We went to Crystal River the "Nature Coast" for the weekend. It is only 2 1/2 hours from Sarasota, but this is where most of the manatees come to stay warm in the winter. The river has many springs that keep the water at about 72 degrees, a temperature that works for the manatees.
We happened to be up there during the manatee festival--which was mostly arts and crafts, but fun. We started our day at Just a Cupcake for lunch with a treat of a manatee cupcake for dessert.
Those big rocks next to our kayak are actually manatees--they are huge!
Teagan climbing into our kayak for a picture.
Braeden and Teagan petting a manatee. These are wild animals, but they are very docile and as long as you are quiet and stay near the top of the water they will let you touch them.
Teagan and Jeff. We did not kayak much because three sisters springs had about 50 manatees. We just stayed in one quiet part of the springs and the manatees came to us.
Braeden and Teagan in the hot tub at the hotel.
Fun in the pool.
The next day we went to a wildlife park where we got to see lots of endangered Florida wildlife as well as some that are not so endangered.
They have a hippo!
gators
flamingos
Teagan was so excited to see live flamingos.
This pelican had babies that had just hatched. You can kind of see them under her.
