Mermaids and Airboats

Home Sweet Home in Chassahowitzka

We left Homosassa yesterday after 3 wonderful weeks in the Chassahowitzka River Campground.  It was weird packing up after so long in one place.  We have to quit accumulating stuff, Chuck is bursting at the seams.  Somehow we're up to 2 cases of wine so some serious drinking will have to occur before we pack up again.

This area markets itself as "Old Florida" and we tended to agree, not that neither one of us ever spent any time in old Florida.  But it does feel very different than Orlando or Tampa or Miami or other heavily touristed areas.  Prices are better, real people are everywhere and sometimes it's a little gritty.  We like it.

One of the old Florida attractions is the WeekiWachi mermaid show.  Dating back to the 40's, mermaids perform in a spring-fed underwater theater.  Not the same mermaids as the 40's mind you.  They get new ones on a regular basis.  I remember seeing something about this in a magazine or on TV years ago and thinking it was a bit hokey.  However, we were less than 20 miles from park and the navigator was insistent that we needed to see the mermaids so off we went.

I don't have great photos of the actual mermaids, so to see them, go to mermaids.
It was fun, retro and yes, just a bit hokey.  But, the whole attraction is now a state park and they have a wildlife talk in the park that was fun and interesting.  I applaud the state of Florida for keeping these old attractions going and building some education into the experience.

Alligator Education

Florida Pine Snake

 There's also a river boat ride around the park but it was full up for the day so we contented ourselves watching a couple of manatees playing in the river.  It would almost be possible to get blase about seeing manatees, but we're not.  It's still a thrill.

More manatees.

I've always wanted to ride in an airboat, so next up was an airboat ride down the Homosassa River to the Gulf of Mexico.

Airboat Attraction

It was a beautiful day and Captain Tom gave us a few thrills as we wove through the canals and mangrove islands out to the Gulf.  There was lots of good birding along the way.  It's an amazing area, largely unpopulated and still very wild feeling.  The Navigator now wants an airboat.

Osprey on her nest

Heading downriver

White pelicans 

Civilization on our return

After all that fun we packed up and drove 65 miles back to Cedar Key RV Park, one of our favorite RV parks so far on this trip.  It's very tame compared to Chassahowitzka, without the wildlife at our door, but close to the neat town of Cedar Key and not far from Gainesville.  However, we won't be totally without thrills.  Tonight is Candy Bar Bingo in the clubhouse.  I'll report back after that.