Silver Springs Underwater in Healing Ground
- June 12, 2016, 10:06 p.m.
- |
- Public
We celebrated our 39th anniversary this weekend with a trip to Silver Springs. I wanted to ride the glass bottom boats at least once more in my life. My last visit was 56 years ago. Not much has changed!
The guide called this “eel grass”, but I think it is Hydrilla, which can tangle you up. You can tell the direction of the current by the bend of the grass:
The dollar is in there for tips. When I toured at age 7, the guide tossed coins into the bottom of the boat as a pitch for tips. My brothers were thrilled and were reaching in before my mother grabbed them back by their shirt collars. Today the guide points out the carefully placed dollar (in the middle so you’d have to really reach for it) and tells you to tip him like that! I do not take kindly to direct requests for a tip, but he was good, so I threw in a dollar.
The springs are created from deep, ancient sinkholes created as the water bubbled up through the porous limestone bedrock (called “karst”). This next picture is a bit disorienting, so I advise you to try and view it as I did, looking straight down into the water. That blue hole in the middle is the actual spring itself:
Sometimes the force just splits the rock into ledges. You can see the bubbles coming out from underneath a ledge if you look closely:
Lotsa fish. You’re looking 80 feet down, believe it or not!
Some videos:
1st up, baby gator
This video shows a tree under the water that dates back to prehistoric times, and the dugout canoe was used by the Native Americans who hunted the springs.
I’ll show you Silver Springs above ground in my next post.
middle age pearl ⋅ June 12, 2016
Oh how cool. I took a glass bottom boat ride many MANY years ago and it was awesome! Thanks for sharing!
ConnieK middle age pearl ⋅ June 12, 2016
More to come! :)
GypsyWynd ⋅ June 13, 2016
I remember the Doris Day movie "The Glass Bottom Boat". That's as close as I've ever come. Glad you had a good anniversary.
ConnieK GypsyWynd ⋅ June 13, 2016
Well, now you can watch my videos (wish I could have screened out the screaming kids) and go on the excursion with me. :)
QueenSuzu ⋅ June 13, 2016
Congratulations and hope you have a very happy one. Never got to do the glass bottom boat tour, not sure if my sister did when she lived in Sarasota. Makes me think of the Doris day movie of the same name.
ConnieK QueenSuzu ⋅ June 13, 2016
The glass bottom boats are in Silver Springs. We were surprised by how many movies were made in that spring!
Shattered ⋅ June 14, 2016
You are sooooooo lucky! I'd love to be able to do that :)
ConnieK Shattered ⋅ June 14, 2016
Road trip to FL?
Ferret Mom ⋅ June 15, 2016
Happy anniversary! I've never been on a glass bottom boat ride. I've always thought they look like fun.
ConnieK Ferret Mom ⋅ June 15, 2016
It was...except for the screaming kids.
Ferret Mom ⋅ June 15, 2016
The videos aren't coming through for me. :(
ConnieK Ferret Mom ⋅ June 15, 2016
Somebody else said they had trouble, too. Not sure why. They play okay on my computer.