Wakulla Springs State Park will run glass bottom boat tours with a Halloween twist. The Spooky Springs Cruise will be available for one day only on October 23.
The park has done these cruises before. But due to COVID-19, tours will be limited to 20 passengers, and masks will be encouraged but not required. In addition, park ranger Kat Wilson will be narrating local folktales, ghost stories, and more during the cruise.
"A couple of them are specifically about the lodge and the park and some of the history there, for instance, the murder of Old Joe, which is the story of the most famous alligator of his time because it was probably the one that people could most frequently get close to and photograph and he made some headlines in his day," Wilson says.
For those who remember what the glass bottom boat tours used to be, Wilson says the Spooky Springs Cruise will allow them to relive the nostalgia.
"And to make some intrigue for those who haven't been on a glass bottom boat. So even though you can't see the bottom of the basin anymore, we get to float over the spring and look down into that dark hole and think about what that looked like and what it's meant to the area," Wilson says.
The boat will also have a costume replica of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The monster appeared in a 1954 black and white horror film. People must sign up the morning of the event, October 23, at the park's waterfront office near the swimming area and parked boats. The Spooky Springs Cruise will run from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
