Twelve Days of a Dixie Christmas - #10

A Countdown of our Favorite Southeastern Christmas Destinations

The Christmas season is taken pretty seriously in the southeastern US, and the Richardson Tribe has a dozen suggested destinations to make your holidays more adventurous. Over the next 12 days, we will publish a new destination each day until we reveal our #1 Christmas holiday destination.

#10 - Silver Springs, Nature's Theme Park: Silver Springs, Florida

Now we continue the theme of non-traditional winter vacation spots with Silver Springs park in central Florida. By late December, the Richardson Tribe is ready for a few days of balmy weather. Warmth makes for a nice break in the dreary wet cold days just a little further north.

Silver Springs, located near Ocala, Florida, is an ancient source of relatively warm water that proliferates lush vegetation and abundant wildlife including birds, gators, snakes, and monkeys. Yes, monkeys. They're everywhere, as are the Christmas lights.

Silver Springs is a natural paradise that has been retrofitted (emphasis on retro) for the 20th..... uhhh, 21st century. I say this because many of us southerners visited Silver Springs as kids about long long ago. Silver Springs is a legendary southern destinations that dates back to the 1870s when an early entrepreneur built the first glass bottom boat. The water here is crystal clear, and the view of the aquatic life and vegetation is spectacular. Today, the famous Silver Springs glass bottom boats still take tourists on scenic and educational tours of the river fed by the ancient spring.

When the sun sets during the Christmas season, Silver Springs becomes a winter wonderland. There are thousands (maybe millions) of lights that illuminate the park's many natural features. It's a truly spectacular sight.

While visiting Silver Springs, we recommend RV camping at Salt Springs Recreation Area. It's located in the Ocala National Forest, and features a pristine warm spring with a family of manatee residing just beneath the glassy warm water.

So, there you have it, our 10th favorite Christmas destination. Visit us tomorrow to discover the vacation spot we consider #9.

Twelve Days of a Dixie Christmas - #12

A Countdown to our Favorite Christmas Destination The Christmas season is taken pretty seriously in the southeastern US, and the Richardson Tribe has a dozen suggested destinations to make your holidays more adventurous. Over the next 12 days, we will reveal each of our favorite RV camping and recreation spots until we reach our #1 Christmas Holiday Destination. Come back each day to see the places this southern family has grown to love. #12 - Parks at Chehaw: Albany, Georgia Albany Georgia may not register high on some lists as an ideal winter destination. They would be wrong. Chehaw is especially inviting this time of year. The air is cool and crisp, the campground is beautiful (virtually empty), the creatures in the wild animal park are in plain view sunning themselves, the native snakes are hibernating, and the seasonal Festival of Lights is pretty spectacular. It's hard to define our favorite feature of this destination. The Jim Fowler (Wild Kingdom) designed  Animal Park is most definitely one of the nicest we've ever visited. However, the kids would have to rank the playground as one of the best they've ever seen too. The bike riding is easy here because it's very flat. In fact, once you're here, you can ride bikes pretty much anywhere you'd want to go in the park. Albany is just a short drive from the Parks at Chehaw and features many entertainment and dining  opportunities. We especially enjoyed bowling at the local lanes and eating delicious seafood prepared locally at Blackbeard's. For details about the Parks at Chehaw, including dozens of pictures and an Adventure Journal entry, click here. So there you have it. the first of our Twelve Days of a Dixie Christmas starts in Albany, Georgia. Where from there? Tune in tomorrow to solve the mystery.

Silver Springs, a Southern Tradition

Adventure Journal - Entry Date: December 2010

As a kid growing up in Georgia, my family vacationed just once a year for maybe three or four days, usually in Panama City or Fort Walton Beach, Florida (AKA: the Redneck Riviera). But I'll always remember that one Summer in the mid '70's that Mom and Dad took my best buddy and me on an awesome trip to Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp and several destinations in North Florida. Best I remember, we didn't do much exploring on that trip, but I remember visiting Silver Springs very well. So, 35 years later, I decided my kids needed to experience the same treat, and they did.

When we first arrived, I didn't recognize the park. It was beautiful, yes, but there is a lot more parking than before. Silver Springs had apparently expanded considerably, but it looked very nice. We approached the ticket office and inquired about admission. Now, as a Southerner with four kids, and being a little cheap (as many Southerners with four children are), I wasn't expecting to pay nearly $180.00 for my family to enter Silver Springs. It certainly wasn't that expensive when I was a kid. However, as the day passed, and the people were so great, and the animals were so unique, and the sights were so amazing, I began to consider cost vs benefit. I compared the cost of a nice dinner for six to a day's worth of entertainment and education, and decided it was probably money well spent. More...

For more pictures and details about Silver Springs, visit their  dedicated page.