Daily Life at Fishers Marina
Pavel and I flew to Florida on Frontier for a very special job — dog-sitting for our Czech friends Petr and Petra while they were visiting Czechia! A giant flamingo greeted us in the Tampa airport terminal, and Petr and Petra picked us up with their white Jeep. They spent the first day with us, showing us what to do with the dogs and introducing us to campground life. Then they took the motorcycle and rode to the airport for their flight to Czechia — and left the Jeep for us to use!
Petr and Petra’s motorhome at Fishers Marina and Campground in Yankeetown became our home base. What a place! Boats everywhere, a green houseboat at the dock, and paddleboards ready to go. Our days had a lovely rhythm — lunch at the picnic table and evenings under the neon Gator sign. A sign at the campground said “Welcome to our paradise” — and it was right!
Every morning started with a walk with Bella and Jack, a good hour to an hour and a half, usually along the boardwalk through the marsh. They loved every minute of it! We never knew what we would meet — a giant grasshopper, a bright red crab, a dragonfly, and all the birds of the marsh.
Then we went exploring — springs and other places. We studied a map of Kings Bay, climbed an observation tower, and learned all about the estuaries. We spent a day at the beach, sharing the sand with ibis and gulls, and we even bumped into Elvis!
But our favorite trips were to the Florida springs! Rainbow Springs in Dunnellon stole our hearts — the water was so clear and turquoise that you could see every turtle swimming below. We also visited Three Sisters, Seven Sisters, Devil’s Den, and Crystal Springs — and maybe more! At Devil’s Den we snorkeled in an underground cave spring — what an experience! We paddled the spring runs on our paddleboards, and on our days on the water we also met a manatee, an alligator resting on the grass, a cormorant drying its wings on a log, and a turtle we held in our hands. Is there a better way to spend a day?
When we got back, the dogs got another, shorter walk. Then we made dinner — many times on the outside fire, and first we had to collect wood around the neighborhood. We even tasted alligator — fried bites with mashed potatoes! A red sign told us Yankeetown is located on the Gulf of America, and every sunset over the water proved it. Life slowed down here, in the best possible way. What a September!
We paddled the spring runs on our paddleboards, and the wildlife came to us: a manatee gliding slowly just under the surface, a turtle swimming in the clear water over the rocks, an alligator resting in the duckweed, cormorants drying their wings on a log along the Fort King Paddle Trail, and turtles sunbathing on a blue mat in the water. At Hunter Springs, even the wall was a manatee — a giant mural! Is there a better way to spend a day?
