Photos of Chickasaw

My blog has been a little devoid of photos so I hope this helps to give a visual of where I am, what I'm doing, and what Chickasaw NRA looks like. It's very beautiful and incredibly diverse.

I have been in what is called Flower Park two nights in a row and have seen these guys. I actually came back the second night in search of them. Aren't they beautiful? I don't know what kind of bird they are yet, but when I find out I will let you know.


This is Vendome. It is a sulphur spring. You can see the spout where people fill up their water bottles (yes, even today) with the spring water. While the water has a heavy sulphur smell, if you put the collected water in the fridge, the smell dissipates and tastes like "regular" water. In the early 1900s there used to be 13 trains a day that came to Sulphur, bringing people to these springs for the mineral waters.

More of Flower Park. Mark, Soba and I had our picnic dinners near here.




This is Black Sulphur Spring. The park used to have more than 30 springs, but now all but six have dried up or closed. Posted near the spring pavilions are postings of the mineral contents at each spring. The springs have different mineral contents and were used for different medicinal purposes. Stopping at one pavilion today we learned that sometimes the mud from these springs would be used to help rheumatoid arthritis or other skin and joint ailments.




A melodious cardinal.


This is Lincoln Bridge. It was dedicated in 1909 for the centennial of Lincoln's birth. For the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, Lauren did an awesome school program with local elementary students. Students memorized the Gettysburg Address and recited it on the bridge.