I've been without internet service for
a couple of days while we were camping out in the Okefenokee swamp.
What a great experience! Stephen C
Foster is a beautiful state park with plenty to boast in the way of
wildlife, scenery and peace!
The scariest part of this trip was the
food! We were fairly unprepared in the grocery department and Fargo,
the home town of Stephen C foster park, has a PB convenience store
and a cafe. The “Suwanee River Cafe” did not let us down in the
southern style food department at all! Two full plates of various
shades of brown with a giant sweet tea to wash it all down with.
No complaints! We're just glad we were
able to get some food! Even if it was a 15 mile drive from the
campsite and one clogged artery away from permanent residency.
Lesson learned: Research the
surrounding area for supplies before going camping!
We took a canoe ride on our second day.
The scenery is breathtaking and the gator spotting is plentiful!
Billies island is out there. Smack in
the middle of the swamp. A little research and we found out about
Billie's island ahead of time. Home to native Okonee-Creek tribes
first, and then to the Lee family who had a homestead here from the
mid 1800's until 1905 when a logging company came in and built a
fully functional town with schools, churches and gardens. The name
“Bilie's Island” came from a Seminole Indian named “Billy
Bowlegs” who played a major role in the cypress logging industry in
this area.
There's only some rusty machinery
remnants and a small cemetery remaining on the island but it's beautiful. The canoe ride out was a spiritual experience in itself. Real, untouched my humans (other than the logging industry part...) this stretch of the Suwanee river is pristeen in appearance.
My main focus while out in the swamp
was to visit the Lee Cemetery on Billie's island and absorb the rich
history of this tiny patch of dry land in the middle of this rich
swamp while HOPEFULLY stumbling across a Sasquatch or Skunkape....
which, according to legend, is not an entirely ridiculous thing to
hope for!
While we didn't have any direct,
unexplained encounters we did hear some very strange hollers and
calls coming from the swamp at night. The swamp is a very strange
place when you really stop to take it all in and listen!
I got my photos of the Lee graves, and
even though I'm not from the same line of Lee's as this family, I
still can't help but feel connected to them through the name.I thought it really odd that one of two headstone that we could actually read through the chain link fence was for a Daniel Lee... my brother , having the same name AND BIRTH DAY, would die!! No pun intended :)
It was a cool time and a very unique
place to explore for sure!
No comments:
Post a Comment