October 19, 2015 - Micanopy, FL

Another gorgeous day, perfect for hiking and sightseeing.

We were planning on hiking early in the morning, but we had things to do. We did not go to Cones Dike Trail within the state park until after 11 am.  

After our chores we drove to the visitor center parking lot. There was a signage up notifying that the visitor center is closed due to renovations being done.  We walked past it to go up the observation tower.  We could see one wild Spanish horse and a small herd of bisons in the distance.  No birds in flight at all.

Wild Spanish Horse is on the left side of the picture
Bisons out in the front

We then walked past the visitor center to get on Cones Dike Trail. It is a 8 miles round trip trail, a long trail through the heart of the wet prairie marsh.  It has been coined as “the Everglades” of Paynes Prairie.  Pets are not allowed because of bisons, wild horses, etc.

At the beginning of the trail there were so so many dragonflies of many colors.  There were not so many flowers around. 

We were hoping to see wild Spanish horses grazing near the trail, but they were nowhere to be seen.  Two ibises were busily looking for foods before they took off.

We decided to turn around after hiking 2 1/2 miles because it started to get hot.  It would have been better if we started it early in the morning.  Next time!

After lunch Edith went to historic Micanopy for photoshooting and sightseeing.  There was quite a number of tourists strolling around.  We had been to Micanopy before, but never had the chance to really explore outside of the town center.  The town has rustic shops, small restaurants/coffee cafes, a historical museum and a church.   Micanopy was a former Indian trading post before becoming an American town in 1823.  Edith decided to venture out few blocks away and saw a sign pointing to the cemetery.  Of course, she quickly turned left to go there.  She is really a cemetery aficionado.

Historic Micanopy Cemetery was established in 1826 and has some unusual/beautiful monuments and tombstones.  Many markers were undecipherable.   She did not stay there very long, but she will definitely go back another time during early morning or early evening.

There were some Halloween decorations in the town.

Erwin worked on his woodburning project while Edith was away.  He started a new one since he finished the one he had been working on since last spring. Here is his finished piece. 

It was really nice to sit outside enjoying the nature.  There is a fire pit, but we did not want to use it because it was too close to the LH.  We wished we could move to a better location, but there weren’t any available.