Ellie Schiller Park and Three Sisters Springs

I woke up at 4 am and went into Cindy’s office to read and do my morning language lessons. Mary got up at 6 am and had tea as she read and caught up on what had happened in curling matches the night before at the Olympics.

Underwater viewing window at Ellie Schiller

Mark got up and made bacon, sourdough toast and omelets for breakfast. We took the dogs on a short walk around the neighborhood after breakfast. We could tell that both dogs are showing their age. Mark said that they can no longer tolerate a longer walk every day, so they do shorter walks every other day now.

We watched a little more of the Olympics on television then had a snack before going out. I got binoculars and a camera from our car then moved it into the space under Jimmy’s house next door. We took Mark’s pickup and drove to Ellie Schiller State Park. The park sustained a lot of damage from Hurricane Helene in late 2024 and is still rebuilding some of the exhibits. The park was offering free admission today, so we walked around and looked at the exhibits. We especially enjoyed the underwater viewing in the clear natural spring where we saw snappers, snook, gar, needlefish and other native fish species. There were several alligators sunning themselves and a number of manatees in the warmer water of the springs.

Manatees at Three Sisters Springs

After leaving Ellie Schiller State Park, we drove the short distance to Crystal River where we visited Three Sisters Springs. We had never been to this park but had kayaked within a few feet of it on the Crystal River several times. The National Park pass got us in the park half price and, as local residents, Whittingtons got an additional discount on admission. A boardwalk surrounds the spring where many manatees congregate to escape the cold water in the Gulf of Mexico. The crystal-clear water in the spring made the large manatees very visible and easy to photograph. Because it is a holiday weekend, the area had more visitors than a typical weekday, but it didn’t seem crowded.

After watching the manatees, we walked a mile long trail around the park and back to the truck. We drove to Home Depot where we bought a 12-foot 4x4 to replace the support for the sign at the entrance to Standish Road.

Back at the house we had a lentil curry soup that was very good along with a Caesar salad followed by one of Cindy’s homemade walnut brownies. As we were cleaning up after dinner, Whittingtons' neighbors, Kenny and Jodie from Minnesota came over to play cards. A heavy rain produced 2 ½ inches of rain within a couple of hours. The heavy rain and thunder frightened the dogs who hid in the bedroom. Since I don’t usually play cards, I went up to our room to read and catch on this journal.