Homosassa Springs State Park, Florida – 1/10/2015 – http://fulltimetimeshare.com/blog

JANUARY 10, 2015 (Saturday)

Woke up and it was beautiful outside! Still a little cool but gorgeous. We decided to take a little trip to Homosassa Springs State Park, in Homosassa Springs, about a 90 mile drive. We left our home around 11:00 AM (after eating breakfast and reading on our computers for awhile). The drive was on back roads (we had programmed our GPS to avoid toll roads) and quite lovely. Got to see some actual rolling type hills in Florida. Good to see. So many lakes and water all the way there.

Interesting countryside cutting across central Florida. Hit hill country several times.

It's Florida, lots of moss covered trees and interesting homes. — It’s Florida, lots of moss covered trees and interesting homes.

We knew we were close and we were hungry.

When we got to Homosassa Springs (we were told the word Homosassa means the place where wild peppers grow), we decided to eat lunch before we went into the park. We stopped at a local Subway and Michael and I each had the turkey sandwich $6.00 deal (which included the chips and drink). I also got us a cookie (love their soft cookies there).

I'd been wanting to try their new sandwich, didn't work out though. — I’d been wanting to try their new sandwich, didn’t work out though.

It was good and did the job, filled us up.

After we had eaten, we just drove a little ways to the park and walked into the center. There is food, things to buy, and a nice area that is very informational about manatees and the park in general. We bought our tickets ($13.00 each, no senior discount) and took the boat ride to the park (a nice leisurely ride). We didn’t see any manatees or any alligators, just a lot of birds.

Looked much more like a commercial establishment than a state park, learned later that it was a commercial establishment that was donated to the state of Florida. — Looked much more like a commercial establishment than a state park. Learned later that it was a commercial establishment that was donated to the state of Florida.

We saw a group leaving, we knew we'd be on a boat. We are suckers for boats. — We saw a group leaving; we knew we’d be on a boat. We are suckers for boats.

Edie took a couple's picture and they returned the favor. — Edie took a couple’s picture and they returned the favor.

Pretty woman told me this is her new favorite animal.

We got into the park and just started walking. There’s marked boardwalks and walkways all around. We got to see the underground observation area with tons of fish, and further on we saw a golden eagle, some bald eagles, lots of birds, a bear, fox, owls, Florida panther, “Bob” the bobcat, Lu the hippo (in her 50’s), lots of beautiful flamingos, a wild manatee and four manatees in captivity. Such a beautiful place and so lovely just wondering around the grounds seeing all they had. We both really enjoyed it.

Tree on left is a palm tree and used to be harvested for heart of palm salads.

A wood duck nest box. Metal cone is to stop predators. Out of 12, only about 2 make it to adult hood. — A wood duck nest box. Metal cone is to stop predators. Out of 12, only about 2 make it to adulthood.

Osprey nest in the Pine tree. Believed to be about 30 years old and estimated to weigh a couple hundred pounds. — Osprey nest in the pine tree. Believed to be about 30 years old and estimated to weigh a couple hundred pounds.

Pretty woman following me into the park.

Beautiful artful sculptures and fountain.

6 million gallons an hour well up from the ground, heated by the depths of the earth, and flow to create the Homosassa River.

The water is fantastically clear, you can easily see the fish.

From the bridge, there are hundreds of fish.

The only wild manatee we saw,center of photo, just disappearing in the reflection of the sun.

Little fish tend to clear a path for big fish.

They have four captive manatee's, this is their pen, and the warmest part of the spring. — They have four captive manatee’s, this is their pen, and the warmest part of the spring.

The four are fed romaine lettuce in this small pool.

Average weight of a wild manatee is 1200 - 1500 lbs. The one in captivity longest is 3600 lbs, on just lettuce! — Average weight of a wild manatee is 1200 – 1500 lbs. The one in captivity longest is 3600 lbs, on just lettuce!

This is a deer pen, with volunteer birds.

56 year old, 6,000 lbs Hippo. An honorary citizen of Florida so he could stay when the state took over the park. — 56 year old, 6,000 lbs Hippo. An honorary citizen of Florida so she could stay when the state took over the park.

Edie finally got to see her pink flamingos.

No nets overhead. Lots of these are here for the free food.

Florida panther, at home we'd call it a mountain lion. — Florida panther, at home we’d call it a mountain lion.

Very hard to see, bobcat, along the fence line towards the back laying down.

Pelican in the tree I saw, then Edie pointed out the second one just down and to the right of the obvious one.

We watched him fishing. He was quick and the fish ran like they wanted to live.

While we were at the park it was feeding time for the manatees. They feed the four in captivity four times a day. They eat romaine lettuce (I don’t understand why not iceberg but…, hey they like what they like) and it takes them about ten minutes to eat up an entire head. We were also told that a manatee in the wild will normally not weigh more than 1500 pounds. One of the manatees in captivity here weighs over 3000 pounds. They were not the prettiest creatures but they are such gentle creatures. They only eat vegetation, have no known predators, and are sweet natured and curious. We were told at night they open the gates for the visiting manatees and sometimes there are fifty or so that stay safe and keep warm in the enclosed area. The employees are quite proud of the fact that they haven’t lost a manatee due to the cold. They open up the gates again in the morning and let the wild ones out. They have to keep the ones in captivity because they would not be able to survive in the wild.

While we were walking around, and talking to different folks, we were told you can actually swim with the manatees in Crystal River. The boats had stopped running at 3:30 PM (it was now almost 4:00 PM), so we took the tram back to where we had parked.

After we left the park we headed to Crystal River and stopped at the dive shop near the Kentucky Fried Chicken. We were told they did the swim with the manatees in the morning when they were the most active. Michael and I are thinking about doing that. It would just be so cool.

Handles at a dive shop in Clearwater where they specialize in swimming with the manatees. — Handles at a dive shop in Crystal River where they specialize in swimming with the manatees.

We left and Michael drove us home. This time we decided to take the toll road route and it seemed a little faster. As usual we got into just a little bit of traffic once we got into the Orlando area. We stopped at our local Publix and got a few things. Michael had a big salad for dinner, and I had some spinach dip (don’t judge me it was good).

That was our day. Hope yours was great!