Our last stop in Florida...

When we left St. Augustine, we continued north along the coast.  We had one final destination in mind before heading into the next state.  The Timucuan Preserve...

ancient carving found in the Florida swamps...amazing...

Also home to Fort Caroline, which is accessible via a path through the woods that starts and ends at the Timucuan Visitor Center...

The rain from the day before had dialed back the heat and humidity to bearable levels.  It was actually kind of chilly in the early morning, which we enjoyed :).

The fort was small, but interesting.  A replica of the one originally built in the 16th century by the French...

After walking the paths, exploring the fort, and visiting with the Ranger we drove around to see more of the Preserve.  We had just left the Ribault Monument and were driving back towards the Visitor Center when the kids spotted something in the trees that we had been searching for allll over the state of Florida.  Roseate Spoonbills!!! 

We had looked when we were in Myakka State Park, on Sanibel Island, in the Everglades, around the Florida Keys, at each stop along the way...

These birds that are supposed to be in south Florida were happily perched in a tree in northernmost Florida (maybe they are "supposed" to be there too, we just didn't know about it...). 

Ya'll, that just made our bird watching day :D!  They really are beautiful creatures...

Anyway, after oohing and aahing over the birds, we went back to the Visitor Center so that the kids could tell the Ranger all about what we had just seen...and get their Jr. Ranger badges and certificates, of course :).  Just fyi...right now the park is offering a special badge to commemorate the 450th anniversary of Ft. Caroline - something special for all the Jr. Rangers out there :).

Next stop...Georgia!