Cruisin' on the river

The Native II tour boat on the St. Johns River

A female Anhinga blending in with the scenery

A Snowy Egret drifts onto the buffet line

Let's ignore each other, the sun is too nice

It seemed as if this BIG gator was checking us out as we passed.

ORMOND BEACH, FL - -Since I purchased a Florida State Parks pass on December 1, the sun has been playing hide and seek.  Tuesday, the forecast looked good so we headed to Blue Spring State Park near Orange City.  BSSP is a designated manatee refuge.  Manatees love the constant 72-degree water, especially when the temperature dips in the St Johns River.  In really cold weather, upwards of 300 manatees utilize this safe haven.  So how many of these large, ugly creatures did we see on this warm day?  About a dozen.  And none were willing to pose.
     So we spent two hours meandering down the St John on the Native II tour boat with 12 other folks. The shallow draft pontoon boat allowed us to check out the turtles, gators, bushes, trees while listening to our guide go over the history of the area and the harvesting of the cypress trees.  We had hoped to spot a lot of birds, but the only feathered friends we saw were the usual suspects.  Still, the time spent was well worth it.