Spending Time in Sanford

The Barbara Lee moors here at the marina
It goes out for lunch and dinner cruises about every day

This guy visits the marina harbor about every day
This time he caught a big fish in his mouth

I seem to have made a new friend -
the dragonfly must have liked my hat

This is where the springs bubble up

Alligators and other wildlife may be present
No worries!  Really?

You can see here how clear the water is

This is looking down the river away from the
swimming hole
Several people canoe this area

Glad this little guy stayed on the other side

Another shot of the crystal clear water

Beautiful scenery

Swimming hole at the headwater

We've been at Monroe Harbor Marina in Sanford now for a week.  Sleepy little town – at least what I’ve seen.  Of course most of that time we have been on foot – we did pick up our car on Sunday. 

Last Friday (June 6)  We hung out on the boat most of the day and then took a dinghy ride with Ray and Linda (Second Noelle) over to Boat Tree Marina where there is a Bar and Grill called Docktails.  This was about four miles away.  Pretty cool little place where you can swim in their pool if you like.  They had gator on the menu so we, of course, had to have some.  It was pretty much dark when we left so it made for an interesting ride back on the river. 

They have a Farmer’s Market here on Saturdays like most towns here in Florida.  This one is pretty lame though.  Maybe we’re just spoiled after being at the one in Ft Pierce.  That one is huge!  Here there were only about a half dozen vendors.  The downtown “Historic” area is very cool though.  There are lots of old buildings there that now house new businesses – lots of bars and antique stores.

Sunday we decided was the right day to pick up our car which was still in Ft Pierce.  It was only about a two hour drive from here.  Ray and Linda loaned us the “Beast” or what is sometimes affectionately called the “Pimp Pala”.  Anyway, it got us there with no problems.  We had lunch at one of our favs – Archies.  Couldn’t miss a Sunday at Archies if we were in town after all!  We drove both cars back with no problems.  Between the “Beast” and the “Silver Bullet” that’s saying a lot!  J

Monday we caught up on our chores  - so we would be ready to leave for Joplin on Thursday. 

Tuesday was a play day.  Ray and Linda and their granddaughter Abbie took us to Wekiwa Springs State Park.  This is a very pretty area that consists of 7000 acres.  It’s about a 30 minute drive from the marina.  There is a huge area at the headwater of the Wekiva River that is a perfect swimming hole.  The spring bubbles up 42 million gallons of water a day with a constant temperature of 72 degrees.  Very refreshing!  There were lots of swimmers there but that didn’t deter the gators!  They remained on the other side of the bridge thank goodness.  Although a kid did catch a small one on his fishing pole.  This got the attention of the FWC who had plenty to say to the guy.  He wasn’t supposed to be fishing and for sure he was molesting the wildlife!  Hmmm!  Back home we go swimming in lots of creeks and rivers but there isn’t anything in the water that might eat us!  Took a little getting used to.

We also got a little confused over the name.  The springs are spelled Wekiwa but the river and most of the area uses the spelling Wekiva.  Wekiwa is the Creek word for a spring.  The GPS had a field day when trying to decipher where we wanted to go! 

We made it back to the boat just in time before a huge storm hit.  The rain came down in buckets and the wind blew but there weren’t any real problems.  This is the rainy season of Florida – so you pretty much can depend on a storm to come through about every afternoon, however this one was a doozy! 

On Thursday (June 12) we plan to begin our long drive back to Joplin for a visit.  We’ll leave NautiNell here at the marina.   Looking forward to seeing everyone.  Mike has his 50^th Class Reunion next weekend.  It should be fun!

Till next time!

Admiral “C”