Yesterday, I went to Ichetucknee Springs State Park with a group of my swing dancing friends for some swimming, tubing, and dancing. This was the third time I’ve been to that park and was by far my most enjoyable time there. Here are some of the highlights from that amazing day.
We had a good-sized group going, so most of us split up into smaller groups and carpooled. My group listened to a podcast and some nice music on our way there. Once everyone arrived and we all had our tubes, we hopped on the shuttle and rode down to the river entrance. There are a few different entrances but we chose the one that would give us a shorter float so we’d have time to get in everything we wanted to do. Apart from popping a few tubes, the float went smoothly: we sang songs, took pictures, and had fun meandering down the river. We sat down at the picnic tables after the float to enjoy our lunch and rest a bit before continuing our adventures. After lunch, we headed over to the springs portion of the park and enjoyed hanging out in the cold water. I particularly enjoyed this part since the water felt incredibly refreshing in the hot weather; I took one last quick dip in the second spring right before we left. We spent some time in both of the springs and then danced a bit on a wooden walkway, being careful to avoid getting splinters in our feet. Fortunately, we managed to get out of there ahead of the rain and headed back to Jacksonville.
Right before we left the park, we decided to try out a local taco restaurant in Jacksonville called Murray’s Taco Bodega. This was my first time there and I enjoyed my order, including the Mexican Coca-Cola that they had. I rarely drink soda and don’t like most sodas that I’ve tried, including regular Coca-Cola. The Mexican Coca-Cola tasted about the same to me although it did feel smoother and less harsh than regular Coca-Cola. Plus it was served in a nice glass bottle that I got to rinse out and keep afterward. I probably wouldn’t get it again but I liked it well enough and I’m glad I tried it. We spent some time visiting and letting our food settle until we were ready to go. For dessert, we walked down to Dreamette, which is a local ice cream place that’s been in operation since 1948. We all enjoyed some of their amazing soft serve ice cream and visited some more. By that point, I was well spent and knew I still had a lot of stuff to do before bed, so I said my goodbyes, rode back to my car, made sure I had all my stuff, and headed for home.
The first time I went to Ichetucknee Springs as a kid, I got overwhelmed by the cold water in one of the springs and threw up in the bathroom. I did much better last year by getting into both springs and submerging myself up to my neck in one of them. This year, I did even better. I got all the way up to my neck in one of them and stayed there for a few minutes, focusing on my breath and treating it like a meditative experience. When I got to the other one, I went completely under the water and stayed in that spring for a good while even though it was much colder than the other one. Whenever I was in the water, I focused a lot on the breathing techniques that Wim Hof uses to stay warm in extremely cold environments. This, as well as all the cold showers I’ve taken since last year, helped me feel comfortable in the river and the first spring and find the courage to get into the second spring and stay there until I had been shivering for a few minutes. I’m glad that I’ve gotten steadily more comfortable in cold water and can enjoy Ichetucknee Springs more than I ever could before.
I’m also glad that most of us had little to no cell phone reception for the bulk of the day. I’ve been making more of an effort to ignore my phone and be present during my in-person interactions, and I think it’s made a huge positive difference. Given how much everyone seemed to enjoy interacting while our phones were useless, I think yesterday is further evidence for the value in unplugging from technology and fully focusing on the people around you. More than anything else, that’s what made yesterday so wonderful from beginning to end and I’m so thankful I could be a part of it.