Saturday, May 23, 2009

Glass bottom boats at Silver Springs


It is the end of the day, and the glass bottom boats, iconic emblems of Silver Springs Park, have been put to bed to rest for the morrow.

23 comments:

Hilda said...

Everything looks so peaceful. And I love that the structures and the boats are painted to blend in with their surroundings rather than to contrast with it.

Unknown said...

I love the reflections on this shot!

Ming the Merciless said...

I love the richness of colors here.

Is the lake water clear enough to see through in the glass bottom boats?

Lee Spangler said...

Thanks for the kind words Jake. I am sure you'll get back into shape. Regarding this boat, I assume there are gar fish and gators down there. No night swimming

VP said...

Beautiful image, everything is green there, painted or not. Love the reflections in the water. I have never been on a glass bottom boat, it must be funny and interesting...

Lowell said...

@ Lee - You do see a lot of big gar fish, but not so many gators, although there are many gators in these waters.

You can also see the many springs from which the water flows and some artifacts from the many movies and TV shows which were filmed here.

I think many years ago, people did indeed swim at Silver Springs...

Maybe too many were eaten by gators so they decided to disallow swimming...

Cezar and Léia said...

So is it possible to have a trip around the park (or the lake) on these boats? Must be very pleasant, specially if the gators don't come onboard!
Cezar & Léia

Lowell said...

@ Cezar & Leia - Yes, the boats go down the river, & into various inlets. The people sit around a rectangular glass bottom. You can see springs/caves, big and small fish, turtles, old wrecks, and many items that were used in movies and TV programs. Many Tarzan movies were filmed here. One of the James Bond movies, too; along with others that I can't remember. A few segments from the old TV Series "I Spy" were also filmed in these waters.

There are numerous alligators but they are usually seen along the bank of the river, not in open water.

"Sea Hunt" with Lloyd Bridges was filmed here.

It's interesting and every time we go we see something different.

The boats make a stop at an island where wildlife specialists care for injured birds...and you get to see owls and hawks and other birds that are being rehabilitated.

Layrayski said...

I like glass bottomed boats! I was able to ride one once. I thought it was better than getting wet while snorkeling ha ha ha that looked like a nice place to hang out, and take pictures.

Becky said...

This is a sweet picture. I love the calmness of everything. No one in a hurry, the water's not restless, and the trees shade everything from the warm spring sunshine. I'd love to walk through here in the evening.

Merisi said...

This image is very original and also very much the Florida of my mind, that beautiful, green, quaint, laid-back side of it!

Thank you for your very kind comments on my blog. I appreciate them very much, even though I do not manage to always answer them, I read and enjoy every single one. Creating a new post usually takes all the time I have to dedicate to blogging, visiting and commenting myself too often has to take a backseat. Any chance there's going to be an extra hour in the day any time soon? ;-)

Merisi said...

Thank you also for your kind invitation to coffee next time I have a chance to visit your beautiful State. I lived in Washington, DC for almost a quarter century, but moved to Vienna in late summer 2005 (time flies!). I miss driving down I-95 regularly, during spring and fall, often to Jekyll Island in Georgia, but also further south, all the way to the Keys.
Cheers,
M.

Rose said...

I would enjoy going for a ride in one of those....I agree with the others that there is something really good about this picture.

Lois said...

Very nice shot Jacob! I like how you can see the reflections of the boats in the water.

melanie said...

Moi j'aime tous ces tons de vert !

Joy said...

Jacob, that is so lovely! I would love to visit there.

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Carlos Lorenzo said...

I like the reflections at the bottom. The quiet atmosphere and the green color on those boats. I thought they were part of the docks. I mean I couldn't see the boats on first sights. The fact they have glass bottoms makes it even more interesting.

Kcalpesh said...

I've been raring since long to catch a reflection in my lens but yet no chance... this is awsome! Beautiful place too!

cieldequimper said...

Glass bottoms. How cool is that?

Lowell said...

@ Kcalpesh - Thanks for your comment. I wanted to let you know that I left a comment on your delicious Pixellicious site but it didn't go through again...I'm not sure what's going on but I haven't had that problem with any other site...

Have a great week!

crocrodyl said...

Beautiful! Excellent photo! I like this green roof with the rays of the sun!

airplane5312 said...

Love the greens in this one.

Ram N said...

is there a picture of these glass bottom boats and what you see thru them? that'd also be added incentive :)

"Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again." — Henri Cartier-Bresson