Blue Springs State Park...

Blue Springs is a gorgeous state park in Florida. You can camp, picnic, fish, scuba dive, snorkel, kayak, swim, visit the Thursby house, (which was built in 1872, aided in goods shipment and saw many steamboats as well as tourists) boat tours, and of course see manatees! They are open every day of the year from 8 am until sundown. Your fee depends on how many people are in your vehicle. The line gets incredibly long, so I do suggest getting there early.

Now, my family and I did the boat tour. Highly recommend, this was fantastic. We did the hour-long tour; we had to arrive about 15 to 20 minutes early before our tour was scheduled. I think the tours go from mid-morning to early afternoon. This was the perfect day for this tour, it was sunny but not too warm. We saw so much wildlife. Anhinga birds, turtles, (waiting for their close up as they posed on the end of logs) baby alligators, baby ducks, and we could hear/see giant birds at the tip top of trees guarding massive nests. Everyone on the tour would point if we noticed something and Charlie (the captain) would tell us what it was, why it was there, what it was doing, and so on. This tour was so peaceful and fun that we didn't want it to end. But alas all good things!

Once off the boat, we headed for the observation areas to spot manatees. I believe when we arrived, they had spotted over 700 manatees! This resting area is wonderful, seeing all these manatees float around with one another. We saw baby manatees, sweetly floating beside their parents. We also witnessed a brave, little alligator swimming towards this mass of manatees. There were definitely at least 40 manatees in this area. But he kept slowly swimming, feeling it out. He eventually decided against this and turned around. (Smart choice!)

We then visited The Thursby House. There's a small museum inside with so many antiques, the history of the house as well as the people who lived there once. They have comfortable rocking chairs on the front porch where you can look out over the park. When you're leaving the house or entering, be sure to walk on the brick path. This path has names of businesses, people, and such who have donated to help the manatees as these poor creatures are endangered.

All in all, Blue Springs is truly a must see. After a day here, you will feel refreshed and reset. Getting in nature is such a calming experience and takes you out of your head for a few days. I would recommend going from late October to early February, that's when is generally much cooler with some hotter days throughout. You may even need long sleeves!

Fun Fact: The spring is about 72 degrees Fahrenheit all year. Nice and comfortable for the manatees and for swimming.