Hey Guys!! After six weeks of staying in one place we were all ready to get moving again! I did some super long-term planning (which if you really know me isn’t that unusual) and snagged us a few hard to get spots at some of Florida’s beautiful State Parks!

One of the most stressful things about planning a stay in an area we’ve never been to is whether or not there is adequate cell signal. Not just because we want to stay connected with our phones and social media, but because we have to have it in order for Jerl to work. One of the reasons we don’t stay at more state parks is because they’re not usually close to town…so unless I know for sure there’s cell signal…it’s kind of a crap-shoot. And, since good cell signal is a requirement…I don’t usually take the chance. But, in Florida, we are super limited with where we can stay for a few different reasons. We’re not 55+, we have kids with us, we refuse to pay over $60 per night and…this is the biggest one…clothing is not optional for us. When I started planning for this leg of our Florida loop, I quickly realized that if I couldn’t get us into state parks…it wasn’t going to happen. For weeks I plotted and researched and planned for this tiny section of our Florida loop and man…did it payoff. I miraculously got us into not one, not two, but four state parks and two county parks! What, What?!?! Guys…that’s kind of amazing. Florida State Parks book eleven months in advance. Eleven!! And the morning a spot opens…it’s usually snatched up by 8AM Florida time that same morning. Which means you have to be on your game to even have a chance at getting a spot in your window. County Parks differ per county. Larry and Penny in Miami books long term stays from Jan to around Oct-Nov and then whatever is left they open up to short term visits. The trick with Larry and Penny is that you need to book for next year while you’re still at the park. Once you get your foot in the door, it’s easier to go back there. Fort De Soto County Park lets county residents book their stay nine months out and non-county visitors book six months out. I’m not gonna lie…this part of our Florida loop was super stressful to reserve. It was worse than when I planned our two months in Alaska. Which…is why it will be a few years before we have another Florida winter.

Our first move after Miami was to a cute little state park called Koreshan State Park in Estero, FL. It’s about thirty miles from the coast and is in a great part of town. The only downside to Koreshan State Park…no full-hookups. We loved it so much though, we’d totally go back.

Koreshan State Park maintains the Koreshan Unity Settlement which was one of many communal societies started around the turn of the century. There were several religious groups created at this time. Cyrus Teed, Koreshan Unity founder and messiah, intended the new community in Estero, FL to be the “New Jerusalem”. One of Teed’s beliefs was that the earth is hollow and that when we’re looking up to the sky, we’re actually looking toward the center of the earth. One of the requirements for joining the community was to give all of your possessions to the community. The community provided everything you needed.

The Koreshan’s were a communal society. That meant that all of the woman lived together, all of the men lived together, and all of the kids lived together. Families didn’t stay in the same house. It was Teed’s belief that the community should raise the children together. And the community was celibate. Which, isn’t great for growth. While some of the Koreshan beliefs were a little…hard to believe…they did have some good ideas about life. They believed in equality for men and women in a time when that was rare. Education was an important part of the community, girls and boys all went to school. This was also rare since most kids were working factory jobs starting at a young age. Teed believed that everyone should be prepared through education to lead a productive and useful life.

Eventually, as the members of the community grew older and passed away, the community dwindled. All of the children who’d been brought to the community with their families moved away as soon as they were old enough. Many of them married each other. In the end, there was a group of women who made a deal with the state of Florida. The state could have all of the land as long as the women could live out their lives there and the state had to keep the Koreshan Unity Community story alive. The last surviving member, Hedwig Michel, passed away in 1982. The state of Florida has taken care of the land and the buildings on it since then.

One of the coolest things about this state park is the bamboo forest. There are some great walking trails in the park and one leads you right through a bamboo forest. Nicholas (our Mr. Panda boy) thought this was really neat.

One of the things I love about Koreshan State Park is the Estero River that runs alongside it. I would walk down to it every morning before anyone else was up and about and watch the birds. I was hoping to see a manatee since we’d heard that they can be seen in the river…but, I never saw one.

What we did see a lot of…turtles! We saw these guys every single day we were there. They were kind of shy. As soon as they’d see us they would freeze and not move again until we started to walk away. Which, was great for taking pics!

We also found a few beaches to explore. We only had a week at Koreshan State Park so we didn’t get to very many beaches…but we sure enjoyed the ones we did get to visit. We had been looking forward to this Florida…the warm weather and beaches…

and the shell collecting. Guys…so…many…shells! The beaches here were like shell heaven! We loved collecting shells at the beaches!

Let’s talk foodies! We found a great little diner called Matt’s Red Hots. And yes, you’re looking at mac-n-cheese and onion rings on top of a hotdog. And yes…it was really good!!

There were a few pretties around…I thought I’d share this one with you. Check out the thorns on this plant! Those are some major thorns!!

We loved the Estero area! When we come back to Florida, we will definitely spend more time in this area!

See y’all down the road!

#hidingfromthecold