[jon]

my wife and I are relocating to the Gainesville area. She will be working at Shands Hospital. We're trying to find some affordable housing and a good place to raise our children. We are looking at the Newberry area. We will probably rent for the first 6 months to a year. Are there rec leagues in the Newberry area? I'm going up to Newberry and othere surrounding areas around Gainesville on Monday. Any information will be helpful. We have two children ages 9 and 4., so we would like a family oriented area. Thanks, Jon

[Prichard]

We used to drive out to Newbery late at night down an old farm road (can't even tell you how to get there now) to get to "the caves". Yep, Florida does have caves, a/k/a the aquifer. We would climb down this tunnel about 15 feet and it would take you to a decent sized cavern "room" undergound. From there there were tunnels that ran for miles underground each of which opened up into larger caverns with more tunnels leading off of them. Some caverns had pools in them and you'd have to swim across a pool to get to another cavern; or sometimes underneath rock and pop up on the other side in a different cavern.

This was scary, exhilirating, dirty fun - especially if we took our dates down there. Very few people knew how to get out to the caves, and you'd have to go at night so that the farmer or cops wouldn't come around and chase you off. The main cavern was covered with graffiti. But, the other caverns were basically untouched. Not too many people would venture down the narrow tunnels (sometimes squirming on your belly to get through tight spaces) to check out the other rooms.

Last I've heard, they've boarded up the holes that take you down into the caves. The one thing I'd mention is that this area is likely plagued with sinkholes. Check out the soils before you buy anything in a rural area of Newbery.