951 with Richard Widmark; “Underwater” with Jane Russell in 1955; and “Don’t Give Up The Ship” in 1959 with Jerry Lewis.
Also included are the famous James Dean movie “Rebel Without a Cause,” filmed in 1955, and James Bond movies “Thunderball” “Moonraker” and “Never Say Never Again,” done here in 1965, 1979 and 1983, with Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Connery, respectively.
“Cross Creek,” with Mary Steenburgen, and “Smokey and the Bandit 3,” with Jackie Gleason, both filmed in 1983, “Doc Hollywood” with Michael J. Fox in 1991 and “Jeepers Creepers” in 2001 with Eileen Brennan are part of the filmography.
Foundation Executive Director Laurie Zink said reviewing the films from a historical perspective is a “great idea” and that she is looking forward to a planned meeting with the HOPS group.
She said the clear waters of Silver Springs make it one of the greatest underwater filming locations in the world and that a “variety of landscapes” in the area can replicate a number of locales.
The foundation’s filmography also lists a number of television shows filmed in Marion County, from “You Asked For It” in 1951 and “I Spy” in the 1960s to “The Crocodile Hunter” in 1999 and “Ice Age Oasis” in 2002.
And we were surprised to learn that there was sooo much more here in the past. Although the current attraction doesn’t mention much of it, Wikipedia offers the following:
Silver Springs was founded in 1852.
Since the mid-19th century, the natural environment of Silver Springs has attracted visitors from throughout the United States. Glass-bottom boat tours of the springs began in the late 1870s. In the 1920s, W. Carl Ray and W.M. “Shorty” Davidson, after leasing the land from Ed Carmichael (upon whose death the springs were left to the University of Florida), developed the land around the headwaters of the Silver River into an attraction that eventually became known as Silver Springs Nature Theme Park. The attraction featured native animal exhibits, amusement rides, and 30 or 90-minute glass-bottom boat tours of the springs. The 1934 ‘Princess Donna’ is the oldest and only remaining operational boat from this by gone era. The “Princess Donna’ currently operates on the Homosassa River in Old Homosassa Florida. In 2013, the State of Florida took over operations of Silver Springs and combined it with the adjacent Silver River State Park to form the new Silver Springs State Park. The T. W. Randall House on the National Register of Historic Places is located to the northeast.
Several defunct tourist attractions were once located near Silver Springs. The Western-themed Six Gun Territory theme park, which included several attractions such as the Southern Railway & Six Gun 3 foot narrow gauge railroad, operated from 1963 to 1984. The Wild Waters water park also existed in Silver Springs and operated from 1978 to 2016.
Early in our marriage, Blaine brought me down here to visit his Granny, who lived in Ocala, which is just down the road from Silver Springs. We remember visiting the water park with her. I especially remember it because I almost drowned there. I don’t remember riding the glass-bottom boats, though. We noticed right away when we arrived that the water park is being torn down. After reading this, I can’t believe it’s taken them two years to do that!
Also, Wikipedia doesn’t mention the Reptile Institute.
He’s picking up snakes, I guess. Looks funny to me! : )
That just looks scary!