Park 21 & 22: Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve & Fort Caroline National Memorial

5/25/13. After leaving Saint Augustine, we headed north towards Jacksonville and arrived at the Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve. We looked at some interesting exhibits at the Visitor's Center, learning that, "French explorer Jean Ribault was impressed by the first native peoples he encountered in Florida. The Timucuans under Chief Saturiwa, who met the French at the mouth of the River of May in 1562, were one of a number of Timucua-speaking tribes who inhabited central and north Florida and southeastern Georgia. They were the final stage of a culture whose way of life had remained essentially unchanged for more than 1000 years."

Next we walked down a short path to Fort Caroline National Memorial. This fort was not much more than a mound close to the river that memorializes the people and history of the area - and the conflict between Spanish and French settlers. The views of the preserve and water were lovely.

We got a map of the preserve and headed farther north to the Kingsley Plantation. This was not very far from the visitor center as the crow flies but it took us a long time to drive around since it was on the other side of the river. As we got closer, we drove down a long, narrow road paved with shells that created great dust. The scene was very much southern: tall trees with lots of Spanish moss and other vines and vegetation. The ground was sandy and the road paved with shells.

Although this "plantation" has not much on display, we really enjoyed our visit because the interpretive panels were very good and there were a few interesting gems here, notably the display on how they made dye from indigo and the slave quarters. The slave quarters were, of course, very disturbing - a curved row of tiny little houses made from "tabby" - a building material made from ground up oyster shells, lime, sand, and water.

 We spent a long time trying to figure out how these little huts were made and what they would have looked like and how the families functioned. We finally left, exhausted and headed north to South Carolina to spend the night.