We just spent a month on a SOWER project https://sowerministry.org/ at the Florida Sheriff’s Boys Ranch near Live Oak, Florida. About 5-6 miles from the Boys Ranch is a campground music park that brings people in from many miles and states away.

The Spirit of Suwannee Music Park is well known for its musical events and festivals, both large and small. You can check out their musical lineup by going to their website https://www.musicliveshere.com/. They have many festivals and events, Jam Band Auditions, and jam sessions. One of the upcoming events I saw had Toby Keith and Billy Ray Cyrus listed. There are many more top names and bands listed on their website. And, on weekends in the Cafe and Music Park Stage there they have one or two performers entertaining smaller crowds.

One evening our SOWER group went for dinner and music on the Cafe’s front porch. This location is just one of its many stages.

As far as camping is concerned, according to their website they have 600 improved sites and 800 acres of primitive camping sites. They also have cabins available to rent and horse camping available. The campground is situated next to the Suwannee River made famous by Stephen Foster’s famous song “Old Folks at Home” commonly known as “Way Down Upon the Suwannee River”. Ironically, Stephen Foster never saw the Suwannee River. It just happened to work in the lyrics he was working on.

Besides being able to access boating, canoeing, and kayaking on the river from the park, there’s disc golf, miles of trails to explore, a pool to cool off in, a cafe, and a camp store. You can check out their website for more information and to purchase festival tickets or reserve a campsite.

Every year at Christmas time, they put up over a million lights for their Suwannee Lights event. Besides the enormous drive-through animated light show, they have entertainment, a campfire with marshmallows available to roast, hot chocolate, and many food and souvenir vendors. Tickets are sold for this event but it’s well worth the price of admission.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get many pictures to share on this blog. I plan to have many more from our next project at The Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove.

Until then,