A Journey to a Secret Warm Mineral Spring

We managed to get to the Warm Mineral Springs and really enjoyed ourselves.

At first my 19 year old daughter was a liitle apprehensive because I had showed her the picture of the illustration about how deep it is. 230 feet in the middle of it.

Deep enough for another Lochness?  Maybe not, but

  this Wickepedia info is stunning.

The spring has been in use for thousands of years. This was shown when 10,000 year old human remains were discovered near the bottom, including a skull with intact brain matter, and the skeletal remains of a Mastodon and Saber tooth tiger.....( Gee maybe it can help preserve me?)

Scientists anticipate that future excavations may reveal findings that may date as far back as 30,000 years, to a time when Warm Mineral Springs was a dry cave.

Maybe i spooked her a little ....Here they are testing the waters. Over 9 million gallons of warm minerals issue from the springs a day!

But after a few minutes she relaxed a bit. Although once we were in it..she did keep saying "are you sure there isn't anything LIVING in here?"
I have to admit we kept playing with her a little, it was just too tempting not to.
Saying things like "Don't worry if you just felt something... that was my foot" and her saying I did'nt feel anything, did you?
Oh my foot must have touched Matt, and Matt saying No nothing touched me.
And my daughter going "oh gees mom what did you touch?"

A few more minutes go by and as we relax and float, Matt comes out with. "Ohhh, what was that?"

: 0)

All in all we had a great time, we fessed up to our shinanagins and we all did go in again.

The neat part is, as you go in the water, you can walk and touch bottom and then... bamm...it drops off.

This is supposed to be the fountain of youth that Ponce de Leon searched for. They even have signs out at the facilities stating that. And it seems that lots of Europeans come here for it's therepeutic properties.

A bit of a well kept secret around here. I can't believe this is only 13 miles from my florida home and I just found out about it this week!

  This is a creek that it flows into which is very peaceful to look at.

Some more info about the springs from Wikepedia:

About "Warm Mineral Springs"

Warm Mineral Springs is a water-filled, hourglass shaped sinkhole. It is about 80 yards in diameter and 230 feet deep where warm, heavily mineralized water enters from regions far below. Years ago it was developed into a spa. Now, visitors come from around the world to soak in its rejuvenating water.^[1]

Warm Mineral Springs is the only warm water mineral spring in the State of Florida, and is the largest warm water mineral spring in the world.

[edit]Geology

Discharging more than 9 million gallons each day. The spring has 51 minerals, highest mineral content in the USA. The spring is the second largest of the warm water kind in the western hemisphere.

Needless to say it was more than pleasant, and the music was very soothing. My skin feels sensational now. They even have a little cafe in case you get hungry.
 I wish I could bottle some of the water and bring it home.
More info at their site http://www.warmmineralsprings.com

Thanks for stopping by!

Eileen


Yesterday we had a great day at Siesta Key

Where there always seems to be a beautiful bird to greet us!

We had a great couple of days.




I will be posting at
Good Life Wednesday

Florida Dining Room, finally Completed Re-do

Finally... I can't tell you how happy I am to have the Dining room in Florida, finally, completely Beachified now.

I am so proud of my new design. My dropcloth slipcovers, redesigned table, and beachified hutch.

I hated the black furniture that came with the house...at purchase. I wanted to trash it.

but because removing the "attached to the wall like cabinets" hutch would have been a major renovation of sheetrock to the wall, the seller did not want to remove it. We never spent  enough time there to do any major reno.
So....I made do by beachifying the entire thing, and the table and chairs got an update to beachified status too. Now I have to say I really treasure it.
 Hutch re-do and how-to posted here.Cottage Beach House: It's been Beachified

Table re-do and How-to posted here Cottage Beach House: Cottage Beach House Table Intervention

The chairs got a dropcloth slipcover made by my sis and I.

The chairs before...

And now...

To add a bit of a personal touch I used  white fabric paint and hand wrote coastal words.
Beach, Ocean, Sail, Sand, Surf, Fish, Waves, Tides...

The overall look of the area is so  much brighter. And the total cost was under 120.00
I spent 60.00 on dropcloths
and 24.99 on paint.
the gripper primer was 19.99
 and my fabric paint was 2.99.
What it took was work, and time. but I love the result. The black had been a bain in my side whenever we would come for a week vacation and I would always say, someday I am going to stay long enough to change that  disaster!      

      So this is how it was. ugggghhhh

This year, with  the kids being a bit older... I felt yes I can finally fix this.. .and off I came to Florida with a mission on my mind.

The table before.. a big chunk of black

That table now

The chairs only half done....looking brighter already :)

and below ...

Feels good to say...Mission complete

Thank You sweet sis of mine... Marilou

Fun to add accessories.

Now setting this table with vintage  milk glass is enjoyable.

Or my simple Correll  plates for lunch.

Posting at my favorite party girls!

Masterpiece Monday

Amaze Me Monday

Show Off Your Cottage Monday

Making The World Cuter Monday  

Metamorphosis Monday

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays No.67

Tuesday's Treasures

Twice Owned Tuesday 

Tuesday Trash to Treasure  

 Good Life Wednesday

Show & Tell Wednesdays 

White Wednesday @ Faded Charm

Transformation Thursday 

Strut Your Stuff Thursday 

Tablescape Thursdays

Furniture feature friday
http://www.thesaturdaymorningsblog.com


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thanks for stopping by!

In honor of the Patio Deck and Porch party a Mojito for you

2 posts in one day...Whooo, hoo, I must of had too much sun down here in Florida today.
Ummmnnn but the beach was grand and the water was so warm. Now I am showered and dressed and waiting for the rest of em to get it together, we're heading to dinner and casino in Tampa. :))
so I thought in honor of the patio party that Donna is having at funky junk interiors, I just might try another post while I wittle away the half hour.

Let me take you back to the New Jersey Cottage for a minute. I understand the weather there today is totally crappy, so I'm glad I am here on the gulf coast of Fl.
But back in jersey a couple weeks ago hubbo was helping me bring furniture outside, and designed challenged that he is... this is how he left it...in a clump.

To me this seems like wasted energy... to just throw it down.. when you could set it right , right away....
 but no 2 birds tweet the same... do they?


This is how I wanted it.

Reminding of my momma's words .. "If you want something done right, do it yourself"
Which I went right ahead and did.

And then of course had my signature mojito. A girl has to have rewards.

and here is the recipe for ya'll...

This back porch is one of my favorite places to just sit with a cocktail and maybe have a nap

 after a hot day on the beach, and a cool shower just one step away.. 

This was a mess before..You can see how I fixed that here.

While my little palm rustles in the breeze.

And sometimes, if it is a quiet enough day you can hear the waves of the ocean roaring.
Because it lies just beyond that prominade in back.

I used to see it from my deck until they put that concrete on top of those rocks. :((
Or I can grab a sliver of it.. if I stand on a chair... like the pic below

But not to worry. Lets go upstairs for a much better view..to the sunroom. :))

And how lucky am I that it is only 100 steps to the beach?!

One of these days I will dig out some old pictures of when we had this sunroom built, and post em up.
 It had previously been a second story deck off the bedroom that was so darn hot we never used it. Plus the railings were a bit wobbly so I don't think it was super safe!
 Now of course it is the most favorite room in our little shore cottage.

 And another great spot for napping. Or for reading a good book..

..... It's a wonder I get anything done!

I will be posting at Savvy Southern Style-Summer Decks and Porches
for the  block 
blog  party***






Partying with donna at Funky Junk Interiors