Fanning Springs SP: Doorway to Adventure Traditional Cache

This cache is hidden near the entrance to the Park, and is available at all times.  However, as always, please be careful not o harm or destroy any plants or wildlife.  Please also pick up any trash you find as a way of helping to preserve the beauty of this historic property.

As you enter the park it is important that you follow all Park rules.  There is no fee required at this cache, but there is a fee to enter the main Park area.

Many special times were spent here when I was younger.  My first visit was in 1968, when I tried the rope swing for the first, and only, time.

My next visit was in April, 1978, and for several April days during the next 10 years.  Under private ownership, several hundred of us would come out to what was called a "Play Day at Fanning Springs", when we played volleyball, dodge ball, tag, Steal the Bacon, Duck, Duck, Goose, ate a picnic lunch, swam in the springs, then had an afternoon of relay-style races and tug-of war contests.  It was always a favorite time each year.

One year it rained, hard!  We sat on the picnic benches for a couple hours, those of us optimistic enough to come out anyway, before realizing that we needed to go home and study for exams, or whatever indoor activity we could find.  Only once in all the years this event was held.

This is where I met my wife, Julia, who was on a "blind date" with my best friend.  Our first date was the next weekend, 04 May 1980, and my best friend never got another date with her.  The tree where we first met is still here.