Lovely Florida

Weeki Wachee or Wacky Weirdness?

I believe if you look up the word Citchy, Weeki Wachee is some where in the definition. What is now a state park was once a big time attraction some 60 years ago. They tout themselves as an enchanted spring, city of live mermaids – the only one in the world (lets hope so). OK, that is a little harsh and the Mermaids are lovely, graceful and have incredible lungs (no that's not what I mean, they can hold there breath a long time) and if you are under the age of 8, the little mermaid show is fantastic. They perform in 16 to 20 week of bubbling water with a current strong enough to knock a divers mask off.

It's a little disturbing to think that they took this beautiful natural spring that produces 117 million gallons of clear 72-degree water each day and turned it into a side-show. But that said, it is also neat to see this days-gone-by park still in existence today. Sadly the grounds are in need of a lot of attention and as a state park, I'm sure funds are an issue, if not that, the inexperienced staff in restoration of this type is. They had an additional wild animal show. Well, actually, they had two snakes, a frog and a baby gator. The river ride was shut down because the boat was broken, the nature trail was closed for repair and the water park is closed for the winter. But no discount today folks. Still, I think I've found my next career.

One last note, the Peacocks are loose so if you eat your lunch here, make sure you bring a table cloth.

Tarpon Springs

Early settlers to the area spotted tarpon jumping out of the waters and so named the location Tarpon Springs. The first Greek immigrants arrived to this city during the 1880s, when they were hired to work as divers in the sponge harvesting industry. A red algae bloom wiped out the sponge fields in the late 40's changing the local industry to fishing and shrimp for a livelihood. Efforts have been made to restart the sponge harvest but tourism has proven to be the saving grace. I found a nice sponge to buy and the area was a great place to spend an afternoon walking the sponge docks.

In our exploration of the coast, we managed to stumble on a small park actually out in the gulf called Green Key. As warned, this is not an area for good beaches but we were excited to find a small flock of Royal Terns and 4-6 Black Skimmers. I've been looking for the Skimmers, they with their long bills, the bottom longer than the top which are dipped below the waters surface as they fly along the coastal waters. The beak has a neon orange bar that makes them easy to spot. Gary liked the Terns because of their punk hair dew.

Christmas in Port Richey

The little town of Port Richey and Ja-Mar Travel Park, just north of Clearwater is home for the next week. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas meal with the residents, 40% of which are Canadian. The 150 attendees were asked to bring a dish (I brought scalloped potatoes) the park provided Ham and needless to say, we had a huge feast! I hear there is a BINGO night on New Years Eve, if there are openings we will attend.

The park flanks Werner-Boyce Salt Springs, a park in the works that has big plans to be the future canoe and kayak haven along the nature coast. It's not an area known for beaches but an excellent place to see many birds and wildlife that call this marshy coast home. I've added several species to my life checklist including Snowy Plover, Wood Ibis, Reddish Egret and Anhinga (in the Cormorant family). No Flamingos yet but these rare birds are usually escapees if they are seen in the wild and only seen in the far southern tips of Florida. It's hard to capture these birds digitally with the small Kodak camera so sorry, no bird pics.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Back on the water

We will spend a few days in the little town of Cedar Key. This historic town is a step back in time when the town was a key transportation hub connecting the Gulf Coast with Atlantic Coast via the first cross-Florida railroad. However the bustling fishing and lumber port declined as the natural resources were depleted followed by a hurricane around the turn of the century. The little town re-invented itself with the production of clams and the harvest of oysters, shrimp and crabs, and without out question, tourism.Sadly it is having a difficult time as most of the area on the Gulf Coast even though the oil came no where near here.

Who has been drinking the water?

You never know, so clean the facet just in case!

Hiking the springs area

As we hiked and biked the trails in Manatee Springs we walked within a few feet of a Red Shoulder Hawk squaring off with a squirrel in a tree. Down toward the springs we saw another hawk hunting squirrel and even found a dead Red Shoulder in an empty campsite. This is a hot place for these hawks.

Way down upon the Suwannee River, you find us at Manatee Springs

Unfortunately there are very few Manatees in Manatee because of the low water levels, but the park itself is a water color painting in the making. The spring boils up at 72 degrees spilling 50 to 150 million gallons of fresh water per day. The Manatees (usually) come up the short creek from the Suwannee River in the colder weather to hang out in the warm boil and feed on the grasses along the shore. The boil (where the water comes out of the spring) is 25 feet deep but at low tide these days, the creek is only 1 foot deep, to shallow for the large female Manatees to swim in and out. The Suwannee river and Manatee spring move up and down with the gulf tide just a few miles or more down stream. We check the boil at high tide to see if they have moved in but so far, no luck. Along with the Manatee, there are large flocks of Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures, hanging out to enjoy the warmth from the spring.

The ranger told us when we signed in that there were a few Manatee in the spring the day before we came in. Gary thinks this is what they say to keep the tourists coming. But on our last day in the park on a walk to the river, I spotted two Manatees just outside the entrance to the spring.

This area is filled with sink holes that are connected to the springs via underground chambers. The last two days we have seen divers in the Catfish sink near the campground, named for the many Catfish swimming in the water that tease the divers. Deep underground in the caves the Catfish are white. It seems odd to see divers getting into a pool that is just 20 feet wide but they are able to dive very deep into the underground caves that connect several sinks in the area. The apparatus that divers use today to propel themselves forward in the water quickly, were first perfected in this area of Florida to explore the sinks and connecting caves.

Mexico Beach Shells

We're inching our way along the gulf coast moving ever so slow down into Florida. We walked the beaches at St. Andrews State Park yesterday before leaving for Mexico beach (no we are still in FA) and had the great pleasure to watch a pod of Dolphins just off shore.Blue loved our site in the park because there was lots of privacy and direct access to the bay. The campground was full of white tail deer that seem to be almost tame so he have several great shots. They also have nice hiking trails and an old Turpentine still to explore.

The weather the last two days has been very nice but the cold Canadian air that is hitting Minnesota today will drop down to the south tomorrow bring below 30 degree temps at night. So we'll enjoy today with a long walk along a great beach we found for shelling. The beach sits by the Naval base on Crooked Island. We were a little worried driving in with the many signs warning about military patrols with dogs but once we found the parking area we new it was OK to be on this beach. Gary is a great finder of shells with many intact large varieties. I lucked out with several tiny sand dollars that are still in one piece. I've never seen so many small dollars. I've also started collecting black shells to remember the oil spill that has reeked such havoc on the local economy during an already difficult time.