Spring on the lake

Spring in Central Florida makes a brief appearance before yielding to a long muggy summer that seems to last longer and longer each year. So I do my best to spend as much time as possible outside when the weather is comfortable and the light is still crisp. As a result I haven't been inside at my computer blogging on weekends.

I am fortunate enough to live on a small urban lake and springtime on this watery oasis is a celebration of life. In February female Tilapia dig out beds with their tales on either side of our pier. This prolific species of fish is native to Africa and Asia and is considered invasive to Florida. I'm not quite sure how they came to be on our little lake, but their numbers are astounding. While I wish they were largemouth bass or another Florida native, watching them spawn every year is a fascinating way to mark the beginning of the season.

Also in spring the migratory ducks head back north and wading birds sport their audacious breeding plumage and chase each other around the lake. This spring I've seen Great and Snowy Egrets, Great Blue and Black Crowned Night Herons, Ibis and Wood Storks just to name a few. Our mollusk-eating Limpkins, year-round residents, become ever more vocal, and one bird in particular has become so comfortable on our dock I have named him Larry.

Every year I'm amazed at this incredible amount of natural activity just yards from a constant stream of unaware motorists and I imagine what Florida must have been like when lakes like this were untouched by human intruders. Thanks to my little lake, I get just a little glimpse of what that must have been like.

These elegant swans appeared one day and left the next. I'm not sure if they were just passing through on migration or venturing out from Lake Eola Downtown...

Even the smaller species seem to be caught up in the rites of Spring.

Larry the Limpkin finds a steady diet of fresh water mollusks and snails around the lake

Male Tilapia flood the shallows towards the end of the spawning season. One day I came home to find a Bald Eagle dining on one in my backyard!

Tigger the cat tenses up as the bird activity outside increases

An outrageous Bougainvilia punctuates that fact that Winter is behind us for another year

Old World meets New Age at Warm Mineral Springs

Despite living in a state surrounded by water, it had been so long since I last went swimming that I couldn't even find a bathing suit in my wardrobe. So perhaps I was a little giddy to be back in the water again. Or maybe, just maybe, Warm Mineral Springs really is the Fountain of Youth, and I was deliriously enjoying the effects. As I dog paddled around the circular spring, I felt incredibly happy, unusually buoyant, and at peace despite being surrounded by dozens of health seeking strangers.

I first heard of Warm Mineral Springs in my quest to discover all the places that claimed to be Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth throughout the state. That was a couple years ago, so perhaps my excitement at touching the 87 degree water was fulfilling a long anticipated desire to bathe in the legendary waters. Obviously a bigger deal in the 1960s, Warm Mineral Springs appeared to be the epicenter of Florida's 1960 Quadricentennial, according to pictures I found in the State Archives. And after purchasing a brochure on eBay that promoted the sale of lots around the Springs, it is clear that a mid-century Florida developer had big dreams for this piece of Sarasota County. This excellent blog details the Spring's history.

State Archives of Florida

Rendering by noted illustrator Russ Smiley shows the developer's master plan

Today it's hard to miss the Springs from U.S. 41 near North Port Florida. A large, alien-like sculpture that was probably the focal point for the housing development around the springs, creates a sense of arrival as it straddles the median of the road leading to the famed water feature. Nearby a wonderfully designed mid-century motel flies flags from Europe next to Old Glory, as the spring has come to cater to a decidely old world crowd. And if you miss the large sign for the motel, there is a huge arrow pointing the way to the springs.

The motel was designed by Sarasota School architect Victor Lundy

As you approach the Springs, it's clear that the housing development never quite reached its potential, and the houses look a little worn and modest in comparison with the McMansions of 21st century Florida. Halfway down the road is another well-designed mid-century structure that is in dire need of restoration. When I finally reached the springs, I was surprised at the large number of cars in the parking lot on this beautifully warm February day.

The buildings all still have a classic 1950's look although it's clear that the company that owns it has put effort into branding the old attraction for today's health conscious spa goer. Signs all over the property reinforce the benefits of the mineral laden waters. It was $20 to get in the water, and I wasn't going to miss it. Mrs. Ephemera decided to sit this one out, electing instead to hang out in the groovy little cafe, curled up in a book, while I regained my youth.

I found the objects from this vintage postcard (center), including several sculpted figures, relocated throughout the property

Patrons staked out turf around the spring and there were several ramps leading into the water which felt surprisingly chilly at first. The water wasn't crystal clear like most Florida Springs but was pale green and had a bit of a sulphurous odor. A floating rope separated the wading area from the swimming area and the spring was crowded with folks of all ages moving through the water in a clockwise direction. Piped-in classical music made for quite the surreal setting and soon the aquarobics class started and up tempo tunes filled the air. Aside from the modern exercise, it felt as if I was otherwise transported into the Victorian age, "taking the waters" at one of Florida's famed healing springs.

I floated on my back, dodging the occasional ball of algae, a sign that not even the Fountain of Youth is exempt from our state's water quality issues. I felt as if I could float for hours, and would have except for my respect for Mrs. Ephemera's generous patience. After a great little lunch, I stopped in the gift shop and bought a plastic bottle of the legendary water (almost $10.) It appears that one of the minerals in high concentration in the water is magnesium, and the water is sold as laxative. Maybe that explains its wondrous powers...

Plaque reads: "THE ORIGINAL FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
ACCORDING TO AUTHENTIC HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS, THIS WARM SALT SPRING IS THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH VAINLY SOUGHT BY PONCE DE LEON. HIS SEARCH FOR IT LED TO THE DISCOVERY OF FLORIDA ON EASTER SUNDAY 1513 ... IT IS NOW KNOWN THAT FOR MANY CENTURIES FIRST INDIANS AND LATER WHITE MEN JOURNEYED MANY MILES IN SEARCH OF THEIR HEALTH AND WELL BEING BY BATHING IN AND DRINKING THESE WATERS ... AFTER MANY YEARS OF RESEARCH STUDYING DOCUMENTS AND MAPS IN THIS COUNTRY AND ABROAD, JONAS E. MILLER OF WASHINGTON D.C. WAS ABLE TO ESTABLISH THE ABOVE FACTS. HE DISCOVERED THIS SPRING AS THE ORIGINAL FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH IN FEBRUARY 1942."

The owners of the Spring, while marketing their property as a full service spa with a new age vibe, are playing up the Fountain of Youth angle, perhaps in anticipation of the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon's landing in Florida in 1513.

Creating Utopia in the Sunshine State

The story of Cyrus Teed would make a great movie. Teed, after serving in the Union Army in the Civil War, earned a degree in Eclectic Medicine, a healing art that used botanical and other alternative remedies. Part of the therapy offered by Teed included electromagnetism and after receiving a large dose of electricity he claimed to have had a religious vision. Afterwards he changed his name to the Prophet Koresh and set about establishing a new religion called Koreshanity. The major beliefs of Koreshanity included:

• The earth was hollow and we lived within a concave sphere

• Immortality (Teed thought he was immortal but died in 1908)

• Celibacy (many converts to his religion were married women who left their husbands)

• Teed was messianic prophet (followers thought he would be resurrected after his death)

• Communal living (an earlier Koreshan commune was established in Chicago)

• God had a dual nature (both masculine and feminine)

Cyrus Teed, aka the Prophet Koresh

In 1894, Teed led a group of his followers to establish a Utopian settlement along the banks of the Estero River in Southwestern Florida. In Teed's eyes the community was to be a new Jerusalem, where there was a sense of security and order, all economic needs were met, equal rights were given to both genders and everyone had a specific role to play in life.

Teed with a monster Tarpon

In the 1890s, that part of Florida was an untamed wilderness, and the Koreshans had to create everything they needed to create a inhabitable environment from which to live. The settlement eventually included formal gardens, as well as vegetable gardens and orchards, living quarters, a bakery, machine shops, their own power generating facility, an Art Hall for cultural endeavors and a general store that served the entire population of Estero until 1963.

Teed in his Victorian parlour (which you can still see today)

A Koreshan prepares for a cultural activity

Koreshanity started a slow and steady decline after Teed's passing, and in 1961 the last four surviving members of the group gave their entire property to the state, with the provision that they could live on it the rest of their lives. Today many of the buildings remain as part of Koreshan State Historic Site, restored to their original condition. Most of the buildings contain their original furnishing, and it is one of the best collections of historic buildings in the state. The locale is beautiful, despite the intrusion of the Tamiaimi Trial (they had to shave off 9 feet of the store to widen the road.) It's a remarkable place to visit, and I highly recommend seeing it if you enjoy seeing historic architecture or catching a glimpse of what it was like to live in Florida when it was still wild and untamed.

This building, known as the Planetary Court was for the governing council of the community. The surviving members of the community lived here until the final member passed away late in the 20th century.

Details from the interior of the Planetary Court

Cottages and cabins from different eras

Built in 1896, the Founder's House is the oldest surviving structure built by the Koreshans. Over the years the building served various functions, including the home of Cyrus Teed and a school.

Inside the Art Hall, an example of the Koreshan cosmology

I was very pleased to see several Gopher tortoises throughout the property. A critter seen often in my childhood, I hadn't seen one in the wild for decades.

Jane Russell at Silver Springs

I saw in the newspaper this morning that actress Jane Russell passed away and remembered that she filmed 1955's Underwater at Silver Springs. One of the most infamous pieces of trivia about that film was its underwater premier which is notorious for the "unveiling" of Jayne Mansfield, who lost her bikini top during the premier. I heard the story first from Ginger Stanley Hollowell, the legendary blonde of Florida's pop culture history. The incident is confimed on Internet Movie Database: "At a promotional event for the movie, a young Jayne Mansfield was one of several swimmers participating in a underwater skit when the top of her bathing suit came off, which obviously drew attention to her, and not the movie. It is believed that she let this happen on purpose for the free publicity."

The film, the final movie Russell would make with Howard Hughes, centered around Scuba divers searching for buried treasure off the coast of Cuba. According to the movie poster, the film took 3 years to make and cost $3,000,000! You can see the movie trailer here.

Jane Russell at Silver Springs, 1953
State Archives of Florida