SATURDAY AT THE SWAMP.
Day 57 – It was 54 degrees this morning & sunny. It was quiet in the campground, so before people were up & around Rob took a long walk from our campsite to the boardwalk behind the Ranger’s Station & Camp Store. Meanwhile, I stumbled around in my usual morning stupor. It takes me awhile to wake up.
We spent the rest of the morning in the screened tent. After lunch we took a drive into tiny Fargo, GA to pick up our mail which had been forwarded by the mail forwarding service we use. Ooops, it was Saturday & the post office had closed by the time we got there. Nice day for a drive anyway, and the campground had become very active as the day wore on.
We stopped at the Suwannee River Sill, located fairly close to the entrance to the State Park, off Route 177, the 17-mile road you take to get to the campground. When we were here in 2017, we rode our bikes there. At that time Alligators were on both sides of the muddy banks, sunning themselves. This time there was much more water in the channel, people were fishing from boats, and on the way to the end of the road, we did not see one alligator. We’d already noticed there was a lot more water this year – maybe there’s been lots more rain this year?
At what had been the end of the road where you could previously turn around, it was now under water. We drove to where the water met the concrete & parked. It was really pretty out. We grabbed our cameras and stayed awhile.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
On the way back to Route 177, we saw more Alligators swimming in the channel. Nobody was out there fishing in their boats anymore. We’d spent some time there, it was warmer out & later in the afternoon. We’ll come back to the Sill again later in the day & see what we find. Nearing the campground, we saw the Thistle was just blooming. Soon the bees and the butterflies would be swarming. We stopped to take some pictures of the flowers before they were ravaged.
Thistle about to bloom along GA-177, Stephen C. Foster State Park, Fargo, GA
Thistle about to bloom along GA-177, Stephen C. Foster State Park, Fargo, GA
Thistle about to bloom along GA-177, Stephen C. Foster State Park, Fargo, GA
We stopped at the Ranger Station to ask about the schedule for the Swamp Tours. A tour boat was just coming back; being the weekend, it was full. We went over to where the rental canoes & kayaks are kept. In 2017 we’d seen Alligators there. Sure enough we weren’t disappointed.
Alligator (Sophie), Stephen C. Foster State Park, Fargo, GA
Alligator, Stephen C. Foster State Park, Fargo, GA
We spent the rest of the afternoon in the screened tent. The high today was 81 degrees, a little humid, a little breeze. Tomorrow is Sunday & some of the campers will be leaving. Once the campground is nearly empty and quiet, we’ll take our Swamp Boat Tour. Cannot wait!!!