We have had a rather relaxing and enjoyable day here inside Payne's Prairie Preserve State Park. It's really wonderful to camp nestled in the trees, seeing a large variety of songbirds, turkeys, deer, frogs and lizards visiting you. We are in site 10...and it's gorgeous here. The view can't be beat, and yes, we had a deer saunter into our area. Our cat was in heaven seeing that. It's a rainy, stormy, thundery kind of day. A relaxing kind of day. A good day to get ready to head on out tomorrow. We have seen 12 state parks already. Didn't I tell you this would go fast? Tomorrow we head to Manatee Springs State Park for 5 days. I love visiting springs. They are magnificent jewels of nature....but I digress....here are your promised photos of Homosassa Springs State Park and Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins. Enjoy... I'll be back in a bit to discuss day trip #2...the Crystal River area.
This big manatee greets you as you make your way to the main entrance of the park.
In order to get to the actual attraction, you have to either drive to the west entrance, or take a lovely pontoon boat ride (free) over to it and back. If you miss the last boat back, there is a tram that runs and will give you a ride back.
See those "holes"...well, they aren't really holes, but depressions in the sand. Those are fish nests. Each one of them has a male fish guarding over the fertilized eggs. It looks like a fish apartment complex, doesn't it?
This is an osprey nest....with a parent at home. Did you know that ospreys are one of the "mates for life" birds?
Turtle face off....
One of our famous florida residents. Pretty much every waterway has one....the alligator.
This great blue heron isn't just on this wood duck nesting box to pose for the camera. He's looking for a snack. He eats baby chicks....if they come out.
Looking for snacks around another "wood duck water cooler" I mean, nesting box. Three juvenile night herons and a great blue heron hanging out together.
The approaching west entrance to the park.
No, whatever you do, DO NOT miss this...it's a wonderful experience!
The giant underwater fishbowl is air conditioned and a great way to see the fish and manatees that call these waters home.
Your "welcome sign" to the park. It's lovely!
Anhingas "snake birds" they are sometimes called, stealthily poised for a fish.....
Daddy wood duck
River otters, looking in the mud for something they think is good....
There is a snake house in the park where all the native poisionous and not poisionous snakes can be found. They are beautiful.
The diamond back terrapin is one of my favorite turtles.... love the spots.
Burrowing owls, one came out just to pick up some nesting material, then hurried back inside to tidy up.
Even bobcats get sleepy.
What's Bobby seeing over there?
Hmm...nothing.
Vincent loves the Florida pathers.... I be they'd love him, too....for lunch.
Look at the growth on this pelican's beak. Makes you wonder what the heck THAT is, doesn't it? Apparently, it grows when the pelican is "ready" for mating, and falls off when mating season is over. I think a wink or a nudge would be more attractive, but who am I to judge. Maybe the other pelicans think it's sexy?
Ibis, in the morning.... stretching out its wing.
Heron...Golden crowned night heron to be exact.
Red head ducks
Florida black bear
Caracara
Redtail hawk
This bald eagle was funny.... He started out sitting with his wings folded...and I said: "Do something regal and patriotic"....and then he started creating this pose. My mistake was not getting the American flag in the picture.... It would have been perfect.
Whooping crane.
Great horned owl
Manatee belly
Manatee snout
You can see that there is a LOT to see here, and these are only a few of the photos I have for this park. I couldn't stop snapping pictures... Just a really nice day out. They have several "programs"...a manatee program, where you can watch them feed them and get information, a wildlife program and wildlife encounters programs. If you go in January, you can help Lu, the hippo, celebrate his birthday. He gets TWO cakes for HIS birthday.
This state park has it all...Get to Homossassa Springs, if you can. You won't regret it.
The staff are great, very friendly, very informative and very welcoming.
OK... on to Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins...
This actually kind of reminds me of last year's visit to Bulow Plantation Ruins, that had many of the same kinds of remaining structures available to see. Facinating to see and read about how each thing functions and what it did. Some small history there, too about Yulee as well.
A juvenile little blue heron, spying something yummy to eat.
You can see that there is a LOT to see here, and these are only a few of the photos I have for this park. I couldn't stop snapping pictures... Just a really nice day out. They have several "programs"...a manatee program, where you can watch them feed them and get information, a wildlife program and wildlife encounters programs. If you go in January, you can help Lu, the hippo, celebrate his birthday. He gets TWO cakes for HIS birthday.
The staff are great, very friendly, very informative and very welcoming.
OK... on to Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins...
There you have day trip #1 in pictures.
Day trip #2: The Crystal River Area
These next two state parks are kind of nestled together, so if you go to one, you should absolutely go to the other. Both of them have a lot to offer. Unfortunately, we are the Dennens. Normally that's a pretty good thing, and we make it through life in a fairly happy-go-lucky way....and sometime, that isn't a good thing when you're trying to sight see. We should have called ahead and planned ahead a wee bit better than we did. Not knowing open hours and/or sprucing up schedules made our outing a little less easy to do, and perhaps a little less memorable, too. Let's begin with Crystal River Preserve State Park. It has a wonderful welcome center that has lovely people (volunteers and rangers) manning it. Very social, plesant and friendly. Inside the center is also a variety of informative large scale dioramas about the Florida environment and native animals and plants in the Crystal River area, including some really neat aquariums. The one with the diamond back terrapins in it was especially interesting, as it was lunch time for them. They munched on live crabs, and I was able to witness it. Very cool. Outside there are miles of trails to hike; a seven mile bike/hike trail, a two mile interpretive trail to walk along. There is USUALLY a boat tour on M, W, and F that leaves from here and takes you along the Crystal River to view the park from the river....unfortunately, they had the last tour for a while the day BEFORE we decided to go, and was down for repairs on our day (I did plan to go on a day that they were scheduled to run, normally). No loss. Apparently, it is a very popular thing and sells out VERY fast, so if you're of a mind to go and enjoy the boat ride, get there early, call ahead to find out how to best go about getting a seat on the tour boat. (352) 563-0450. Don't be a Travelin' Dennen. Call first. So, I walked along the interpretive trail and that was very enjoyable. The nature available there is wonderful. The park is peaceful and restorative to the soul.
On to the second park you'll see...Crystal River Archeological State Park. The park itself (the outside grounds) is open from 8:00 a.m. until sundown, 365 days a year. This part was great. It has a self guided tour around the complex of mounds and stations along the way that will talk to you if you push the button...(some stations worked better than others, some didn't work at all). Informational plaques are posted where the mounds are. The walk around the complex is paved. It's a lovely, serene setting and a fascinating walk. Unfortunately, we were working off older literature for the museum hours. We were there on a Wednesday...one of the two days it is closed. I'm not sure what that part of the park is like, as we had to leave and didn't have the time to go back on an open day....but if the park in general is any indication, it's great. If we are back in the area, I'd go back in a heartbeat for the museum part. The Museum is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Thursday through Monday. The Museum is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.
I have a bunch of photos for these two...it will take me a little longer to go through them...I'll have them up for you tomorrow...and tell you all about Payne's Prairie Preserve and it's surrounding parks....slowly but surely I'm catching up to our trip! WHEW! Until then...have a GREAT night! As always, thank you for following us...and if you're not yet a Facebook follower, PLEASE....give us a LIKE us on facebook!
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