Kayaks, monkeys, and sand

Well we're leaving the wonderful area of Nature's Coast.  Homosassa and Crystal River are wonderful places to stay.  Went for a 5 mile kayak the other day to check out Monkey Island and the Manatee's, one last time.  Monkey Island sits in the middle of the Homosassa river and is inhabited year-round by a small family of monkeys. The island is owned by The Homosassa Riverside Resort. They care for the monkeys and feed them regularly. 
 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.

Between Homosassa and Crystal River is the Fort Island Beach.  We rode our bikes on the 9 mile road from town to the beach, well actually we parked in the State Park parking area and rode the 4.5miles to the beach and then back, so technically it was still 9 miles.  Beautifully kept beach park, long, long, long pier you can fish from or just watch the dolphin playing.  We must have seen 20 dolphin in a group playing together.  Slapping tails, jumping, twisting, and just having fun.  It was a really neat thing to watch.  Next we head north, a little bit, to Mexico Beach in the Florida panhandle then onto Pensicola area, and then New Orleans.  Then it's due North to make it back to Wisconsin by Easter.  A few stops on the way.