Our Valentine Kayak Trip - Silver Springs, FL

A baby alligator was on my wishlist!

Our friend Robyn told us we must enjoy Silver Springs State Park and take a Kayak trip. We decided that was the perfect way to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

The Silver River flows five miles from the head spring to its confluence with the Ocklawaha River, completely within the confines and protection of Silver Springs State Park. The river offers a wide, wild, and scenic paddle through Florida’s heartland. There have been movies filmed here.

It was a beautiful overcast day - perfect for taking photos. Jeff is always kind to paddle while I keep a lookout for animals to photograph.

The water was like glass which brought the reflections to clarity.

There are even monkeys in the jungle here. We heard them and then saw them but they retreated too quickly for me to get a good capture.

We saw a few gators. At one point, Jeff pulled over to eat his sandwich. I was thinking I should closer to the riverbank and lo and behold, I was face to face with a brown snake (pictured bottom right).

We saw lots of birds. We even saw a manatee swimming several feet underneath us. I wish I would have been faster with my iPhone. I had that tucked safely away and only had my telephoto lens ready.

We intentionally focus on experiences instead of things. We want to live simply and have more freedom. We’ve learned, the more things you have, the more things you have to manage, and take care of. This was one of the best Valentine’s Days I ever had!