Georgia - Okeefenokee National Wildlife Refuge - Day 1

We leave Florida.  Our next stop is Okefenokee State Park.  I've driven past it many times but never stopped in.  We are ahead of schedule so no time like the present.

We stay at Okefenokee Pastimes - a small RV park and campground across the road from the East entrance to Okefenokee National Refuge

 The Park encompasses over 403 thousand acres of Swamp.    The name is Native American for "Land of the trembling earth"

 One of the resident alligators behind the visitor's center

You don't want to get too close to them when taking pictures

It is late and the Visitor's Center is closing so we decide to come back in the morning and take the first boat ride out into the swamp.  It is starting to drizzle so we take the Swamp Island Drive to the Chesser Island Homestead before returning home.  The drive is a 7 mile loop road.

Longleaf Pine once covered 90 million acres in the Southeast.  Less than 3 million acres remain.   Okefenokee is restoring them.  The long narrow water along the left side of the road are called borrow ditches.  This is where material for the road was dug out.  It was "borrowed" and never returned.

 Tucson enjoys the views and smells

 We arrive at the short trail to the Chesser Island Homestead.  It was built by Tom and Iva Chesser in 1927.

 The house built from yellow pine and cypress was completed in 21 days by Tom and a carpenter he hired for $150

 The interpreters had left for the day but I was able to get a couple shots through the windows

 The bath tub was on the screened back porch

 The made and used Cypress Log wells as a water source.  Without the hollow logs, freshly dug wells would likely cave in with the sandy soil.  Cypress was able to withstand the constant water.

 Sugar Cane was their main cash crop.  A mule pulled the sweep around the grinding mill.

 The strained juce was carried into the syrup shed for boiling.

Can't wait for our Swamp Tour tomorrow!