I’m crossing over SR44 on the Chitty Chatty bridge thinking it’s a cute name and wondering how the The Villages thought of it. Heading south a little further along I cross the new iron bridge over Chitty Chatty Creek where I stop to and I’m surprised at the significant flow. I guess I’d thought the flow out from the Okahumpka Swamp wetland to the east would be very slow.
Chitty Chatty Creek Bridge from Morse Boulevard
From the bridge I can see the creek pass through a culvert under Morse Blvd
and I decide to go with the flow and walk across to Morse Boulevard where I see
a gauging station as it flows into the Continental Country Club. The gauging
station is significant as I subsequently found the USGS has records of Chitty
Chatty Creek back to the 1950’s. So now I have no clue where the name came from
but I do know the flow is currently about 5 million gallons a day.
Morse gauging station and Chitty Chatty bridge in Continental CC.
Entering the country club through the Morse gate a couple of hundred yards
to the south I follow the creek as it winds its way naturally and through canals
to where it feeds Lake Okahumpka.
Magnificent Cypress trees by the path and the exit into Lake
Okahumpka.
I have since been told that Chitty Chatty was an indian chief which I do not disbelieve but I have been unable to find any record of his existence.
A caveat: The Continental Country Club does not like Villagers trespassing on their property and can be quite unpleasant. On this occasion I was agreeably surprised to meet several of the residents and we had a nice chat about the history of the area and its waters.
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