Today was probably our last visit to a Florida State Park in this part of Florida. In this case “this part of” refers to north central and southwest to the Suncoast. Our destination was Weeki Wachee Springs SP. WWSSP is another one of those FSP gems where the state park system took over a former “old Florida” roadside attraction. We were glad they did because otherwise this iconic old Florida attraction would no longer exist. The New York Times ran an excellent article on Weeki Wachee about a year ago. Most of the photos from today are in a separate gallery post.
Peakcock with tail fanned.
We left WCRVR around 9 AM and headed towards Dunnellon to pick up John and Marian Hagan. We arrived around 9:40 having been delayed a few minutes by road construction that had traffic down to one lane on US-41. We got everyone on board and were on our way quickly. The park is located on US-19 just west of where FL-50 (Cortez Blvd) ends and it took an hour to get there. We arrived at WWSSP a little before 11 AM, but not in time to see the 11 AM Mermaid show. Mermaids? Oh yes; mermaids are the reason to go to Weeki Wachee Springs SP.
Linda, Marian, & John at the entrance to WWSSP.
Weeki Wachee Spring is a Class 1 spring issuing over 100,000,000 gallons of fresh water every 24 hours to create the Weeki Wachee River that meanders a mere 12 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. The water is 99.8% pure, and technically it safe to scoop it up out of the river (near the source, anyway) and drink it without any treatment.
Weeki Wachee is a large, deep spring; amazingly clear with beautiful shades of green and blue in the bright sunshine. The name cones from earlier Native American words meaning “large spring.” Go figure. In the 1940’s a former Navy frogman bought the property and created the underwater viewing theater on the west side of the spring. He also invented the air hose underwater breathing technique that has allowed young women (and some men) to perform the underwater mermaid shows ever since. On our visit they were doing two different shows: Fish Tales (a historical retrospective), and The Little Mermaid (adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson tale). Campy? Of course. Delightful? Absolutely.
Weeki Wachee SP is small at only 528 acres, but we managed to make a nice, relaxing day of it. Admission is $13 for adults and our FSP Annual Pass was only good for admitting two people. The other major attraction is the Buccaneer Bay water park. It was open but the water slides were not operating. This time of year the slides are only open on weekends. They are open every day during the summer season. We were surprised by how many people were here on a Wednesday in early April, swimming, sunning, walking the grounds, and enjoying the shows.
We went to the animal show at noon. The young man who did the show was very entertaining but also provided important information about the snakes, turtles, and small alligator he showed us. He kept the 18″ long alligator out after the show for people to touch and photograph. The park also has a resident population of pea fowl that roam the grounds freely. We encountered them numerous times and I took quite a few photographs. Several of the peacocks were fanning the tails and they were very impressive.
The park service operates a pair of pontoon boats that take visitors on a 25 minute round trip on the upper part of the river. There is almost no development on this stretch of the River and we saw turtles, an Anhinga drying its wings, and a Bald Eagle nest with an immature eagle in it.
The park operates several concession stands and we patronized one for a light lunch. They also have a gift shop. The park is open from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM. We left at 5 PM feeling that we had gotten value for our entrance fee.
From the park we headed east on FL-50 / Cortez Blvd to Buffet City. We had been to this Chinese buffet once before with Al Hesselbart and thought the variety and quality of food was sufficient to make the $11 per person cost reasonable for us. All four of us got our monies worth.
We headed back to Dunnellon by way of the northbound Suncoast Parkway (FL-589 Tollroad). The Parkway ends at US-19 south of Homosassa. From there we reversed our route from the morning, taking US-19 back to Crystal River and then taking the road that runs northeast back to US-41 in Dunnellon. We stopped at the Hagan’s house for some coffee and conversation. Marian had taken a few photos of us at the park and John transferred them to a DVD.
We arrived back at our coach around 9:30 PM and were greeted by our two cats who demanded our undivided attention for a while. A small serving of coconut milk “ice cream” put the finishing touch on a long but very satisfying day.
