Today we visited the Loxahatchee River Battlefield Park to stroll a while down the trails, observing nature and learning a bit of history.

We didn’t make it to the battlefield today, but the nearly 5,000 steps we did get in were full of wonder! God creates such beauty in nature! From palms of all kinds to strangely colored barks of trees, to cypress “knees” jutting out of the swampy earth or the river itself.

Looking up into the trees was an air plant extravaganza! I wished I could snag some and take them home, but of course that’s a no no in a wildlife preserve. Some were tiny, some were massive and others were blooming! They were everywhere!

Ferns also and lots of Spanish moss dripped from many of different trees. The hundreds of year old oaks had the most though.

Some trees had both Spanish moss and gorgeous air plants. Vines twisted lovingly around tree trunks in an artistic manner, and some palm trees were so tall and totally slick barked, while others were rough and spiky.

As we wandered, we came upon the sawmill and chickees made from cypress at the old farmstead.

I didn’t get a picture of the chickees this time, but imagine primitive huts. It was an old Seminole farmstead.

The park is quite large and it would take a long time to walk the entire thing. There are citrus groves we missed on this trip as well as larger bodies of water. People come from all over to hike, bike, kayak, and see battlefield re-enactments in this park. It’s a combination battlefield park and riverbed park. Worth a second tour to see more on another day, maybe we will even bring our bikes!