One of the reasons why I’ve grown to like Florida so much over the years is my slow, decade long discovery of the Florida environment. I was re-reminded of this when stumbling upon the blog Walkin’ Lawton, which has some truly great shots of some cool nature spots in North Florida. This is the blog’s description:

This blog details Florida’s only highway with as many turkeys as people: the Walkin’ Lawton Chiles trail. From Century to Tallahassee to Jacksonville to Orlando to Fort Lauderdale to Miami to Key Largo, you’ll find milestones of his famous walk across Florida posted in the ground: state-issued, metal signs about as high as a stop sign. In Chiles’ long career, he left tracks all across the state, and the ones without signposts are often the most interesting. Walking the trail, taking photos, studying boxes of archives, talking to friends and colleagues, recording old stories–these will be my passport to history.

When I moved to Florida over 11 years ago, I admit I didn’t like it very much – hot, muggy, and downright intolerable. However, my opinion began to change after I became a Boy Scout and went camping in various parts of Florida once a month. This is something I wish everyone would do. Camping along the Ocklawaha River, in Pat’s Island in the Ocala National Forest, or off the coast of St. Augustine, I began to appreciate a lot more how fragile Florida’s ecosystem works and just how important it is to protect it.

…and I learned how to deal with the heat, too – you just don’t move It was actually great preparation for my first year at UF, where I stayed in the Thomas dorms, which has no AC due to the fact it was built in 1903.

So head on over to Walkin’ Lawton when you can, and check out some really great shots of the Apalachicola River, Torreya State Park, the Miccosukee Trail, and others.

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