2015 Feb 22 & 23 - Around Hillsborough State Park

We awoke on Sunday morning to the white ibis scouring the edge of the water behind the camper. We rode the bikes to the cafe. It was painfully slow, but I posted to the blog and Marsha paid a couple of bills while we were there. We had a bite if lunch to pass the time while waiting for the Internet to respond.

After lunch, we rode by the site where our friends, Jerry & Jane, from Annapolis were supposed to arrive. They arrived while we were riding by. They were only here for one night, so we visited during the afternoon and in the evening after dinner. They left on Monday morning.

After Jerry & Jane left, we jumped on the bikes and rode down to the trail that leads to the rapids on the Hillsborough River. We walked a loop on the trail, going by the rapids near the end of the loop.

We drove over to Plant City to get some BBQ at Smokin' Aces. It's just a little smoker stand in the parking lot of a craft brewery and winery store. What more could you ask for? You could ask for the BBQ stand to be open. Turns out he won't be open until Wednesday, so we'll be going back for the full experience. Stay tuned for that.

The Plant City Strawberry Festival starts on Thursday, but we managed to by a half flat (6 mounded pints) of fresh strawberries for $6.00! Marsha cleaned berries between loads of laundry that afternoon.

We had a chicken salad with fresh strawberries in it for dinner that night.

2015 Feb 21 - First Full Day at Hillsborough River State Park

We started our day with a trip to the Poolside Cafe. Despite the WiFi service being lousy, I was able to get a post up to the blog, but we gave up on trying to pay a couple of bills. As the name implies, there's a swimming pool behind the cafe which is said to be the second largest in Florida, only bested by one at Disney World that holds 300 gallons more water. It's rare that we see a state park with a swimming pool.


At 2:00, we boarded the tram for a trip across highway 301 to Fort Foster, one of the forts in the chain of forts built across Florida during the Seminole wars of the 19th century. This particular fort has been rebuilt twice; once in the 1970s, due to decay, and once in the 1990s due to arsonists. The fort is built over the ruins of the original and is historically accurate. The Seminoles have never signed a peace treaty!


After the fort tour, we took a walk along some of the trails in the park. There was an old suspension bridge in need of repair, and a picnic pavilion whose support pillars were made of cypress trunks.


We got back to camp around 4:45 and cooked some burgers over a wood fire before walking to a campfire program about some of the sounds the park animals make. Then back to camp for a beer, a little TV and a good night's sleep.

2015 Feb 17-20 - Oscar Sherer, Relatives, Arriving at Hillsborough River State Park

On Tuesday, Mac & Jan from Decatur stopped by to see the camper. They are wintering in Port Charlotte, about thirty miles away. We went to lunch at Casey Key Fish House. The food was good, but it was just a bit chilly at our outside table.

Wednesday, we met Art, Jo, Ray, and Sheila at Pincher's Crab Shack in Lakewood Ranch for lunch. After lunch, we walked around the shopping area for a while. On the way back to camp, we stopped by and had a beer with Art while Jo was out somewhere.

That night, we roasted some hot dogs while the raccoons tried to figure out how to share our dinner.
Thursday around 11;30 Sheila called and said that a bunch of Marsha's cousins, most of whom live in the Chicago area, were going to be at her house that afternoon. So, we drove back up to Lakewood Ranch and spent a few hours visiting with all of them.

We got back to Oscar Sherer in time to spend some time listening to music played by anyone who wanted to join in. There were some pretty good musicians in the group. After the music, we went back to camp and sat around the fire with some new friends we met there.

Friday morning, we got up and got ready to hit the road. After a visit to the dump station, we made the 87 mile drive to Hillsborough River State Park. We got there at 1:00, so we had plenty of time to get set up and run in to Zepherhills to grab a few supplies before taking the 5:00 tram tour around the park.

We ate a light dinner and settled in for the night. Big plans for tomorrow!