Homosassa Springs

For the last two years, Ron has been restoring a 1971 13-foot Boston Whaler. Last week, he FINALLY got it finished and running properly. I have to admit, I had my doubts when Ron first brought the boat home but now it really looks beautiful. I’m proud of him.

Since Ron and I both had one vacation day left to use or lose, we decided to take the boat up to Homosassa Springs for the day. We love Homosassa Springs. Even though it is only an hour-and-a-half away, it still has that Old Florida feel and lots of wildlife – herons and ospreys, cormorants, pelicans, huge mullet, and manatees. OK, the real reason I wanted to go to Homosassa Springs was to swim with the manatees. Citrus County is the only place in the US where it is legal to swim with manatees, and it is truly an amazing and unique experience. Unfortunately, we were just a few weeks too late. With the warm stretch of weather we’ve been having, most of the manatees had already left their winter home at the springs. We did see a few but they were on their way from one place to another and not interested in hanging out with humans. :-)  So we just spent the day puttering around the river and enjoying the beautiful sunshine. As they say, a bad day spotting manatees is better than a good day at work. And a good day on a boat is the best kind of day.

manatee swimming up the river

nesting osprey