We loaded up the car with our daughter, grandsons and headed out for a day of exploring and fun. The very first stop was at the Aunt Thelma’s Gift Shop right here in the park. We looked at many items made by the Artisans who visit the park and teach or display their crafts
We then made a stop at the Riverside Cemetery in White Springs. Now some of you may think that is not a great place to explore and gruesome to visit but we LOVE going to them and looking at the different styles of headstones and the dates. It is amazing reading the very old headstones and seeing that a lot of people born in the 1800’s or before did in fact live a long time.
Soon we were on the road again and came upon some horses in a pasture that the boys and my daughter wanted to see… so we stopped and did the horse whisperer with them and then back on our adventure!
We rode and rode down the road and before long we came to an old church that we just had to pull into and explore. Falling Creek Methodist Church was built in the 1800’s as a log structure and in 1880 they replaced it with the present wood frame. When first built it was a Baptist Church but in 1866 it was change to a Methodist Church. The church continues regular church services today and is open for visitors to see.
Right behind the church was a cemetery which had headstones from the early 1800’s…
Just down the road a little further is one of Florida’s fabulous but little know waterfalls called Falling Creeks Falls. On a short walk is a spectacular root-beer colored cascade, which plummets more than 10 feet over a deep lip of limestone and flows away over limestone boulders at the bottom of a ravine. Falling Creek is the site of the first settlement in this area. It has a short boardwalk through lush forest which offers easy access to the falls. There is also a longer trail which extends your walk in the woods past rapids in the creek and where you can see more of the local vegetation in this area. Falling Creek is a hidden treasure which has old building to explore, nature trails, picnic tables and a children’s play area.
