The Senator

 26 Photos   Oct 10, 2009 

I’ve wanted to see it for a long time, but haven’t ever gotten around to it.  Always in a hurry I suppose.  Until today that is.  On the way back from the Sanford Bike Festival (photos coming!), we decided to stop in and take a look.  Having the Ural seems to make us pull off the road at all kinds of places we might not normally stop.  It really is the perfect drive by vehicle!  I’m glad we finally saw it.  The park is nestled between U.S. 17-92 and State Road 427 just north of Longwood, FL.  The focus of the park is, as the name says, a really big tree. A 3500 year old, 17 1/2 foot across, 118 foot tall Cypress tree named “The Senator”. Oddly enough, there are two signs near by, both stamped “Seminole County Historic Marker” with a very official looking logo. They each describe slightly different aspects of the story of  The Senator. One calls the Senator “one of the oldest and largest cypress trees in America” while the other simply says “Largest Cypress in USA”. Either way, it’s definitely one big-ass tree.