Nature Coast – Page 5

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.

Stomping in the Swamp — 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.

Surprised that the place didn’t have things like hamburgers and fish sandwiches. It was all appetizers and entrees.

Terry ordered the catfish platter. Mostly because it included corn on the cob. I ordered the grouper dinner. Blackened. It was all quite good.

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.

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.

Saturday was a beautiful sunny and warm day so we went to the Manatee Festival in Crystal River. Along with 100,000 other people.

That festival was huge. It was spread from Heritage Village all the way to the river at Hunters Springs Park. And every inch of that area was filled with people.

During the manatee festival there’s a free bus ride to the Three Sisters Springs which we love to visit.

Here’s the line for the bus….

Yeah, we weren’t waiting in that.

I had read in the newspaper that they were allowing walkers and bicyclist in just for this weekend so we drove over the to plaza closest to the gate, and walked to the Spring.

Well worth the little extra stroll.

Although it was a warm day, there were many manatees hanging out in the area. Just catching the rays. There were a lot of swimmers and snorkelers, too, but unlike past years, they weren’t in the actual springs area. I thought that was pretty cool.

Next Open House for Three Sisters Springs is in February. Otherwise you can catch a bus at the Visitor Center on US-19 just south of Crystal River and pay $15 for a ride and entrance into the park.