Saturday, March 30, 2019 is National Take a Walk in a Park day. Do your duty!
I did mine a bit early at De Soto National Memorial Park in Bradenton – a small park on the south shore of the Manatee River facing Tampa Bay. Admission is free.
A brisk breeze threatened to blow off hats and caps. The gusts did not deter a busload of school children from jumping up and down because they are eager to start walking the De Soto National Memorial Park nature trail once the park ranger stopped his spiel.
De Soto May have Landed Here
This may or may not be the place where Hernando de Soto landed in May 1539. You can see the history retold in a short video that plays almost continuously in the Visitor Center.
De Soto and his army of conquistadors and mercenaries cruised up and down Tampa Bay and probably camped at several places. La Florida, as it was called then, held no natural beauty attraction for them. The mangroves, estuaries and wading birds did nothing for their souls.
Theirs was a quest for gold and glory. That plan worked in Mexico and Peru. So they figured if they just killed and enslaved enough Indians, someone would tell them were to find the gold. The locals quickly realized that pointing north was the answer – get these madmen out of here.
But now, centuries later, the half-mile nature trail along the shoreline, perhaps once the scene of Spanish boots sinking into the sand as they came ashore, turned out to be full of gold for me.
A sea grape leaf stuck to a bench looked like it was hand painted in soft watercolors. Trees arched over, growing and twisting in ways that respond to the weather – lots of wind for starters. The river rippled and gleamed.
Don’t just take a walk today. Take a sketchbook and capture the scene. That is what I did. Bring a journal and write a poem. Oh, and your dog is welcome here to enjoy the De Soto National Memorial park with you.
Make your walk in the park a time to reflect, renew, and rejuvenate. Well, find your walking shoes and off you go!