Northern Florida

“I will be bringing my entire family down to Ocala for a funeral this Friday.

Any suggestions for an inexpensive, unique way to spend the day on Saturday that could be enjoyed by kids from 11 to 43? :-)

Don't want to go more than an hour or two from Ocala unless it is to the north--the direction we will be headed on Sunday.”

“Ocean swimming and sunning, maybe at Daytona Beach.”

“Orlando is just a hop, skip, and a jump away. I'm guessing a 45 minute drive from Ocala? There's countless theme parks there. Of course, those can get very pricey though.

The beach is always nice. Various places on the eastern seaboard you could go to, like Daytona Beach and St. Augustine (the latter is really nice, and right near I-95).

My condolenses (sp?) on your loss.”

“Lots of canoeing and cool springs on the rivers around that area.

You could do the Juniper Springs run or Alexander Springs in Ocala NF.

Better yet I'd go tube the Ichnetucknee River. That's pretty cheap and lots of fun.”

“I do love St. Augustine. Lots of tours there. Even if you don't take any tour, it's a great place to explore.”

“Thanks, beach may be an option, not theme parks though.

Canoing sounds good, it would be great fun to see gators in the wild, how likely would that be?

Will look for info on that Ichnetucknee River also.”

“Depending on the river it could be highly likely.”

“Ichnetucknee River is another fantastic option. Crystal clear water, and if you go during the week, crowds will be minimized. You likely won't see gators there though. If you really want to see gators, just look around any lake you come across. There are ~30,000 lakes in Florida, so your chances are pretty good.”

“http://www.canoeoutpost.com/
Check out the Sante Fe, Thats a nice paddle. Plus Om lives right on the river.”

“Ichetucknee State Park
Tube rental is about $5 per and up. Defintately start at the north end and plan to be there when the gates open.”

“The more I thinkn about it the more it think that the ichetucknee is your best bet. Beaches are dime a dozen, Icheetucknee is unique.”

“Go see the manatees (if they're nearby this time of year, I seem to recall they're near the springs in the winter time???).”

“Fritz , my sweet, please email me and i will email you my phone #!!
I kin put you on the rivers...whichever you want, i am north of ocala , a few miles from I-75.
you and family would be most warmly welcome”

“Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!!!

:-)”

“I'm just north of Ocala, in Gainesville, Fritz. If you'd like, you can drop me an email.


My best bets for the Ocala area:

1. Gator Football game in Gainesville (in season of course)

2. The Juniper Springs run

3. Ichetucknee River

4. St. Augustine


They've all been previously mentioned (except for the best choice. They're all good suggestions.”

“P.S. Fritz,
Sorry for the loss of your loved one.”

“thought you meant north fl..this be central”

“Thanks, everyone, for the ideas.

Shiprunner's grandfather died on Saturday. When we "adopted" him at the age of 7, his grandparents adopted us as honorary children snd they have been very supportive of us for the past 13 years. So they are not blood relatives, but they are family.”

“Howdy Fritz - sorry about the circumstances, but welcome back to Florida.

Good ideas above - personally I wouldn't pass up the chance to get a guided tour from om.

There are a couple of other things I'll throw out there though. Silver Springs is in Ocala - it is a tourist park with glass bottom boat rides and a water park. Not my first choice, but it is a choice.

There is also the Ocklawaha river that you can canoe down (good chance for gator sighting, one of those blackwater rivers) - but again - I would go with the om option.”

“those are some good ideas. silver springs is right there in ocala. its one of the oldest attractions in florida....dates way back. you can do their glass bottom boats and they have other stuff. check the internet. its pretty neat. as a kid it was one of my favorites.”

“There are also wild rheseus monkeys there. No joke. They've got rid of most of them, but many still live there.

The monkeys were brought over when they shot the original Tarzan movie at Silver Springs many moons ago. The film crews left. The monkeys stayed and thrived.”

“Just north of De Land(west of Daytona Beach) is De Leon Springs SP. It's a good place to swim. Inside they have grills in the tables. We used to cook pancakes, etc., on them in the morning, while looking out at the spring/swimming hole(pool) and the river originating there. You can get everything there.”

“http://www.floridastateparks.org/deleonsprings/photos/DLS-pancakes-park.JPG of the image" WIDTH="400">
Click on picture for Park Photo Gallery.”

“Sorry, here's a link to the picture.
Cooking Breakfast”