The Boardwalk to Freedom

If you didn’t know, I was born and raised in Florida; not on the beach, or next door to Mickey Mouse. I was raised in Central Florida, where we have a nice mixture of rural areas, cities, and suburbia.

It’s the rural areas I always enjoyed. Most of the time, these were the areas we lived in. You drove into town for shopping, school, and if I was lucky, a parent to drive me to a sleepover… no walking to friends houses.

But the experiences I found growing up not living in a traditional neighborhood meant we could wonder around and head to parks nearby.

One park we could ride our bikes to was near a lake. They had picnic tables, pavilions; the normal park setting. They also had boardwalks for the paths. These were a necessity as the land near the lake would be marshy, especially after a good rain (every day at 3pm in the summers! LOL). So to walk from the parking areas to the lake, you would end up on a boardwalk.

When I moved to New England, I planned my first exploration. I had looked up an area with waterfalls… and for a girl from Florida, I was so excited!!

I pulled up to the parking area, ready to begin my journey! I found the path and started towards the falls. What struck me most as I walked was… no boardwalks.