If I absolutely had to choose just one of Florida’s spectacular rivers to spend my time with to the exclusion of all others, it would probably be the St. Marks River south of Tallahassee. I say this with a heavy heart, because I know them all and it’s a Sophie’s Choice type of decision. But since, like Jimmy Buffett, “I come from where the rivers meet the sea, it’s part of why I’m so wild and fancy free,” under duress I would probably pick the St. Marks River. The river is curvy and long, majestic. It’s also somewhat narrow, and its spring-fed reaches provide something of a “canopy river.” Beyond its idyllic scenery, its history offers an important glimpse into the Real Florida that the Spanish Explorer Panfilo de Narvaez “discovered” almost 500 year ago. The river is known for several “firsts” in what Europeans called the New World—mainly the first ship building, the first iron forge, and the first burial of foreign royalty. (This is because traveling with Narvaez was the Spanish King’s brother Don Pedro, an heir to the throne of Tezcuco who was killed by Native Americans while scouting the mouth of the St. Marks.) The five small ships Narvaez’s men built here were actually barges constructed to sail out into Apalachee Bay carrying some 50 men each. Of the 250 men who left the St. Marks River with Narvaez, only four survivors reached Mexico some eight years later.
Small: 14” x 10” – $120.00 | Medium: 20” x 28” – $260.00 | Large: 49” x 35” – $480.00