I am so glad that we have moved on from St Petersburg area. There is a reason they call it the "culture coast", there are so many people and so close together that you feel like your are living in a petri dish and are a growing culture(as in mold/spore). We are now in the "nature coast"! Homosassa / Crystal River area northern gulf coast. They have trees and some grass and the stop lights are spaced apart by miles, not blocks!! Not into the city thing.
We've been kayaking, biking, and walking around the area. Love to
see the manatee. In one area we saw 50 plus manatee swimming around an area as big as an olympic swimming pool. The water was crystal clear (maybe why someone named it Crystal River, just a guess). Their closest relative is the elephant. Vegatarian and their only predator is man, mostly man's propellers. Sea grass makes some wicked gas. Ever smell a manatee fart, I Have!
We had to venture south to Weeki Wachee Springs State Park to see the mermaid show. It's been around for almost 70 years. A natural spring they built a room for underwater viewing and put on shows daily. It was neat to see but wouldn't say I have to ever see it again. The grounds look like they haven't been updated since the 70's. Most areas closed or under repair. Maybe we just came at a bad time of year. They have a great looking water park that all
leads to the springs. 30 minute boat ride up the river. Clear water to see fish. Eagles next, blue heron nests, turtles, lots and lots of turles. The best part was there animal show. Up close and personal with a few varieties of snakes, turtles, some kind of lizard (super size) and this little 3 year old gator. Even got to pet him. Randy was in seventh heaven. He dreams of being a Gator Boy.
There is a TV series called Gator Boys. Guys from the Everglades Park that physically catch and wrestle with nuisanse alligators and take them back to the Park to live or relocate them. Not on my watch!!
So we plan to catch the local Flea Market, kayak, bike ride on the many bike trails, finish a few projects on the motorhome, and maybe some laundry. We went to a SouthEastern RV rally last week. Accidentally ran across it and decided to go to a few seminars and entertainment they offered. Got a few great ideas to "pimp our ride" a bit more. They make this tubing exhaust for our generator that connects to the exhaust pipe and allows the exhaust to go up and over the roof of the motorhome. $139 at Camping World. Saw a few homemade versions at the RV rally, spoke with a few owners, shot pictures, took measurements, stopped at Lowe's AND time/energy from Randy......we have a generator exhaust for $35. !!
Kayaking let us get up close and check out the monkey family. They were as curious about us as we were them. We found a really neat place called The Freezer for lunch. 1 1/4 shrimp for $10.00 awesomely delicious. But the neat thing was that the restaurant is in an actual walk in freezer, originally used by the fish market on the same property. They have knocked out the wall facing the river so the view is great. You can tell there were alot of "regulars" in there. If I lived here, I would become a regular too.
