Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park

We couldn't have had a better day yesterday, and I came away with the manatee shots I've been hoping for. Thank you so much, Karin and Dick, for taking us to this delightful place. There was so much to see and do here. If you get a chance to visit Florida, make Homosassa Springs a can't-miss destination on your itinerary because this place was definitely worth a stop.

Before heading to the park, we stopped off on a small bridge in a residential neighborhood. There were a few manatees there, but mainly, it gave us an opportunity to get a shot of this mailbox. We've seen these in a couple of places. Floridians...at least some of them...love their manatees.

Karin promised us a good view of the manatees, and she made good on her promise at the next stop.

We had our choice of a tram ride, walking, or a pontoon boat out to where the real action was. We chose the pontoon boat. It came with the price of admission to the park.

There, we saw the anhinga. I'd never heard of the anhinga before y'all clued me in on this trip. Ever since, I've been wanting to get a better shot of one. They are the most fascinating birds. If you don't already know about the anhinga, I encourage you to click right here. If you learn nothing new for the rest of the week, it will have been worth it.

They like to swim underwater with just their heads above the water line. They use their sharp beaks to stab fish. It's easy to see why the anhinga is also known as the "snake bird." Indeed, the first one we saw was at Magnolia Springs, and it had speared a fish. That was the day my camera ran out of batteries and so I couldn't get a shot of it with my iPhone. Even then, we wondered what we were seeing because it was so unusual.

Also on the boat ride, we saw this Little Blue Heron. They are about half the size of their cousins, the Great Blue Heron.

Homosassa Springs is a large wildlife park. We hightailed it to the manatee feeding. There is a manatee rehabilitation program here, and four resident manatees that, for various reasons, cannot be released back to the wild. On our way, we crossed over a bridge and we could see a virtual herd off in the distance. We'd come back to that, but we wanted to catch the program and the feeding.

After the program, we came back and the manatees, as if on cue, came right up to the bridge where we could see them easily in the crystal clear water.

These are wild manatees, and so we were dependent on their generosity for these images.

This little one rolled on its side to give us a better view of its belly and flippers.

I took dozens of pictures here, and it was exciting to finally get a really good look. I'm going to put one of these images in my Sketchbook, but I haven't decided which one yet. My one word for these lovable creatures: "Captivating."

As we stood there, Karin noticed an osprey off in the distance.

Also, we saw the resident hippo, Lu. Here is some information about how Lu ended up in a Florida State Park.

This is Lu. He seemed a little under the weather as we stood there, and we're informed a veterinarian will take a look at him next week. He's getting ready to celebrate his 58th birthday this month. A sign associated with the exhibit informed us that hippos generally live to about age 60. Who knows what ails Lu, but it's good to know they're taking good care of him.

We watched his feeding as well and the ranger informed us to be on the look out for a circling tail because, um....yeah...not a pretty picture, I'm sure.

Across from Lu was an alligator exhibit. These guys look so utterly menacing.

My, what big teeth you have!

Of course, I needed this picture of the bobcat. This one is a little different from the bobcat that inhabits the Three Cats Ranch back home. His ears are pointy, while our bobcat has rounded ears. I believe this guy is also known as a lynx.

We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the birds. I think this guy is a pelican, but it might be a wood stork. Honestly, it's all a blur.

Here's another image of the green heron like the one we saw in the Okefenokee Swamp.

This is the Great Blue Heron...or maybe he's the wood stork...I don't know. The sun was shining through his beak.

These guys are red-shouldered hawks like the one we saw on our hike at Little Manatee River State Park.

This is a brown pelican. You might recall the heart-breaking images of brown pelicans covered in oil after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Here's how they look when they're not covered in oil. Such beautiful birds.

This is a whooping crane.

The flamingos were more orange than the ones we'd seen in the wild in Bonaire. Their color has everything to do with what they're fed. The ones in Bonaire live exclusively on shrimp they find in the salt water there. As for these, I'm not sure what accounts for their color, but maybe it's just a different kind of shrimp.

These appear to be laughing at something hilarious one of them has said.

Here's a golden eagle.

This is a barred owl. I was shooting through a fence for some of these.

Here, I got a little closer to his face.

This is a crested caracara.

These are white pelicans.

Everyone's a comedian. They must have been listening in at the flamingo exhibit.

By this time, our eyes were full and we were heading back to catch the next tram/pontoon boat. Along the way, we spied this turtle sunning himself on a rock.

We took the tram back to the main entrance and paid a visit to the gift shop. There, I picked up the requisite shot glass and refrigerator magnet. Also, I picked up a manatee sweatshirt. During a visit to a national park back in South Dakota many years ago, I neglected to pick up some prairie dog socks in the gift shop. As we drove away from the park, I regretted not getting the socks, and I was never able to find them again. Mike even did a search online one Christmas and couldn't find them there either. Ever since, there's been a gaping hole in my life that only prairie dog socks could fill. I vowed not to let that happen yet again with the manatee sweatshirt. One can only survive so many gaping holes in one's life, and I'm taking no chances. There's too much sight-seeing on the horizon, and who knows? I might find another sweatshirt...or some prairie dog socks.

We headed back to Dick and Karin's house and spent the remainder of the afternoon resting for a bit. We decided to head out for some seafood for dinner. The food was great, and I had my first taste of fried okra. It was quite good. Okra isn't something we find in grocery stores (or even farmer's markets) on the west coast, and so it seemed like a good time to be adventurous. As we were paying the bill at the end of the evening, I noticed this calendar picture hanging next to the cash register.

If you're feeling adventurous, here's the recipe for this dish.

Oh, and if alligator isn't available at your local grocery store, I imagine you can substitute chicken. I'm guessing alligator tastes like chicken anyway.

With all the talk of shot glasses and tequila, we decided to try out our newest shot glasses when we got back to the house. Is there a better way to end an evening than with a shot of tequila?

And here is a picture of our wonderful hosts at this stop, Karin and Dick. They have been so much fun, and it has been a pleasure getting to know them in person. We're only hoping they'll pay us a visit in Oregon in the future. Thank you, Karin and Dick.

This morning we'll be heading off to our next stop. Karin has implored me to make a stop at a quilt shop along the way, and how can I resist? Obviously, I cannot. And so that'll be our first stop of the day. After that, we're headed off to Stephan Foster Cultural Center State Park. You might recognize Stephan Foster as the composer of some southern folk songs, including Old Folks at Home. If you're unfamiliar with the song, you can see it performed in this YouTube video. If you can't see the video, then click right here.

So with that in mind, it's time to get moving.