Morning Walks, Cedar Knees and Freshwater Paradise

Florida has certainly had its due this trip, and now it's time to press on toward home. Still, we don't want to push ahead and miss ALL the sites in the 2,800 miles between here and home, so we've planned some stops along the way.

Last night, we camped at Silver Lake in the Withlacoochee Forest. Though unfortunately located adjacent to the freeway, it's a beautiful lake surrounded by forest, home to countless 'gators and (I was told) good fishing. Our camp neighbors were friendly, inquisitive and helpful. We arrived early enough to take out our Sanibel shells for a good washing - WHEW! Did they stink up the car or WHAT?!

I woke early this morning, so while the girls slept in the locked trailer, I took a short walk by the shore. The light was nice as the morning mist rose from the lake. I never spotted a 'gator, but wasn't brave (or dumb) enough to stick my feet in the lake's dark waters. No telling how quickly it may drop off, where the holes might be and just how big nature's critters might be here. Oh, and water moccasins - I'm not a fan.

Then we headed toward Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge in hopes of seeing the manatees. (Note to all: research in advance would avoid this kind of confusion - I confess I didn't do my due diligence before leaving home - but that's alright.) Thanks to the information radio station broadcast for visitors approaching the reserve, we learned the refuge is only accessible by boat. Instead, we were directed to Homosassa Springs wildlife State Park.

I don't know who names any of these parks in Florida "the nation's best." While I enjoyed our afternoon here, it certainly wasn't the best zoo, park, refuge or family destination of any sort I've visited in the nation. It was fun, the animals were fun, the docents were friendly and we did get to set eyes on some manatees that live full-time at the reserve. The highlights for me were the boat ride from the main visitors' center up Pepper Creek to the park's front gate (there's parking at the gate, too). Small children (say 5 and younger) would be much more impressed than my children, who were hoping for some hands-on experiences. In fact, even the spring itself is entirely inaccessible to visitors.

The park offers a nice walk through the grounds, interpretive signs, animals unique to the area (plus Lu, a hippo made honorary Florida citizen some years back), hand-scooped ice cream and a nice selection of raptors. You'll see the noses of manatees grazing, and one presentation per day allows visitors to touch an animal (in our case, a King Snake). There's also a small education center where visitors can do rubbings (again, great for those 5 or younger) and read a bit more about the animals.

We DID learn that it would be unlikely for us to see manatees in the wild this early in the season. They won't head in toward the clear spring waters until the coastal waters cool. Then the manatees will head to the constant 72-degree temps of clear, clean spring waters for the winter.

So we pressed on to our intended camp destination - Manatee Springs.

Captiva Island - meh...

After our beautiful day on Sanibel Island, we thought we'd check out equally storied Captiva, the neighboring barrier island to the north. In short, don't bother. Stick with Sanibel, avoid the drive time, the parking fees and the current.

The beaches we experienced at Captiva were far more weather beaten, so the shell hunting wasn't that great. Most of the beach access here seemed dominated by the beautiful, shorefront luxury homes. There is no street parking, and there are, apparently, only two public parking lots (both paid, both with very limited space) on the island. For residents here, I'm sure it's lovely, but unless you're shelling for a resort here, it's not really worth the hassle. We read about longer hikes to better coves, but with parking meters placing deadlines on our otherwise leisurely adventure, we opted to head back to Sanibel's lighthouse point for some beachcombing. But first, an entertaining stop at a local tourist trap to check out the trinkets and the hats.

Then I put the camera away. It's fun to take photos, but I find myself too often playing the role of family history recorder rather than participant. I wanted to get in the water, hunt for shells, wander like my 9 and 11 year olds and not worry about electronics. So, sorry...no pictures of the great beachcombing at the lighthouse, but we'll have memories to spare (and have shells and stories to tell when we get home).

After an hour at the lighthouse, our paid parking time was up, and rather than pay the meter again, the girls wanted to head back to the known entity, so back to our hotel we went for a beautiful, wonderful day on the beach playing, resting and learning more about the creatures that crawl this shoreline.

Sanibel Island, a Shell Hunters' Dream

Slept in this morning a bit, then had a hot breakfast before heading to the beach where the promised seashells lay awaiting pickers like us. The girls and I all put this island beach on our list of places to see after reading about the ample seashell combing to be hand. Because of the lay of the land, each tide sweeps countless shells up onto the shore. Still more lay untouched just a few feet out into the gulf.

We spent the morning beachcombing, E and I finding plentiful shells for a variety of projects. V focusing, as usual, on living beasts and creating her own aquarium in the sand. When we found live animals, we turned them over to her. All totaled, her aquarium included four sea cucumbers (two she named "Memory Foam" and "Hush Puppy"), several purple urchins, four sea anemones, three fighting conch, a couple of live scallops and a BABY OCTOPUS! THAT was the coolest animal she's ever found. We kept it in the pond for observation for awhile (and shared it with passers by) before finally walking it offshore a ways and releasing it.

A boy struck up conversation with E and in no time they were out on the sandbar splashing away and bringing more shells and live things to her sister. Austin, though a full head taller than her, is only one grade older than E, and was very pleasant, soft spoken, funny. They spent most of the remaining daylight together either in the ocean, on the beach or in the pool where we spent our afternoon.

As we picked shells, I couldn't help but think of all of our family members who so enjoy the beach, shell hunting, rock hunting. We know Grandma Ruth would have been in heaven here, and we're really sorry Aunt Kathy isn't here with us to pick up shells. A number of our finds, which we soon discovered were alive, reminded me of Auntie M. (Yes, we threw them back!) We made tidy little collections and look forward to sharing them with you all when we return.