Cedarburg is a beautiful and vibrant old mill town in Ozaukee County, just a half-hour north of Milwaukee. Cedar Creek brought German immigrants to the area in the 1840s where they built grist mills and a small community began to develop. When the train came through thirty years later, the town expanded as it now had access to the larger markets of Milwaukee and Green Bay. Churches were built and streets were laid out, but Cedar Creek was still at the center of the community. As time passed, suburban Milwaukee started edging ever closer, but Cedarburg has been able to maintain its own identity and its small town charm. I enjoyed my visit to Cedarburg and hope you enjoy these photos of this beautiful historic mill town on Cedar Creek.
Blue Springs State Park near Orange City is one of several winter homes for the wonderful West Indian Manatee. Also sometimes called the “sea cow”, manatees can reach up to 13 feet in length and can weigh as much as 1300 lbs. Despite their size, manatees are quite graceful in the water, propelling themselves with their large tails, and can reach speeds up to 15 miles per hour. Manatees are mammals, so they need to breath air, but can hold their breath for up to 15 minutes at a time. They are vegetarians, and have no natural enemies, but are often wounded by the propellers of passing boats. In the 1970’s, manatees were placed on the Endangered Species List, but their population has rebounded and in 2017 they were downgraded to threatened status. They are sheer pleasure to watch, and the water of Blue Springs State Park is so clear it makes the experience even better. I enjoyed hiking to the source of the springs, which is also a scuba dive site when the manatees aren’t in for the winter. The park also offers boat tours and kayak and canoe rentals to explore the St. Johns River, but the manatee habitat is closed for the private use of the animals. Located only an hour or so from Orlando, this makes a great getaway from the crowds and noise of the amusement parks. I loved my visit to this park and happily just stood and watched the manatees for hours. I highly recommend Blue Springs State Park for anyone visiting Florida in the winter when the manatees are in their winter home.
Somewhere inside of me, there will always be an island kid. I've spent about three years of my life living on islands, and there is just something special about them. When I'm talking about an island, I mean a real island, one you can only get to by boat. As soon as a bridge connects it, it becomes a peninsula in my head. It loses its charm. It becomes just another part of whatever it is connected to. A real island is isolated and quirky and the residents are eccentric and innovative, as anything they need - from groceries to lumber - probably has to come from somewhere else. Daufuskie Island is a real island and a beautiful and charming one at that. It's hard to believe it's only 20 minutes by water taxi from mainland South Carolina because it feels a world apart.
It is very exciting to have entered the second state of my journey, North Carolina. North Carolina has a lot of history, some of which I know and some of which I hope to uncover for both of us in the month or so to come. It's nice to be here.
I began my journey into the Tar Heel State by visiting the tiny town of Halifax, and more specifically Halifax State Historic Site. This seemed like an appropriate place to start my travels in the state, not just geographically, but because of the history of the area. It was in Halifax, on April 12th, 1776 that the underground, non-British, Fourth Provincial Congress met and passed what became known as the Halifax Resolves. The Halifax Resolves essentially authorized North Carolina's delegates to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia to vote for independence for the colonies...
