Took a quick boat ride to get photos of the beautiful skies that Tropical Storm Karen brought us. 
nature coast
Nature Coast of Florida
Back to the trail and some other stuff
The government shutdown has hit Old Homosassa!
Sad news. Smokin’ Mos, our favorite breakfast place, closed down. We’d heard rumors but refused to believe. Then we heard more rumors and today there’s a new sign up saying soon to open, The Starting Line. Over the last decade that little place has been the Yulee Café, Patriotic Café, Pepper Café, and Smokin’ Mos. Perhaps we should put bets on how long this place lasts?
And bike trail news…..we did manage to squeeze in one more bicycle ride on the Withlacoochee State Trail. We had a small section from just north of Istachatta to the swamp north of the Ridge Manor trail head to cover. Plus that 6.1 mile section from Ridge Manor to Trilby. (That’s not going happen anytime soon since the big bike ride is this Sunday! )
So we headed to Lake Townsen Park trail head. Little did we know that Lake Townsen is actually a Hernando County park. County parks in Florida are dog haters. Michelle, Maggie and I got kicked out of Tom Varn park in Brooksville because one of us had paws. (We told the park attendant that it was un-American.) Dogs are allowed in state parks but you have to get from the county parking lot to the trail. Breakin’ the law!
Since we aren’t allowed into any county parks, we didn’t know that Hernando County parks post sexual predator signs and pictures! We think that’s a good idea!
So we rode south to the swamp (saw no zombies or swamp creatures) and turned around and rode north to Istachatta.
This bunny was at the general store at Istachatta.
We are all ready for the big ride on Sunday morning.
Here’s a picture from yesterday morning. Whenever there’s a tropical depression hanging out there in the gulf, we get some real pretty mornings.
Have a great weekend!
Upper Deck Restaurant in Weeki Wachee
Recently a bunch of us stopped at the Upper Deck Restaurant for lunch. We had just finished kayaking the Weeki Wachee River and the restaurant is right by Rogers’ Park, the take out point for the kayaks. Hot, damp, and hungry, we headed for the second floor of the restaurant. We ate outside on the deck since the hostess told us that inside was about 10 degrees warmer. No A/C! But it was actually pleasant with a little breeze.
Our lunches were yummy and there was plenty of food. We loved the view and that we could sit outside, be noisy, and spend a little more time talking about our kayaking adventure. The Upper Deck is a bar but definitely kid-friendly. We’ll be back the next time we head down the Weeki Wachee River.