Flower Show in the Ravine

RAVINE GARDENS STATE PARK

After publishing 185 blogs in my very first blog titled “Catching the Tradewinds,” I felt like a new blog with a fresh design was in order—one that would reflect our new lifestyle.  We have sold our motorhome and have settled down in a retirement community in St Johns, Florida, midway between Jacksonville and St Augustine.  

For a year, Covid put a huge crimp in our plans to check out our new surroundings in Florida.  However, now that we are both fully immunized, we have started to explore getting back to a more normal life, all the while recognizing the pandemic is by no means over and we still must adjust.

March is azalea season in northern Florida!  When Al read about a state park about 30 miles south that has a spectacular show of wild azaleas in a large natural ravine, we sort of put the early March date on the calendar.

We headed east across the St Johns River, then south about 25 miles to Palatka, Florida, along an easy-to-drive Florida country road.  

Ravine Gardens State Park was built in the 1930s under the direction of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the administration of President Franklin Roosevelt. 

An over-the-top commemoration of 

Roosevelt's role in the project was represented by a giant obelisk. Although the structure was attractively built by talented WPA workers 90 years ago, the triangular eye at the top was kind of creepy in a Dan Brown "DaVinci Code" sort of way.  

         

        

Most of this park is situated in a large natural ravine that was transformed into a garden by the WPA.  Here, wild azaleas seemed to have found the perfect mix of sunshine and water.  Several different shades of azaleas populated the walls of the ravine and along the trail in the canyon.

A variety of palms complimented the picture, creating a unique natural scene that was quite foreign to our Colorado eyes.

Two historic suspension bridges that spanned the ravine definitely added interest to the hike.  

The perfect pond, with lily pads to jazz things up, created a dramatic foreground for photos of one of the historic suspension bridges.  

The timing of our visit was ideal to capture the azalea blossoms at their peak.

We were a little rusty in our camera skills, having forgotten how to change to macro or change aspect, but Al did pretty well with this close-up.  I even forgot to bring my camera…

Iconic Spanish moss hanging from the trees in the formal gardens section clearly indicated a deep south location.  

We were quite pleased with our foray into our Florida surroundings.  We still have about two more months before the oppressive Florida summer heat arrives, so we are hoping for several more outings with near-perfect temperatures.  For the summer months, all activities will likely be associated with water of some sort, and shade if we are lucky.

It’s sort of fun to blog once again.  Blogging satisfies my creative juices and allows me to share the activities that give us joy.  My aim is to have my new blog title and subject matter spotlight our new home in the land of palm trees and sunshine.  I doubt this blog will have any posts with snow in them...

“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.”  Lady Bird Johnson