NOTABLE IN Wakulla County, Florida, home of St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, are its festivals. Maybe festivals in the winter are northern Florida’s answer to Vermont’s ski slopes, or something – a relief from cabin fever, a chance to get out and see folks. Whatever, the festivals are many, interesting and varied, and often celebrate the coastal life.

Another Roadside Attraction - Pedro Stands Tall At South Of The Border Photo by Christine Barnes, The Northfield News There’s the Stone Crab Festival and the Mullet Festival, for example. Both feature samples of these seafood favorites, as well as music and assorted vendors. St. Mark’s Butterfly Festival brings throngs of visitors to see the migrating Monarchs as they head to Central Mexico across the Gulf. These celebrations are held in the fall.

Art Goes Wild is another kind of festival. It is a winter fundraiser for the Florida Wild Mammal Association, the small rehabilitation program that took care of Morgan, the pelican, until her release in early April. Art Goes Wild features 20 local artists from the Tallahassee area, and is held in the Antique Car Museum, a main attraction itself. Most art is donated for the event. Browsing through the large convention room, looking at wonderful photographs and paintings, pottery and weaving, nibbling on delicious finger foods and sipping a glass of wine, all help the guests be receptive to the cause.

One particular festival lasts an entire week. Wakulla County is noted for its numerous pristine underground springs, which occasionally bubble to the surface. In some instances, the springs more than just show up: Wakulla Springs is a tourist attraction and a favorite swimming place for hearty locals. It is not very large, but spectacularly clear, notably cold for swimming, and populated by a splendid array of wildlife. Manatees, alligators, turtles, fish and an impressive variety of birds share the fresh, clean water. Beneath the surface, caverns and trails form an underwater network, still not fully explored.

Giant bird puppets charm guests at the Wild About Wakulla Festival. Photo by Christine Barnes, The Northfield News The week-long festival, Wild About Wakulla, celebrates the springs and the warmer weather at the end of March. Wakulla Springs has its own day in the festival week. Vendors’ themes tend to focus on the wild aspects of the area, such as native plants, local wildlife such as snakes and alligators, preservation and conservation and how we can all contribute to keeping the county green. Giant bird puppets, reminiscent of Glover’s Bread and Puppet Theater, join the contra dancers. Local artists sell their work inside the grand old hotel.

Then there’s the goofy stuff. In early April, the renowned Worm Gruntin’ Festival is held in Sopchoppy. This festival celebrates worms – and the generations of locals who have charmed them out of the Earth by rubbing an iron on a wooden stob. News anchor Katie Couric reported on this unique event last year, as did Charles Kuralt a decade before her. The Worm Gruntin’ Festival has vendors with bar-be-cue, deep fired everything, and fresh lemonade. Others sell jewelry, art, and soap (good idea) as the grunters grind away in a roped off area near the old railroad station. Worms thread their way to the surface where youngsters pounce and collect them. Local musicians add an irresistible beat to the cacophony.

Now the really goofy stuff: leaving our volunteer work behind at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, we turn our sights toward the beauty of Vermont. Too soon the traffic and the pace beyond the refuge engulf us. Partly out of misguided curiosity, we decide to break up the trip by stopping at South of the Border. One hundred and sixty-three miles before you arrive, billboards along the highway blast away, hyping up the biggest tourist trap in the East. Amazingly, South of the Border has been in business since 1949. It is aptly named – it is in South Carolina, just south of the North Carolina border. Among other things, it has rides, over-sized zebras, clusters of enormous polkadot mushrooms, and Pedro, a gigantic Mexican stereotype, complete with sombrero, looms taller than all the buildings. Multiple buildings sell all kinds of things that, in a day or two, you might wish you hadn’t bought. “A fool and his money are soon parted” comes to mind. We paid for ice cream and fled.

That, however, is what makes the world go ‘round. A lid for every pot. Something for everyone. Soon on the Northfield Commons it will be time for the Farmers’ Market. This marks the end of this foreign correspondent’s winter journey. From now on, it’s Home Again.