Hey guys, it’s Kayla Waller with Waller Adventures, and in this video I take y’all out to Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park to see what really happened here and why these ruins are still standing. First off—getting in is an adventure by itself. The entrance is literally a dirt road (the old “Old Beach Road”), and it looks a lot like it did back in the early 1800s. Once I got to the park, I used the QR code to pay (it was only $4), checked out the map, and started walking the area around the water where the historic boat slips are. From there, I dive into the history—indigo production vats, the slave cabin sites, and the spot where the main plantation house once stood before it was destroyed during the Second Seminole War in January 1836. I walk y’all through the sugar mill ruins and the whole process: steam power, boilers, kettles, the “Jamaican train,” curing rooms, and how sugar and molasses were loaded up and shipped out by flatboats to places like St. Augustine, Jacksonville, and even Savannah. What I took away from this trip is just how intense and complicated sugar production was in East Florida—and how much history is tucked back here in the woods. If you’re near Flagler Beach and want an easy day trip with trails, history, and that Florida “magic” feel, this is a really cool stop.