Hanging Out with Jo-Anne and T

We woke early to see the beginning of the lunar eclipse starting at 5 am and continued to full eclipse at 6 am. The eclipse was very visible to us over Mike and Pam’s house across Standish Drive. We sat on the front porch drinking tea as the moon darkened from top to bottom. As the eclipse continued the moon took on a pale red color. We were glad that we had awakened for the event. Sadly, the sky was too overcast in Georgetown and Cincinnati for our grandsons to get a view of the eclipse.

After a breakfast of oatmeal with craisins and pecans, we took the dogs on a longer walk around the neighborhood. Mary and I returned the house and left at 9 am to pick up Jo-Anne and T at the Comfort Suites in Dunnellen.

We met them in the hotel lobby a little before 10 am and loaded a few of their things into our car to take a trip around the “Nature Coast” area of Florida. We wanted to give them an overview of things in the area that might interest them in future visits. They live less than 2 hours from Homosassa, so a day trip for them would be likely. Mary planned a general itinerary and sequence of stops for us to visit today.

Tour boat at Rainbow Springs

Our first stop was to the springs at the head of Rainbow River at Rainbow Springs State Park. We paid the $5 park admission fee and parked in a shady spot. We walked down to the springs that form the Rainbow River and saw people swimming in the designated area. The water there and throughout Rainbow River is as clear as glass. We walked along some trails with azaleas of all colors. The waterfalls along the trails were developed in the 1940s and 50s. We chatted with two volunteers who were very helpful in directing us to the right trail to walk for our day.

When we left the springs, we drove past the access to the KP Hole at about midway on the Rainbow River. We stopped at the downstream takeout point of the Rainbow River, but no parking was available. We parked across the road at Swampy’s Bar and Grill since it was nearly noon. We decided to have lunch there. We had eaten there many times before and found the food to our liking. I ordered the gator dip appetizer, and T got chips and salsa. For the meal, Mary got the grilled fish Caesar salad; I had a bowl of seafood gumbo. Jo-Anne and T split a Reuben sandwich with sweet potato fries. Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal.

After leaving Swampy’s we drove over the Cross Florida Barge Canal and gave them the history of the ill-fated project. We pointed out the access to the “Follow That Dream” Parkway leading the island where the Elvis Presley movie was made and some of the beach scenes were filmed.

We stopped at the Crystal River Archeological State Park to explore the nearly 2000-year-old mounds and earthworks. Although the visitor center is closed on Monday and Tuesday, we enjoyed walking around and reading the signage. Jo-Anne and T are very into some of the Ancient Astronaut theories. They believe that the mounds support theories about early cultures being aided by extraterrestrial civilizations. We sat on top of the large temple mound for some time before resuming our walk along the back of the Crystal River. We saw how a landowner in the 1950s and 60s had bulldozed much of the temple mound to fill in a swampy area. Fortunately, the land was purchased by Florida’s park system preserving the mound.

When we left the archeological park, we drove Jo-Anne and T back to the Comfort Suites in Dunnellen and before heading back to Mark and Cindy’s house in Homosassa.  We really enjoyed visiting with Jo-Anne and T and hope to see them on our next trip to Florida.

We unloaded the car and started helping Mark and Cindy prepare for dinner. Kenny and Jodie were coming over for a snook fish fry. Mark heated peanut oil in an outdoor deep frier to 360 degrees. Kenny rolled snook chunks in a mixture of egg and oil then covered them with panko crumbs and seasoning. The fish was deep fried at 360 degrees for 3 minutes. Kenny used the same treatment for some small portobello mushroom caps. Cindy had made coleslaw, and Jodie brought potato salad. Everything was delicious, and we all ate our fill and more. After dinner we had Cindy’s brownies and Jodie’s peanut bars. Jodie also made margaritas while we visited after dinner.

The evening ended with Mark, Cindy, Kenny, Jodie and Mary playing cards.

Crystal River Archeological Park

Everyone seemed to sleep well last night, although the barn owl was calling near the canal around 4 am. Mark made scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, then we took the dogs on the usual walk around the neighborhood.

We did our Duolingo lessons, then Mark and I set up his new Wyze wireless outdoor security cameras. Unlike the wired models, these communicate with a base station that sends the videos from the camera. Installation was fast and easy. He has a clear image from each of the cameras. We tried to determine the function of one of the light switches in the downstairs hall. We also looked at the wiring going to the outdoor light in the middle of the front yard. The light on top of the pole is now a solar powered light, but there are wires inside the pole. We couldn't determine if there was a switch or connection that needed to be made that would power the wires in the pole. We hoped that one of the unknown switches would do it but no such luck.

When we left the house, we stopped at Rural King in Crystal River. Mark and Cindy were hosting a family event in a few days, so Mark wanted to get a large outdoor pot fueled by propane that is commonly used to deep fry a turkey. He planned to use the pot to steam local shrimp. Rural King’s prices on this kind of thing are much better than other stores. Unfortunately, they were out of stock on propane tanks.

When Mary and I were in this area in 2014, we went to the Crystal River Archeological Park and recalled enjoying the area. We were looking forward to going back to this small (61 acre) Florida State Park that is just a 30-minute drive north of Homosassa. This area along the Crystal River near its mouth has been occupied by Native Americans for over 1600 years. At this time there are 6 mounds including burial mounds, middens, a temple and a plaza. Artifacts in the area include many trade items that appear to have come from the Hopewell culture occupying southern Ohio. A featured exhibit in the park is a large stone or stele that has a carving that resembles a human face. After walking around this area and enjoying the view from the mounds, we decided to head back toward the house to continue packing for our trip home early tomorrow morning.

We made a stop at Home Depot to look for a few things then made a stop at the Twistee Treat for a cone. On the way to the house we had driven past the Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park many times. Today we decided to stop and learn about a part of this area’s history. This equipment was part of a 5000 acre sugar plantation from the mid-1800s. This steam driven mill crushed and pressed the raw sugar cane for the nearby dehydration vats, where the sugar, syrup and molasses were made. The waste sugar cane was burned to provide some of the fuel for the steam mill and to cook the raw juice from the cane. Today the ruins of the mill are a small roadside state park, but the informational signage make it a worthwhile stop.

Back at the house, Mark made cheese tortellini with marinara sauce and a good garden salad which we enjoyed. We packed our things into the rental car and prepared for an early departure since the drive back home was long. Taking I-75 was the most direct and fastest route, although we would have to go through Atlanta which no one likes to do. We hoped that by leaving by 6 am we could be back to Georgetown at a decent hour.

We had a great time with the Whittingtons and look forward to seeing them again soon. We hope they can be at our house this summer, and perhaps we can visit them in Idaho in fall.