Next came Crystal River which was a swamp area that Manatee go to, but the problem was it was very windy that day so we could not see anything in the waters let a lone manatees. Oh well. We stayed the night at the Lake House which was a cute B&B that reminded very much of my Mom's place, alot of stuff everywhere, antiques, dolls and bears everywhere. At every corner of the house I would think of my mom, is still feel bad about not being able to go to here funeral. I know that she would have wanted me there but I needed to take care of my kids and husband so that is what I did. I am thankful that I got to spend quality time with her while she was alive, we went up to see her quite a few times before she past. We painted birds, went junk shopping and went exploring around Sequim. We had some good times together. I miss her, she was the person I went to with my problems for years as I grew up and she always helped me figure things out. I know that she is in a better place, hopefully she is surrounded by her birds and chipper, she loved nature and now so do I. She would have loved all the photos I have taken of the birds here in Florida and I know that she would want me to paint some, so I will, afterall I am my mother's daughter. Anyway back to the road trip. The Lake House was beautiful but it was time to move on to the next location, Silver Springs. What a beautiful spring, clear and crisp water with birds and alligators. We went on a glass bottom boat and it was great fun seeing everything. Wow, Florida is full of nature everywhere!
We were exhausted after our exploring the river so we headed out to our next stop, Majorie Rowlings Kinnen Park. This was a state park where her home was situated. She was a popular author in her day. It was interesting but the house was closed so down the road we went to Gainesville.
Tonight we will be living like kings at the Magnolia Inn a beautiful victorian mansion in Gainesville. Let's just say I could have lived there, high quality antiques in every room, I loved the place. The caretakers were very friendly and the place was to die for. We had dinner in town at Harry's which turned out to be a Lousianna type restaurant and I had some great Salmon and grits. Delicious!
After we left the Inn we went on an adventure to see the alligators and croccodiles and boy did we see them. We walked in the swamp area down this path that had aligators on both sides, got some great picturs but it was scary, especially not knowing when one might be hiding under the grass, but we survived to tell about it!
From our walk we decided to go to a place called High Springs to go canoeing down the river. Exciting and scary going down the river by ourselves in a canoe, with Brad making it rock from side to side. I had my good camera with me so I did not want to drop it in the water, plus there were croccodiles in the water. The river was dark and the rain was hard as we meadered down the way, ducking under trees along the way. Finally the rain stopped and we finished the ride seeing a million turtles. They would siton the logs tow to three at a time, so cute.
We then meandered back towards the coast to Cedar Keys and small fishing village forgotten in time. The Cedar Keys Inn was another great place to stay, it was anothe victorian home from the past, I love these B&B, they make the stay just as interesting as the trip and what we see duing the day. So anyway, we met some nice people here that were celebrating their 50 something anniversary. I don't remember where we had dinner, oh yeah that is because we ate in the room, pizza. But they did have the beast cookies at the Inn. I go the recipe, yeah!
On the road again to St Marks State Park and wild animal refuge. We were now in a forest area along the coast and of course there were more animals to see and a lighthouse. Then on to Wakulla Springs, but by the time we got there it was evening so we did not get to see the springs at that time.
And then when we went to check into the lodge they said I was suppose to be there yesterday and that they had no rooms available now. Needless to say I was mad and confused but when I calmed down and checked it out I guess I did book the room on the wrong day. Anyway we ended up going to a resort down the street and paying for both, bummer.
Next stop Appalochicola, Cape San Blas and Port St Joe/Mexico Beach. We stopped in Appalochicola for lunch and gallery shopping, a very quaint little town. Then we went to Cape San Blas which was a small island with alot of vacation homes. Our final stop for the day was Port St Jo where we ended up getting a vacation rental across from the beach. It remined me of our home, nicely decorated with a Tommy Bahama theme, I could stay there, so we did for 3 days, loved it. We could walk to the beach and the restaurants. One of the days we drove up to Panama City. Love the beach there the water looked like the San Blas, beautiful light blue. So that is were we ended our trip. I think it is interesting that we started our adventures 5 months ago in Panama City, Panama and now we are ending our adventures for this season anyway at Panama City, Florida. Who would know, I had never even heard of Panama city Florida before this trip. But of course I learned alot about both Panama and Florida during this advendure. Now it is time to go home for the season, work my business, see the family and live a semi normal retired lifestyle, should be interesting.
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