It is not uncommon that in an on the road along the south-east coast, a traveler has to cover many miles coming from Atlanta, the Georgia's main city, towards Orlando, Florida's first major attraction. From the "Peach State" campaigns to the "Sunshine State" swampy lakes. Almost 500 miles, which can also be monotonous if you don't find some interesting stops along the way. You've to know that there are many things to see between Atlanta and Orlando, just a question of making right decisions. And also have a bit of luck. In fact, we haven't been that lucky during our trip, because of the weather and also because it was Christmas Time... We left you in Valdosta, just before entering Florida, after visiting the Walking Dead's locations: it's time to resume our trip from a city with a strong connection with Italy. Valdosta is, in fact, the county seat of Lowndes County and called the Azalea City, as the plant grows in profusion there. The city hosts an annual Azalea Festival in March. It was founded on 7 December 1860 and takes its name from that of the estate of the former governor George Troup, which derives from the Italian region of Valle d'Aosta. Yes, there's always something "italian" in the United States...
(Wetlands - Valdosta)
Ma è ad una quindicina di chilometri a nord-est che la città offre il suo meglio (4661 Knights Academy Rd, Valdosta), lungo una strada sterrata che condurrà ad una sorta di "T - intersection", giunti alla quale dovrete svoltare a sinistra. Dove siamo? Al Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area (WMA, ingresso gratuito), 1350 acri di paludi che fanno parte di un complesso ancora più grande di terre paludosi (18.000 acri) chiamato Carolina Bay, la seconda palude boscosa più grande dello stato dopo la Okefenokee Swamp.
Anyway, it is about fifteen kilometers north-east of Valdosta where the entire area offers its best (4661 Knights Academy Rd, Valdosta), along a dirt road that will lead to a sort of "T-intersection", where you'll have to turn left . Where are we? At the Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area (WMA, free admission), which encompasses 2,623 acres of state-owned property and 5,874 acres of land under license from the U.S. Air Force. The WMA consists of approximately 3,059 acres of upland pine and hardwood forest and 5,438 acres of cypress/gum wetlands. Grand Bay totals 1,350 acres and is part of a 18,000-acre wetlands complex of Carolina bays and forested swamp second in size only to Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia.
(Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area - Boardwalk)
Grand Bay WMA is located in an area known as "flatwoods" and several acres are owned by the US Air Force and in particular by the Moody Air Force. Therefore, before visiting it, check that training sessions are not scheduled as happens for example at the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico.
Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area offre ai visitatori l'opportunità di saperne di più sull' habitat paludoso grazie Grand Bay Wetland Education Centre, una sorta di mini-visitor center che apre le porte verso quella che sarà la vera e propria escursione. Ovvero il trail di 2 km (a/r) lungo una passerella che vi porterà nel cuore della "wetland". Non lontano si snoda anche un sentiero escursionistico di 3 miglia attraverso pini "flatwoods".
Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area gives visitors an opportunity to learn more about a wetland habitat from the Grand Bay Wetland Education Center. It's a sort of mini-visitor center that opens the doors to what will be the excursion, the hike (1.2 miles, roundtrip) along a boardwalk that will take you to the heart of the "wetland". There is also a 3-mile hiking trail through pine flatwoods and a camping area used on weekends, when planes from Moody Air Force Base are not using the adjacent bombing range.
E' Natale e ci siamo sostanzialmente solo noi lungo il "boardwalk" e, anche se l'inverno non è il periodo migliore per ammirare la flora e la fauna (aironi, alligatori, lontre di fiume, procioni, linci rosse, volpi grigie, cervi dalla coda bianca diversi tipi di rane, topi d'acqua della Florida...) del Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area, l'escursione di un'oretta entra di diritto negli "highlights" dell'on the road.
It's Christmas and we're alone along the boardwalk. Although winter is not the best time to admire the Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area's wildlife, the excursion is one of the "highlights" of the on the road. Frequently observed wading birds include cattle and great egrets; great blue, little blue, green and tri-color herons; and white ibis. Anhingas are also common on the marsh. Common moorhens and purple gallinules nest here also. Rarely seen but present are American bitterns, black-crowned and yellow-crowned night herons. A small population of Florida sandhill cranes has been introduced to the area, and individuals can be seen or heard throughout the year. You can also see gators, gopher tortoises and indigo snakes. Dudley's Hammock, a rare example of a mature broadleaf-evergreen hammock community, is found in the area.
The boardwalk, with the exception of the very first stretch, has handrails and protections and is therefore also suitable for children. The final icing is the 54-foot-high observation tower overlooking open prairie and a heron rookery in the bay's center. That's definitely a privileged position...
L'attrazione principale dell'escursione è proprio la torre che, per gli appassionati di widlife (ma anche di fotografia) è davvero imperdibile. Ah, non fatevi spaventare dagli spari che sentirete, più o meno in lontananza. La Grand Bay Wildlife Area è, infatti, anche terreno di caccia...
The main attraction of the trail is the tower that, for lovers of widlife (but also photography) is truly unmissable. Well, do not be scared by the shots you can hear. The Grand Bay Wildlife Area offers in fact, hunting opportunities for deer, turkey, small game and waterfowl
Quando ci si avvicina al confine con un altro stato americano, significa che è giunto il momento di aguzzare la vista in cerca del "welcome sign", il cartello di benvenuto nel successivo stato a stelle e strisce. A volte ci sono, a volte no. A volte sono bellissimi, altre volte meno. Ecco, al confine tra Florida e Georgia, lungo la highway 75 è davvero tutto semplicissimo. Le due uscite, distanti pochissime miglia una dall'altra, vi permetteranno di visitare sia il "Georgia Visitor Center", che il "Florida Visitor Center", nei quali potrete raccogliere materiale informativo sui due stati e fare foto in tutta tranquillità ai vari "welcome sign". Anche questa è America...
When you approach the border with another US state, it means that the time has come to sharpen your sight in search of the "welcome sign". Sometimes they are located along the way, sometimes you can't find them, sometimes simply there's no welcome signs. Sometimes they are nice, others not so nice. Here, on the border between Florida and Georgia, along the highway 75 it's really very simple to find them. The two highway-exits, a few miles away from each other, will allow you to visit both the "Georgia Visitor Center" and the "Florida Visitor Center", where you can collect informative material about the two states and take pictures in complete tranquility to the " welcome sign ". This is America too ...
Prima di arrivare ad Orlando ci sarebbero ancora due stop imperdibili che, tuttavia, ci siamo trovati costretti a saltare. Il primo è Alexander Springs, una natural pool (con acque color turchese) che durante i mesi caldi richiama tantissimi turisti e locali. Non potendo fare il bagno a causa delle temperature, che si aggiravano sui 7-8 gradi, non avrebbe avuto molto senso pagare la "day fee" di 5.50 dollari a persona per entrare nella riserva.
Before reaching Orlando there would still be two unmissable stops that, however, we've been forced to skip. The first one is called Alexander Springs, a natural pool (with turquoise waters) that during the warm months attracts many tourists and locals. Not being able to swim because of the temperatures, which were around 7-8 degrees (celsius), we decided non to pay the "day fee" (5.50 dollars per peson) to enter the reserve.
Il secondo è invece un autentico gioiellino, il Fern Hammock Springs nell'Ocala National Forest. E, a dirla tutta, nonostante come spesso succede il gps non abbia per nulla aiutato, le abbiamo provate tutte per raggiungerla. Abbiamo chiesto anche a qualche locale che tuttavia ci ha guardato con occhi spalancati. "Eppure siamo sicuri che esista, o forse no..." abbiamo pensato per almeno una mezz'oretta sino a quando l'abbiamo trovato. La gioia, tuttavia, è durata meno di un secondo. E' Natale ed il parco (ingresso 5 dollari a persona) è desolatamente chiuso ed a ricordarcelo è una sbarra a ridosso del chiosco adibito a ticket counter. Un vero peccato. Eppure la visita al Fern Hammock Springs continuiamo a consigliarla e l'indirizzo che più vi permetterà di avvicinarvi ad essa è il seguente: 26701 East Highway 40 Silver Springs, Fl 34488. Una volta entrati, percorrerete un trail di 1 miglio all'interno della storica Juniper Springs Recreation Area che conduce alla pittoresca Fern Hammock Springs, soprannominata anche "The Aquarium" per via dei continui ribollimenti sotto la superficie dell'acqua. Il blu caraibico delle acque fa poi il resto. Chiaramente, a differenza di quasi tutte le hot springs naturali del centro nord della Florida, qui non è possibile fare il bagno a causa delle alte temperature dell'acqua, ma sembrerà davvero di essere in una fiaba...
The second is instead a real gem, Fern Hammock Springs in the Ocala National Forest. To be honest, despite GPS did not help us at all (as often happens in the United States), we've tried everything to get to Fern Hammock. We also asked some locals who nevertheless looked at us with wide eyes. "Well, we are sure that it exists, or maybe not ..." we've thought for at least half an hour until we found it. Anyway, joy lasted less than a second. It's Christmas and the park (admission: 5 dollars per person) is desolately closed and a bar is just there to remind us that that's not our day. Such a pity. If you wanna visit Fern Hammock Springs the address that will allow you to get as closer as possible is 26701 East Highway 40 Silver Springs, Fl 34488. Once you enter, just walk a 1 mile trail within the historic Juniper Springs Recreation Area that leads to the picturesque Fern Hammock Springs, also known as "The Aquarium" due to the constant boiling below the surface of the water. The Caribbean blue water then does the rest. Clearly, unlike almost all the natural hot springs of central North Florida, it is not possible to swim here due to the high temperatures of the water, but it will really seem to be in a fairy tale ...
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