Two days with no cell service? Yes please.
Happy Thursday! We made it to the Sunshine State by Tuesday night and to one of our favorite places, Crystal River.
Crystal River is known for their manatee sightings, beautiful springs, and Florida nature, but Crystal Springs is even better for us because of the company! We got to spend a couple days with family here — exploring the springs, eating good food, and catching up.
Most of this area left us with no cell service, which is a wonderful thing. But we’re back! So here’s a catch up on the last few days.
Best part of vacation is not having to set an alarm to wake up. Tyler and I are usually up around 7.30am or 8am anyway, but we’ve been soaking up these lazy days and taking our time in the morning. Once we were up and out yesterday, we started the day at Three Sisters Springs in Crystal River. A common spot for sighting manatees, but we just missed them. The water in the springs is at a consistent 72 degrees all year round and attracts the manatees to it’s warm shallow depths. But because the season is warming up already, the manatees spend most of the day out in bigger bodies of water. With that said, the water in these springs was still beautiful!
They’ve got a short boardwalk that traces the perimeter of the springs and allows for a comfortable walk. We took our time, spotting some lizards, taking in a cool breeze, and looking in the deep crystal clear water for whatever we could find — which wasn’t much, but pretty!
A short trail walk back to the car and we decided to head to another site that’s home to the Yulee Sugar Mill. Mr. David Levy Yulee was Florida’s first U.S. Senator and helped write the state’s first constitution. The sugar mill supported his production of sugar, molasses, and syrup that he provided to the Confederate army during the Civil War. The Yulee home was destroyed by intentional fire in 1864, but the Yulee Mill was left unharmed.
Next door to the mill is the Old Mill Tavern — a restaurant that doesn’t necessarily catch your eye, but it’s locality adds to its attraction. All I’ll say is that Tyler and I brought the average age WAY down. We missed the white hair memo… but gave a fish reuben a try and we were relatively impressed! Worth a quick visit.
After a slow morning, we visited a bit with family and then headed to dinner at Margarita Grill just down the road. The grill sits on the Halls River with a beautiful view of the water and wildlife. There’s something about a meal on the water that just feels like Florida.
Our next stop planned was Siesta Key, but after not having much luck finding an available campground, we decided to head further south to Naples instead. There are pros and cons to not planning too far in advance! But we love having the flexibility!
So far it’s sunny and beautiful! Soaking it up.
// Carly + Tyler
