Here’s some fun things to do in the area: • Launch your boat at the nearby public ramp, fish and explore the Suwannee River. You can head up-river and continue into tributaries, like the Santa Fe, or turn downstream for the Gulf of Mexico. Local outfitters will also arrange canoe rentals and portage for trips on the river for a modest charge. • Spend an afternoon wandering the display halls of the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville. Giant dinosaur skeletons, Native American and ecosystem exhibits, plus a newly-opened butterfly house. • Bike the Nature Coast Trail (a 26-mile paved rail-trail that’s 6-miles from the house) up to Cross City, or down to Chiefland. Plenty of country roads to pedal. Hiking and mountain-bike trails, too.
• Watch more than 100,000 bats swarm out of their “bat house” at sunset, on the campus of University of Florida. Then stay around to sample the dining and nightlife of Gainesville. • Midnight shopping at the 24-hour Super WalMart in Chiefland, 20-minutes away. • Jump in the Ichtucknee Springs with an inner tube on a hot summer day, and let the 72-degree water carry you with the current, “tubing” down the Ichtucknee River. • The cuisine at Old Town area restaurants features the two B’s: barbecue and buffet. There’s plenty of both at local eateries. Menus for our favorite local places located in a rack in the kitchen. • Antique-hunting at local shops in Fanning Springs, Chiefland, and Williston. Or, a little farther away, find the two antique-shop towns of High Springs and Micanopy. Just plain junk-shops and country auctions, too.
• Cave diving at local springs. • College sports games at U of F. Go Gators! • Watch the manatees cluster at Manatee Springs State Park in the winter months. • Nearby festivals, like Red Belly Days and the Cedar Key Seafood Festival. • Scalloping, deer and hog hunting, in season. • Birdwatching, both here and along the Gulf coast, especially during peak migration times. • There’s more places to explore, like the Devil’s Millhopper and Kanapaha Gardens; but too many to list them all here. What we don’t have is theme parks and traffic. One local wag calls this the land of “pine trees and pork barbecue.” Come see for yourself!
