Nature Trails

Michael and I used to love to walk down Nature trails.  He was scared of a lot of things, but his first experiences on Nature Trails were pleasant.  We would usually get two sprites and walk down a board walk nature trail at Fort Matanzas.

At Mission San Luis, we went down to the nature trail, he thought it would be bright, and that we would walk down a board walk.  When we started the trail, he said to me... "Where is the nature trail?"  He got scared as we went deeper in the woods.  I coaxed him on and we made it through the trail.  On other occassions, we would pretend that as we went deeper into the woods that we were going back in time.  We were spaniards from the blockhouse on a mission of the utmost importance.  He loved the walk, we would explore and make sure we were able to gather great intel.  Other times we would pretend as we walked down the woods, that we were stepping back into prehistoric times.  That we had to avoid the bad dinosaurs.  We always made it out ok, and after each nature walk, Michael was satisified that we had the best time ever.

Every time I walk down a trail, I will remember those times.  I will take a step back in time with Michael at my side on a mission to gather intel on enemy troops or try to avoid dinosaurs with him.

Fort Matanzas

A couple of years ago, I went on a week long summer vacation to Crescent Beach, FL.  Michael was just starting to get involved in history and we had the opportunity to go to a couple of forts and to an Alligator Farm.  

Fort Matanzas - This was a small forte less than a mile from the house we were staying at.  You get to ride a short ferry across the river to get to the fort.  The fort is small, but real neat.  I think we went to the fort every day of the week that we were there.  It is a small park and a quick ferry trip, but we loved it.  It was at this vacation that he started to get heavy into military history.  We went to Fort Matanzas 5 times that week.  And we walked down the nature trail (boardwalk through the woods).  He loved to get a sprite for each of us as we started our journey down the trail.  When walking a nature trail we loved to pretend that we had gone back in time, that we were in the times of the Spanish armada and the British were at war.  We would gingerly slink down the boardwalk listening for any signs of the enemy.  Each visit Michael would say he would take the tour to the top of the roof on the blockhouse, but he just couldn't manage to do it.  I love those memories.  Watching the wind rush through his hair and his eyes squint so as to see through the surf and wind to our ultimate destination, Fort Matanzas.