The last uninhabited crystal clear river in Florida
With Crystal River in our rearview mirrors, we journeyed to Silver River State Park, west of Ocala, Florida. Silver River bisects Silver River State Park, which covers 5,000 wooded acres. The campground is on the southwest side of the river. The remainder of the area is a wilderness preserve. Silver River is a natural river, with no development on the banks except for the theme park on the headsprings and the state park and the campground on the river.
The headsprings of Silver River are the site of the Silver River Nature Park, Florida’s first theme park. It was here that the glass-bottom boat was invented in 1878. Now, you may enjoy a boat ride, zoo, jeep safari and water park.
As luck would have it, it began to rain as we approached Ocala. We made it to the state park as the thunderstorm hit. It rained hard, so we were unable to put our boat into the water. We did bike down to the river to take some photographs.
Here is a link to the slide show on this park. Slide.com appears to have a bug. Click on the link and then select Gallery View if you would like to view photographs of Silver River. When Slide.com is restored, I will paste the slide show here.
That evening, we discovered that our new trailer leaks, “Like a colander,” as my husband put it. After a discussion with Heartland, the manufacturer of our Edge M21, we left the trailer in Ocala at a certified Heartland service center. So, there we were, on a road trip sans travel trailer. We rented a motel room and watched HBO.
We went to the service center at 1 pm the next day. At 3 pm, we drove out with our trailer. According to the service people, all leaks had been fixed. We had wasted two days on repairs, so we decided not to continue to Saint Augustine, on the Pacific coast. Instead, we plotted our path along the back roads to Ginnie Springs, home to one of the largest cave diving operations in Florida.
In the 1950s, the San Antonio Zoo had a banner year for breeding. The extra exotic animals were taken to Y.O. Ranch, where today you may enjoy them on the daily tour. If you would like to get close to a giraffe, an ostrich or a zebra, Y.O. Ranch is the place to be. Other animals on the ranch include waterbuck, impala, ilk, gazelle and springbok.
Have you always wanted to be a cowboy? Learn how during summer camps or you can join one of two cattle drives per year. Y.O. Ranch has the largest herd of registered Texas Longhorns in the world.
Featuring “best fair chase” hunts, versus canned hunts, Y.O. Ranch is a trophy-hunters paradise. Of course, you may hunt your trophy with a camera as well.
The Y.O. Ranch has 20 RV sites ($30). Or, you may also want to rent one of the rooms in the 1880s style log cabins with great stone fireplaces and period furniture. Whether you RV or stay in a cabin, you may take your meals at the Y.O. chuckwagon.
There are so many activities at Y.O. Ranch, that you will need to visit the Y.O. Ranch website to view them all. The activities are as diverse as the life of the founder of Y.O. Ranch, Charles Armand Schreiner.
In 1852, Charles Armand Schreiner moved with his family from France to San Antonio, Texas. Schreiner grew up to be a Texas Ranger and a Confederate soldier. Schreiner took part of the US Army’s great experiment with camels in Camp Verde, Texas. He became a merchant, banker and served in various public offices. He ran cattle and raised sheep, putting Kerrville on the map as “mohair center of the world.”
By 1900 the Charles Schreiner Company owned more than 600,000 acres of land extending continuously from Kerrville to Menard. The YO Ranch, purchased in 1880, became headquarters for the Schreiner Cattle Company, and the Live Oak Ranch, now forming portions of the YO, was headquarters for the sheep operations.
Located on the northeast corner of Inks Lake, Devil’s Water Hole has been described as one of the most scenic swimming holes in the state. I would have to agree. While Inks Lake is just a comma among the much larger Hill Country Lakes, it is the most dramatic in scenic beauty. Pink granite outcroppings mixed with natural woodlands and crystal clear water.
For this trip we were in our canoe and heading straight into the Devils Water Hole, which is a large cove that meanders around huge blocks of rocks. As you are heading in, THE JUMP that everyone must do is the double rock wth the tree behind it. It does not look high, but it is.
If y’all are not sick of the photographs, we have some killer shots from above the rocks on the jump side. We hiked one day and achieved a vantage point unlike any we had seen. Better have been. We both nearly died from hiking in 98 degree heat.
The first week of our vacation, we stayed on Lake LBJ in Kingsland. We really loved the location of the Rio Vista Resort, which is two blocks off FM 1431 and waterfront on Lake LBJ. This would be a perfect place if you have a boat or jetski; there were boat docks, including lifts right on the lake. The waterfront cabins, condos and even mobile homes were nice and for rent. The pool and grounds were tropical. Unfortunately, the RV spaces were very close. You can see in the last photograph that we were almost bumping slides with our neighbors. It was a beautiful, clean and quiet location. The couple who owned the resort were nice. We paid $185 for one week for 4-way hookups.
The Historic Railroad District in Kingsland is anchored by the Antlers Hotel, a turn of the 20th century hotel. The district is spread out over 15 acres on the banks of Lake LBJ. There are woods, nature trails, orchard, and an 1800s log cabin with 4 docks that sits on the lake. There are many little cabins and cottages spread amongst the trees, around the orchard, close to the lake or to the Antlers Hotel. Most of these are for rent through the hotel.
The Antlers Hotel opened for business May 1, 1901 as a resort for vacationers traveling to the Hill Country by railroad. It closed its doors in 1923, not to reopen to the public until 1996. Today, the Antlers Hotel has six suites, all opening to the spacious front and back porches. The hotel is a recorded Texas Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Probably the coolest accommodations are the cabooses, each with small kitchen, living/dining area, bath with shower, TV, telephone, queen bed and two bunks. Or try the McKinley Coach, which is a fully-restored 1880s wooden train car, with small kitchen, TV, king bed, two twin beds and 1-1/2 baths. There is also a railroad depot that has been restored and moved onto the grounds that you may rent.
The rest of the district consists of Kings House, where the namesake of Kingsland lived. There is also a 1909 Victorian home that serves as the Junction Restaurant. Take a close look at this Victorian, you might recognize it from the movie, Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
