Another busy week with not a lot accomplished. Sometimes I feel like I’m just running in place. Kind of like running on a treadmill. Which means I’m burning calories. Right?
I’ll be really skinny any day now!
Don’t get me wrong. I really prefer being busy. Lots of different projects going on. Lots of different people to interact with.
That way I don’t dwell on the little stuff.
Like, why didn’t I get invited to that party, or why didn’t so and so sit with me at lunch, or why didn’t I get a valentine from that kid…….oh wait…..that was third grade.
Sometimes I have days like that.
This will be another beautiful Florida perfect weekend.
Where will we be?
Gosh, I hope on the boat at some point, but other than that…..
The Luminary Art Walk in Old Homosassa is tonight and tomorrow night. This is a really fun event. Our local artist community pulls this together and does a great job. I didn’t get out there to talk to the galleries this year (slacker) but here’s some of their work that I’ve featured in the past:
Glass Garage
Pepper Creek Pottery
Watsons Art Gallery and Studio
RiverWorks
Mark Arnett’s Driftwood Furniture at RiverWorks
The Floral City Strawberry Festival is this weekend, too. Hopefully we’ll get there.
The other day I was looking out the sun room windows and saw this guy on the boat dock.
So went out to see what I could see.
I keep a pretty safe distance when the otters visit. They can be a bit cranky. When they’re in the water they usually bark at me. But when on the dock, they often just ignore me. Like this guy.
Looks like he’s growing weary of dealing with the paparazzi.One last glance and I thought he was going to go into the canal.Nope, he just decided it was safe and he could catch some rays on his tummy.
When the sun left the kayak ramp, so did the otter.
So what are you doing this weekend? I’m planning on continuing to get some gardening done. Supposed to be a bit cooler than average but the sun will be shining. This has gotta be the last cold snap, right? We just finished rebuilding and painting the trellis. So much more to do.
The Homosassa Library started it’s annual Spring sale yesterday. It’s called a fire sale this year because the storage building they were using for the books burnt down along with all the donations. But the people of Homosassa stepped up and donated more. It runs through Saturday so you still have time to pick up some good bargains.
It’s March on Tuesday. (Zowie–wasn’t it just Christmas?!) And it will be a busy month. Besides St. Patty’s Day and Easter, there are a lot of local events.
March 4th and 5th is the 16th Annual Luminary Art Night. From 5 – 9. This is always a lot of fun. All the local art shops will be open late and the sidewalks will be lined with luminaries. We’ll be there, as usual. Love this event! Hey Ellen and Bill–is this on your calendar????
The Shrimpapalooza is on March 19th. But I won’t be there. What???? I know. Craziness. I love the Shrimpapalooza golf cart parade and I read somewhere that the Shriners will be there in their little cars. Or did I dream that? Sometimes I get reality and my dreams mixed together. (normal? no? should I be worried?)
So what am I doing? I’m off to BANJO CAMP! So excited. I’m trying to not think about what I’m going to miss at the Shrimpapalooza. Jeeeze. Last year Banjo Camp was the same time as the Cedar Key Art Festival, which is also known as MERMAID WEEKEND–my annual fun weekend with my mermaid friends.
Since Terry is the chairperson for the Homosassa Festival this year, we plan to attend as many of the local festivals as possible. Just to see how the other places handle their events. The Festival committee plans to make this the best festival ever!
Hope to get to these two…..
The Floral City Strawberry Festival is on March 5th and 6th.
The Swamp Fest in Weeki Wachee is March 11, 12 and 13th.
I’ll definitely be at the Cedar Key Festival on April 8 and 9th. Cause that’s MERMAID WEEKEND! And I already missed it last year! Oh right, I already whined about that.
You’ll probably be reading a lot about the Homosassa Festival here over the next several months.
The newspaper said to turn at Reds Restaurant on State Road 200 and follow the signs.
That was the directions to the 10th annual “Stomping in the Swamp” Bluegrass Festival on Saturday.
More on those directions, later….
I’ve considered going to the Stomp over the past several years but it was either raining, or cold, or we had something else already scheduled.
But this year, nothing else going on and the weather was PERFECT! 75 degrees, no chance of rain. Sun was shining. So we were off.
And now, about those directions. Turn at Red’s. And follow the signs. Which were few and far between. It started out paved but quickly turned into sand trails. Three miles of sand. Following a long conga line of other festival goers.
Smartly we drove the Jeep rather than the Camaro. Clouds of sand dust. All the specified parking lots were full. So Terry made his own spot. That’s one of the benes of having a little Jeep.
Went to the concert and there were like 1000 people there. And just to make it real, Terry said there were probably about 300. But seriously. This was in the middle of NOWHEREsville. How did all these people stumble on this place?
Missed the first group, stayed for the next two, and everyone knows that the last group is the best, but…..
they ran out of food because they weren’t expecting all 300 of us and I was really HANGRY…. and if had waited any longer, we would have been stuck in a dust storm of ghibli proportions during the mass exodus. And I would have died of starvation. (Fat chance of that happening)
This was the view on the way out before the last band even started.
A wee bit of dust…
Just kidding. A WHOLE LOT OF DUST!
Like I said, I was hangry.
Reds Restaurant is only open for lunch and dinner and we’d missed that window so headed to Stumpknockers on the River which was right down the road.
Always wanted to go there but never had the opportunity.
The view from our table.
Okay.
This is not a restaurant review. These are just observations.
Got there about 2:30. Place was busy but not too bad.
Service was okay. The view of the Withlacochee River was amazing.
wonder if that couple knows there’s a gator right there!
Surprised that the place didn’t have things like hamburgers and fish sandwiches. It was all appetizers and entrees.
Okay. It’s a fake gator. A really realistic fake gator.
Terry ordered the catfish platter. Mostly because it included corn on the cob. I ordered the grouper dinner. Blackened. It was all quite good.
Looks like the Withlacochee is a little high since some of the tables are underwater!
Then the “bus” came in. Not really a bus. But it suddenly became CRAZY busy.
As I said, I’m not calling this a restaurant review because I consider service a large part of the whole dining experience. And there was very little service. And it wasn’t our server’s fault. Too many tables. Plus she had the bar. Not fair to her.
Backside of Stumpknockers
We knew it was going to be a beautiful day. Along with everyone else in Florida. Unfortunately, the management at Stumpknockers didn’t bother to check on the weather report. Or maybe they just don’t want to pay extra servers.
The food was good and the setting was beautiful. But, due to poor management, service sucked. In addition, the restrooms were ridiculously small for such a large place. Which doesn’t matter to anyone but the half dozen women waiting to squeeze into that tiny space. Really. This wasn’t a rock concert. This was dinner.
If I go back to Stumpknockers on the River, it will be in the summer when there won’t be quite the crowd.
I’d love to hear from anyone else that’s been to Stumpknockers on the River during normal time.
A wee bit of dust…
