Although the calendar doesn’t quite agree, summer is here. In Florida it is sticky and hot and deadening. I tried to keep this in mind as I chose May’s destination. I had hoped to go to a state park that would provide a bit of a relief from the sauna-esque sensation of Florida summer–some tree cover, maybe? I knew that a canopy wouldn’t make much of a difference (only swimming truly would), but our timescale for the weekend didn’t allow for a trip to a spring. Anyhow, I chose relatively poorly, and that poor choice is what I will blame the low quality of this post on.

Anyhow, let us commence.

This month, we went to Lake Wales area. I’d identified Lake Kissimmee State Park as our primary destination, as reviews seemed to indicate that it had decently shaded trails. We also planned to stop at the somewhat nearby not-state-park attraction Bok Tower Gardens, which offered free admission for mothers on the Saturday we visited.

(One struggle with this year’s mission to visit different state parks has been prioritizing new destinations. Where I live, there are perhaps three or four state parks within an hour’s drive, and of course I’ve been to them all quite frequently. Seeing new state parks is a whole day’s journey. Visiting two places, rather than just one, helped make the trip feel psychologically worthwhile… even if I knew that my destination would provide some intense heat.)

(About the heat: I know, I know. I grew up here. I am writing a blog about visiting relatively undeveloped tracts of Floridian wilderness. Shouldn’t I be immune to the heat? In years past, without children, I could bear it better. Perhaps because I was more slender and I could wear less clothing and feel okay. Perhaps because I could easily stop at a gas station, run in, and get myself a couple of VitaminWater Zeroes–without having to bring in two children. Perhaps because I wasn’t worried about potentially dehydrating one or two little people with poor perception of their own needs/capabilities. Perhaps because physiologically I’d never had any hot flashes. I’m not sure the root cause, in other words, but things are a little different now. I’m a little weary of the heat, or at least of spending an entire day in it.)

Our trip to the park was good. We were able to exit I-4 fairly early, so we avoided the deadlock there between Lakeland and all points north. It was a fairly long drive for us (about two hours and fifteen minutes), but my kids held it together remarkably well with promises that we were going on an adventure. There wasn’t exactly anything interesting along our path, but we did get to enjoy the bucolic sights of central Florida’s cow fields along the way.

When we pulled into the parking area at Lake Kissimmee State Park, it was lunchtime. In past posts I believe I noted that we are usually not a picnic-y family. This day, my husband and I had planned ahead, and we had sandwiches, pasta salad, fruit, hard-boiled eggs, and pudding ready. (Ready for me to blame something on the heat? I didn’t take a picture of us eating. But here’s most of us by the table we ate at… Before the lunch.)

(Oh yeah, I forgot to add–we brought our dog. Oldest son loves being in charge of him.)

We ate in a relatively shaded area near the park’s “Youth Camp.” It wasn’t too bad, heat-wise. I could imagine being able to eat here relatively comfortably even in the months to come, thanks to tree cover and the open air around you (which allows for the breeze to reach you). We could see the water at a distance. There were no biting insects. There was a grill (that we did not use) and a water spigot (that we did). 9/10 stars. Would be 10/10 if there were a mountain view and a nearby trash can, but you can’t have everything in nature (or life, for that matter).

After munching on food and only yelling at my toddler only a little bit to eat an acceptable amount of food, we briefly checked out the “marina,” where small watercrafts could launch. We didn’t see anything of note, but I imagine somewhere in there are tons of turtles and alligators. Lots of people were fishing from the docks. There was a camping store at the marina, and I understand they sold some snacks (and ice cream?), but we skipped out on that aspect of the park. We did visit the restrooms there, though , and they were very clean and tidy.

Here’s where I really dropped the ball: we were going to walk a bit to the “cow camp,” which is supposed to be a re-enactment area of an old Florida… cow camp. I did not bother to pay attention to its open dates, I guess, and when we got to the road that led to it, the sign declared it was closed. I assume it must run from late fall to early spring? If so, it makes sense. It’d be miserable for any actors elsewise. At this point we could have continued walking and tried to find the area just to peek at it, but…

The sun shone. The path was dusty. My dog panted and was scared of his water-drinking contraption. My baby was red. My husband was red. My toddler was complaining he was tired and wanted to sit, but the dog and our bags were taking up the bottom of the stroller. I was vaguely uncomfortably warm in that way I’ve been for the last 18 months (since becoming pregnant with my second child).

So… I gave up, and we decided to hang out at the playground for a second, climb the observation tower, and then skedaddle and head on to Bok Tower.

(Photographic evidence of red baby and the playground in the background.)

The playground was of the type that populated my childhood (aka somewhat outdated), but in good condition. My son met a couple of children there and played for about twenty minutes. It’s fairly well shaded, so he didn’t suffer too much in the process of playing and was willing to climb with me to the top of the observation tower that lay only a couple hundred feet away.

The tower was decidedly (and obviously) NOT shaded. But that’s alright. It was a simple three-story setup, and took only a couple of minutes to climb. I felt very out-of-shape doing so, but my son pretty much ran up, so… Make of that what you will.

The view from the top was fairly pretty. I couldn’t see water, but I could see the grassy prairie and a hiking trail that, I read, was 6 miles long. Alas, I dared not venture on to it. You can see that it’s in the open area.

After coming back down, we headed to our car and bid the state park farewell… Without having hiked at all. I felt like a real schlub.

Bok Tower Gardens was next, and it also is fairly unshaded (and therefore hot) in many places. We prepared for this by grabbing a Gatorade and two elderberry ciders at their cafe, and then set off through the wilds to reach our first destination: the “Singing Tower” and its koi-filled ponds. A couple of quarters brought great joy to my eldest, but I once again dropped the ball and failed to photograph the experience… Oops.

There was a good deal of shade nearby to the tower, so after visiting the fishies, we headed towards it. My son and I “played” hide and seek. Really, as I am lazy, he just ran around and I slowly followed him.

Next/last, we headed to the children’s play area, which I took no pictures of because I did not want to seem to be a creep. There were a lot of parents who had the same idea as me, you see: let the kids run wild and find a shaded place to encamp as the youngster’s energy seeped out into play. There is a lot for them to do: there’s an outdoor stage with animal costumes, wooden xylophones to make music with, a large spiderweb to climb, dens and caves to explore, a bike snake and a sandpit, an arts and crafts area with paper and pencils to draw with, and a small water feature area that helped keep the children cool. My son got to see and play in most of those areas and would have liked to play until the park’s close. But…

At about four thirty, we were done. There had been no naps and little air-conditioning this day. It was time to get back to the car and, in turn, back to our home.

In this post, it may seem that I treated Lake Kissimmee State Park (and perhaps Bok Tower Gardens) fairly harshly. Neither place is deserving of such treatment. They both offer a lot to people of all ages! It’s just that the circumstances for my family (and really, I suppose, for myself) for this day were not conducive to summertime outdoor recreation. I’d like to come back in the winter and see the Cow Camp, hike some of the trails at the park (there were many), and make a proper trip of it all… I just didn’t have it in me to force it on a mid-may early afternoon.