We left Jekyll Island just before 8:00 this morning. We had a 4 hour drive to Crystal River, FL which was a very nice drive. We were on I-95 for an hour, but then traveled kind of diagonally through northern Florida on secondary roads. We drove through lots of live oak forests that were heavy with Spanish Moss. In many areas the trees on each side of the road had limbs arching across the highway forming tunnel-like areas. This was really beautiful.
We arrived at our overnight destination just about noon. Fortunately, we were able to check in before the check in time. The Port Hotel and Marina is in Crystal River, FL. The Crystal River and all its canals and tributaries is where the manatees spend the winter. The reason we are here in this area of Florida is to celebrate our friend Reva’s 60th birthday. The 6-pack will be all together on Wednesday at a house we rented. Thursday, we will go on a swim with the manatees boat tour. Reva said that’s how she wanted to celebrate her birthday. We had already had plans to be in Florida on the day of her birthday, so we rearranged our schedule. We will be picking up Reva and Jo at the Tampa airport tomorrow. Pat and Eve will fly into Tampa on Wednesday and join us at the house we rented in Dunnellon, FL. So we’re all looking forward to celebrating with Reva.
The Port Hotel’s claim to fame is that Elvis Presley stayed here in 1961 while filming Follow that Dream. And I don’t think they’ve touched the hotel since then. It is a tired little place. However, it is right on the Crystal River. It has a little marina right outside our patio. We have a lovely view of the marina and river and we spent a nice couple of hours out on our patio having lunch after we arrived.
The hotel has several 2-story buildings, but here’s our building. Our room is on the bottom right end.
After a little rest, we then set off to explore the neighborhood. We had a nice walk through a residential area skirting around the nooks, crannies and canals of the river. The homes were everything from tiny and quaint to McMansions. There were some really gorgeous homes. It really is a very nice area.
After our walk, we went to the Margarita Breeze restaurant right on the grounds of the hotel and had dinner. We started out sitting outside on the patio, but the little biting gnats followed us from Jekyll Island and were just awful. So, we moved inside. Like the hotel, the restaurant is very tired, but we were amazed by the really good food, coconut shrimp and broiled scallops. We really enjoyed our dinner.
We also were treated to a lovely sunset.
We are taking it easy now and will continue to be relaxed until we leave tomorrow to pick up Reva and Jo at the Tampa airport.