Jonathan Dickinson State Park

Hubby is home with pneumonia this week so I've been running him to the doctor today and picking up his prescriptions at the drug store.  Before he started feeling bad, over the weekend, we made a visit to a beautiful State Park just 8 miles north of Juno Beach.  The 11,500-acre park is named for Jonathan Dickinson, a Quaker merchant whose vessel shipwrecked nearby in 1696.  During World War II, the land was home to Camp Murphy, a top-secret radar training school.

There's only a few buildings and foundations remaining of what was once a huge camp.

Little did we know Hubby was coming down with pneumonia when we traveled this boardwalk to the Hobe Mountain  Observation Tower.

The tower is on an ancient sand dune, rising 86 feet above sea level, making it one of the highest points of land in south Florida.

Then it was back down the boardwalk to explore the rest of the park.

The Elsa Kimbell Environmental Education and Research center is open every day with a variety of programs.  The park also has two family campgrounds, plus rental cabins, canoes, kayaks and motorboats.  There are also nature trails for bicycles, hikers and horses.

Hubby is reading about the "Wildman of the Loxahatchee."  More about that later!

The park also has some beautiful picnic areas too.

But watch out for the alligators!

We decided to take a two-hour tour of the Loxahatchee River aboard the Loxahatchee Queen II.  The poor captain didn't get rich on our trip.  There were only four of us on board.

This river was designated as Florida's first "National Wild and Scenic River" in 1985.

We even spotted a young gator on our way up river to the former home of Trapper Nelson, otherwise known as the "Wildman of the Loxahatchee."  It's a story of an eccentric man who died an mysterious death.  But, I'll save that for next time!  I have to take care of Hubby right now.