Unfortunately Florida decided to have a cold snap right about then. So we spent a little time working on the boat. We rented a car for a weekend and toured around some neighboring towns. We had dinner with Mike and Stacy a couple of times. We spent a day with a real estate agent. Yep, we really like it here.
One afternoon Mike took us for a drive through nearby Yankeetown to check out the area and we stopped at Three Sisters Springs where we swam with the manatees. The property is restricted to drive in, but Mike and Stacy have access to it.
As you can probably tell it is just a magical place. It doesnt take too much imagination to understand how lonely sailors might have thought manatees were mermaids (one of the theories out there). As usual Stacy was working with the manatees on a project and didn't join us.
Some of the endangered whooping cranes were relocated near here and one morning Mike and Stacy took us to watch them being led to their new home.
There is a beautiful Birding Trail near the marina and we have spent some time walking around it.
We have spent quite a bit of time taking dinghy rides around the river. The dinghy and the scooter have definitely been earning their keep.
This is more of the Birding Trail.
We don’t have internet access at the marina so we have taken the scooter to the library for a few hours for the past several days to catch up on email, the blog, bills etc.
Still more of the Birding Trail. I liked it there.
Another afternoon we took the dinghy out to Shell Island, which is where the Crystal River meets the Gulf.
The island is almost entirely made of oyster shells. That isn't sand you are looking at.
We just walked around for a while and enjoyed the sound of the surf.
We are now seriously thinking about relocating here at the end of the trip. The area has a lot to offer in areas that we are interested in. The water is beautiful. You can get stone crab (Dave's favorite) and all kinds of seafood here for a really reasonable price as it is a big fishing area. There are a lot of horse farms around here. I used to do quite a bit of riding and would like to get back to it some day. We’ve even already made friends. This place just seems to speak to both of us. And we never would have found it if we hadn’t run aground!
So, when our two weeks were up we decided that we should stay and check out Crystal River more thoroughly. Plus, the weather is finally warming up!
My parents drove up from Ft Lauderdale to visit us for a few days. Most of the visit was spent driving around the area to give them a feel for it and checking out some local restaurants.
Mike and Stacy took us for a thoroughly enjoyable Eco Tour of Crystal River that took up the better part of an afternoon.
We went by the Ale House (restaurant at the hotel we stayed at when we first arrived).
A quick side story: Nancy, the Restaurant Manager and bartender goes by "Mom" (she's only in her 50's, it's more about her nature). While staying at the hotel I had made up a drink with pineapple vodka, club soda and a lime. When we took Mike and Stacy there for dinner after swimming with the manatees I ordered that drink at our table and Nancy (who was out of my line of sight) shouted "Is Karen here? It's Mom!"
For those those don't know, my mother has an uncanny mom-radar. I never got away with anything as a kid. My immediate response was "How can she POSSIBLY know I'm here?!! We also went there for dinner with my parents so Mom met "Mom".
After the boat tour we all stopped at a local restaurant for refreshments.
One afternoon we took a walk around a nearby neighborhood. It is posted as 'private' so we had avoided the area, but the guy who runs the bait aspect of the marina said he lives there and if anyone gives us a hard time to say "Ed said we could walk here". That is how we met Judy and Stu. Judy was out with her dog and struck up a conversation with us and next thing you know she called and invited us over for dinner.
I think Stu thought she was crazy for doing it (he wasn't there when we met). After a wonderful evening with them we heard Judy saying to Stu as we were leaving "See, I AM a good judge of character!" They are more wonderful new friends.
We beleive we are leaving Crystal River tomorrow morning, but our visit wouldn't be properly documented if I didn't mention Tom. He works at the marina bait shop and has been absolutely wonderful to us. He has lent us his car many times so we could provision, lent us DVDs and been an all around terrific guy. We can't thank him enough for his hospitality.
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