One of the benefits of currently living on the Forgotten Coast here in Florida is enjoying all the natural beauty around us.
This weekend we took a family field trip to nearby Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve. Located near East Point, FL just before you drive over the Apalachicola Bay to St. George Island, this Reserve has an incredible Nature Walk, an Overlook for observing the Bay, and a wonderful Nature Center with lots of specimens, exhibits as well as aquariums.
Welcome to the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve (ANERR)!The littles exploring the Nature Trail.Purple Martin houses near the Bay Overlook.The kids loved looking across the Apalachicola Bay at St. George Island.After thoroughly exploring the Nature Walk and the Bay Overlook, we headed up to the Nature Center.The boys were amazed at the size of this whale backbone that was found.This wonderful interactive map showed the various boundaries for nearby parks and reserves and sensitive areas.Aquarium residents Horseshoe Crab and Atlantic Stingray. We loved watching them interact!Aquarium resident Diamondback Terrapin.ANERR collects rain water and it’s quite the show! There are two pipes for observing water moving from the roof to cisterns below the building, where it is used for flushing toilets and other non-potable uses.My book worm already working on the Activity Guide she got from the gift shop.
