Today is our first full day of being on the road and it was busy! After having breakfast and cleaning up, we packed a lunch and headed out for the day. First of all, we drove up to Tallahassee to see the state capitol. It was only 34 miles directly north of where we are staying.  
  
The old capitol building has been turned into the Florida Historical Capitol Museum, which is directly in front of the present capitol building. We parked right across the street under a large magnolia tree (good shade!!). Right next to the parking lot was Florida's Vietnam War Memorial. The plaque contained some very sobering statistics - 386,000 Floridians served, 1,869 died and 83 are still MIA/POW. Leaving the memorial, we crossed the street to the Florida Historical Museum.

 

Since we brought Roxie with us, I stayed outside with her while Sharon went into the museum. While she was visiting the museum, Roxie and I were looking at memorials on the capitol grounds. The first one was a memorial to the men of Leon county who served in the Civil War (1861-1865). As you read, it was "raised by their country women".


In the plaza in front of the present-day state capitol building is a memorial to the Medal of Honor recipients from Florida and the heroism of each recipient.   



 Right beside that was the Florida Law Enforcement Memorial. The "Officer Down" statute was especially moving.


 
 Next to that was the Combat Wounded Veterans Memorial with a moving tribute:
 
  My stone is red for the blood they shed.
  The medal I bear is my country's way to show they care.
  If I could be seen by all mankind
  Maybe peace will come in my lifetime.


 
Our next stop was at the Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park. The park is in total 1,176 acres, of which 302 is dedicated to the gardens and to the Maclay house. We enjoyed walking the grounds with its many shade trees, azaleas, camellias and dogwood. There is a reflecting pool and a pond on the grounds.  


 

Thirdly, we drove to Wakulla Springs. This spring produces 200,000,000 gallons of fresh water every day. In 1937, Edward Ball, a financier, built a lodge at Wakulla Springs, which still stands today. It has a large dining room, a great lobby where you can sit and enjoy some ice cream from their old-fashion soda fountain. They allow swimming in the spring and have boat rides to see the local flora and fauna.


 
Our last stop was at St. Marks Lighthouse just east of our campground, in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. We drove out a 12 mile road that wound through marshes, crossed streams and ended at the Gulf of Mexico.  

 It was a nice ending to a great day of sightseeing. We headed back to our campground and were ready to eat dinner and "hit the hay"!