I live "somewhere west of Jacksonville, north of Gainesville." In this area is Olustee National Battleground and Museum. Glenda

Thanks for this Glenda. I had actually just been looking at a map on line, at a place called Lake Butler, thought this might be a good place to stop as we headed south. Have looked up Olustee National Battleground on the www - very interesting! Will include that on our list of things to do.

Do you happen to know of any B&Bs or accommodation places near here that you can recommend? When I look for such places on the www, always it comes up with large commercial places - I'd prefer to for owner-operated, small personal places where we can meet the locals.

You can write me directly if you wish, braenz at gmail dot com.

Thanks in advance to you or anyone who can help planning our journey from afar!

Jacqui

Lake Butler is a very tiny community. Kinda like if you blink as you are going through it, you'll miss it. I don't know of anything interesting there to see unless you're interested in correctional facilities and a state prison nearby. Not familiar with any B&B's in that area. 30 miles southwest is a small town High Springs. There are several B&B's there. The Grady House is the one I would use. I don't remember the names of others. Lots of local folk. In the area is Camp Oleno. There are lots of springs in this area. Swimming, camping and I think they have horseback riding. There's Ichetucknee Springs State Park to the west at Ft. White. Ichetucknee River is a beautiful clear river and people from all over the U.S. and Canada come to go tubing. However Labor Day probably isn't a good time to do that due to the number of people. Their limit is 800 and they usually have to close the gates at the main springs by 10 am. I would suggest contacting the Chamber of Commerce in High Springs if you are interested in that area.

http://www.originalflorida.org/things_to_do/springs.asp
Check out this website on calandar of events, things to do and Food and Lodging. Glenda

Thanks Glenda, you've been very helpful... there are some great ideas on that site. Oh if only we had more time!

Jacqui

http://www.gradyhouse.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=33
Here's website for the Grady House B&B. Glenda

I thought I posted this, if it goes twice I'm sorry.
http://www.winterthur.org/
This is a nice place to stop - you will go by it on your way from NJ to Longwood gardens.
http://chincoteague.com/
This site is nice. I have stayed at the Refuge Inn and really liked it. You can rent bikes and bike into the park. They are famous for the oysters, We have them shipped to us several times a year. Also the refuge inn has room w/stoves and such - so if you want to buy the local seafood and cook it up you can.

Thanks Redrumed... this is excellent. When I was a little girl I read a book about the wild ponies on Chincoteague, so looking forward to that very much!

Jacqui