Whew! What a weekend and what a start to the week! I made the drive from Orlando to Homosassa, where my friend Michael lives, and so began the Natural Florida Adventure! And by natural, I mean I ended up driving through the backwoods of Florida! I've always thought of Florida as the North of the South. They say y'all on occasion, but it's always been my experience that they are definitely not the stereotypical "Southern", despite their geographic placement. But ph my goodness! If there had been more hills and less Spanish moss, I would have thought I was back in Tennessee! People seemed friendly, drove trucks, smiled, carried huntin' rifles, and some had front porches. And I had a baffling realization: I am NOT comfortable driving or passing on two-lane roads! I think I've just gotten so used to public transportation and 4-12-lane roads that I was just a little bit claustrophobic driving on a two-laner!
But I digress... First stop: Suban Sandwich Spontaneous Food Adventure (SFA)! Michael and I got his snorkeling gear all together and hit the road! He took me to a cute local place that was a cafe and museum--a printing museum! He said they have excellent Cuban sandwiches, and I must say I agree! There was also a delicious Spanish bean soup. See the pictures. :)
So we ate and looked around the museum part. Of course I took lots of pictures because it was all about printing--old printing presses, die-cut machines, typewriters, etc. It was so cool! Again, see pictures. :)
Next stop--the old sugar mill! Just across the street from the restaurant was a stone sugar mill left over from before the Civil War. It's an historical site with markers and stuff. Michael laughed and made fun of me for being so facinated and for taking pictures of the historical content on the signs. And so I took more pictures! Mwahahaha.
And then the real adventure began... Snorkeling! There's this place called Three Sisters Springs, and it's a natural spring that's 72 degrees all year-round. It's where a lot of manatees go in the winter time. We suited up (yes, mine was about two sizes too big--better too big than too small!) and jumped in! The water was so clear, we could see all the way down to the bottom. The water made the bottom look a lot closer than it really was. Despite a bit of a struggle with goggle seepage, it was so cool! I saw little fish swimming around under there, and there were a lot of MASSIVE tree roots under the water along the edge of the spring. I think the tree roots were what fascinated me the most. They just looked cool under water. =)
So we swam around and explored that for a couple of hours, then went home to clean up and grill out! While we were waiting for the chicken and veggies to cook, Michael introduced me to something unique and delicious... boiled peanuts! Sounds nasty, looks gross, but they are oh so good! I like soft things. Regular peanuts are too hard. hehe.
After a most delicious supper, we watched Blindside and ate ice cream. It doesn't take much to make me happy... especially after such a crazy few months! It was so nice to sit and talk with a friend and absolutely not have to think about work and moving and vacation and all that wonderful but stressful stuff of life!
The next morning we headed to church! I liked Michael's church a lot. The lesson in class that morning focused on fundamentals about how to decide what to believe (it was a little more in-depth than that, but that's the jist of it), and it was exactly what I've been wanting to hear and study lately. He left us with some verses that I intend to study on the flight home to DC tomorrow. :)
After church we ate at a cute restaurant right on the water! The inside looked like an old wooden boat, and the seafood was fantastic! We got stone crab for an appetizer and I got broiled tarot and scallops for my meal--I was in seafood heaven! (All this was fully cooked--I know I need to clarify that!) Their hushpuppies were good, too! Gotta love it.
And then for the main event--manatees! Michael works at a manatee refuge and saves them for a living. How cool is that? So we went to Homosassa State Park and got to watch the manatee show--which consisted of them eating and rolling around at their leisure while a lady talked about them. Oh, to be a manatee! They're so precious--and these were BIG! My friend Val, who has her degree in Marine Biology, also loves the manatee. She told me to just watch them because they're "majestic". And she's RIGHT! It was calming just to watch them. :)
So after getting lots of pictures of them, we walked around the rest of the park, which is basically a zoo for native Floridian wildlife. Can anyone guess what my favorite thing was...? The FLAMINGOES! Haha. I wish I could be pink and eat shrimp all day, don't you? And twist my neck all the way around and scratch my tail with my nose--great life, huh? teehee. ;)
Among other things, there were gators, snakes, turtles, tortoises, an eagle, a hippo (not native, just an honorary resident of the state of Florida), and lots of other cool things, too. Did you know Florida has red honeysuckles? Again, it doesn't take much to fascinate me!
And that was that. We rode back to Michael's place in his convertible--I LOVE the convertible, especially in the Florida sunshine! I finished packing up my stuff and we watched part of an America documentary on the History Channel (ok, we're both nerds), and that was that! Fun filled, exciting, relaxing, educational, filled with new experiences (and new foods!)... yes, it was a good weekend!
Next time, my goals are to watch the mermaid show, swim with manatees in the wild, and eat more boiled peanuts. =) Oh, and have sushi.
And then came the drive back to Cocoa Beach for the rest of my work responsibilities. But that's another adventure for another blog post!
In the meantime, here are the pictures!
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/577693438AoOExR
No comments:
Post a Comment