From Lakeland to Wright Lake

Today's travels took us to Weeki Wachee Springs State Park and into the Florida Panhandle as we continued our trek back home.

After saying goodbye to Chris and Debbie (and promising to not wait another 30 years to get together), Keith and I continued on our trip home with a stop at the world-famous Weeki Wachee Springs. For years this was a commercial attraction, but Disney World development redirected tourists to the Orlando area. Without enough business to get it profitable, the owners turned it over to the state; it is now a state park, and probably the most unique of them all.

The park includes a large swimming area, the famous mermaid shows (seen from an underwater auditorium), miles of nature trails, and a river cruise.

Since our time was limited, we opted to do just the river cruise.

The spring was named "Weeki Wachee" by Seminole Indians, which means "Little Spring" or "Winding River" in their language.

The spring's average discharge is 112 million gallons a day. This, combined with the output of a couple other neighboring springs, forms the seven-mile Weeki Wachee River, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico.