Florida Trip - Day 2: Manatees

We woke up this morning and after we got dressed, we went to the hotel restaurant where they had a breakfast buffet.  It was included for our tour group.  It was a pretty good spread, and we all enjoyed it.  After eating we then got ready to leave for the day.  

We loaded the motorcoach and headed to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. It was like 20ish minutes from out hotel.  This was a zoo-like place that has many different animals, but the manatees were the star of the park.  

The park goes in a big circle.  We decided to go the opposite direction then where most of our group went, we are such rebels.  It was nice because we got to see stuff with just our little group of four.  The tour guide (Kathy?) and bus driver (Alex) ended up joining us.  They knew who the cool kids were!  

We first saw the manatees in the water.  They look like huge potatoes in the water.  Which is what they are known for, potatoes of the seas.  They move very slowly.  They spend most of their time in the water and then slowly come up for a big gulp of air and then they go back down.  They are not super entertaining to watch.  They did have an area where you can go down underground and see them from some really dirty windows.  They still weren't that exciting to watch, but they did have a couple babies and that was exciting to see.  

After we got our fill of the manatees, we moved on to see some of the other animals.  We saw a fox, bear, hippo, leopard, birds, reptiles, etc.  We thought the hippo sign was super funny as a warning to not stand behind the hippos.  "Splatter Zone" - funny stuff.  

After we walked all around the park, we saw the gift shop.  I found a cool sea turtle for Tyler, so that was a success.  They even had a little cafe area where they had popped popcorn, so that was exciting.  We love our popcorn.  Then it was time to load back into the motorcoach to go to our next activity.  

Our next stop was at the Three Sisters Springs and Refuge.  We walked along a really cute path that went along the water where tons of manatees were swimming around.  The path did not go in a circle, so we checked out one side of the springs and then walked to the other side.  It was a really pretty area and there were tons of manatees to see.  This water was much clearer than the last place.  After our stroll around the area, we loaded back into the motorcoach where it took us to lunch.

We had lunch at Heritage Village area.  We decided to eat at BubbaQues.  They were pretty busy, and we had to wait for a while to get in and get a table, but it was okay.  The sun was shining, and my dad and I sat in the sun while Julie and my mom went and did some shopping.  

After eating we didn't have a lot of time, but just enough to check out a store or two.  We were able to buy a couple souvenirs and matching water/sun shirts that were only $5 each.  So that was super fun and us ladies can all be matching.  

After lunch they took us back to our hotel.  We had about an hour to rest and relax before our next activity which was a cruise on a boat around the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge.  It was a little chilly on the ride, but super pretty.  We saw some more manatees (woohoo, more potatoes), different birds, and some super cool houses on the water.  The captain and skipper pointed out John Travolta's house.  That was interesting.  They kept looking out for more manatees and we pretty much felt like we had seen enough manatees, so I was being silly and said that I would show the group what a manatee does, and it was super silly.  

After the boat ride we had some more time at the hotel to rest and relax before we got to get back on the same boat to go to dinner.  It a cold ride to the restaurant, but still fun.  We ate dinner at a waterside restaurant and the food was pretty good.  It was a busy night, but we all had fun and liked our food.  We got dessert to go, so that was exciting.  Since it was so cold, the bus driver went back to the hotel and got the bus to drive the cold people back to the hotel.  Julie and I decided to take the boat back and we were so glad that we did.  It wasn't that cold, and it was so pretty with all the lights bouncing off the water.  Only a handful of us from our group came (maybe 12 people) and it was just so nice.  It was the perfect way to end the night and we just loved it.