Crystal River

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This is, very old Florida; and it is very new to us. The campsite at Crystal Isles has some water sites with docks and an "on site" home made ice cream stand, a great destination for our after dinner walk. Homasassa State Park is so amazing it has its own blog entry. We had always tried to picture "swimming with the manatees" and now have the visual locked in our heads. This would be fun to do with kids. The remote little villages on the Gulf of Mexico west of Route 19 are fun to discover. This is hurricane country. We are told that very few people live along the secondary roads that head westward from Route 19 toward the Gulf Coast. The wildness is appealing. We drove around in the jeep and visited the little towns of Crystal River, Homosassa and Ozella, where friends from home took us to Peck's for lunch. The fresh seafood was out of this world. Claudia had steamed crabs with garlic; I had a soft shell crab sandwich, and the two guys had grouper encrusted with almonds and a yummy sauce. We would never have found Peck's or Ozella without local guidance. We were invited to a lovely residential neighborhood in Hernando and appreciate the inland lifestyle (safer from the weather and possibly not as costly as properties closer to rivers, canals and the Gulf. We tried to find Yankeetown and explored a very interesting and very diverse fishing community and a funky little town called Crackerville. We'll save the real Yankeetown for our next visit along with Cypress Key. We were advised to pay Rainbow Springs State Park a visit on our way to Ocala. We were so lucky it was right on the way and just wonderful. It is Azalia Season at Rainbow Springs. We will post a separate blog of mostly photos.

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Photos

Heron - Just Like Home
Do you suppose this handsome guy is a snow bird and lives near our dock on Ballston Lake all summer?

The Kite That Got Away
It was a bit sad for the little boy whose kite broke free - but it did look like a very happy kite as it disappeared across the Gulf of Mexico.

Bait Box
Shrimp Landing was closed for the night; but this box of bait was waiting for the crabbers in the morning.

Our Neighbors at Crystal Isles
Small world. We have mutual friends with Giles back home in Schenectady. They invited us over for a glass of wine.

Crackers, Crystal River
Nice river view, pub food and full dinners on the menu.

Swimming with the Manatees
Next time we come here we will have kayacks with us so we can paddle around where these gentle and fascinating "sea cows" play!

Breezy at Yankeetown Point
We went in search of Yankeetown. A year ago, someone sold us a bill of goods that there was a "river walk" with shops and restaurants. Well, if this is true, we have to go back and find them. What we found was desolate, wild and very primative.

Falls, Azalea, Rainbow Springs State Park
We are so impressed with Florida's State Parks. The admission for this beauty was $1. The azaleas, redbuds, dogwood, plum, camillia Japonica and other flowering shrubs were at their peak.