Glass Bottoms

May I just say again how tired we are? We are tired.

After a day at Disney, we needed a sleep-in. We finally rolled out of our hotel at 11:30, headed to Silver Springs.

I had been there as a kid, and I liked it. They have glass-bottom boat tours of the Silver River, which is absolutely clear to the bottom, and it's deep. Steve Irwin did some filming there, as did lots of other Hollywood types, because the water is so clear. You can see a 500-year-old dug-out canoe and a Spanish rowboat.

There are wild rhesus monkeys along the river (didn't see any), and alligators galore. You can see the springs that feed the river and all the fish, turtles and occasional eels that live in it. There was even a gar fish, which was cool to see.

On the way there, we stopped at a Florida Citrus Company store, or something with a name very like that. We were all a little embarrassed to go somewhere that's such a tourist hole, and Kayleigh was about ready to crawl under a rock. But my mom asked for some cumquats, so I thought I'd look. They didn't have any. They had lots of tacky shell decorations made in the Philippines, though. Kelsey got an orange-slice bouncy ball. Eric got some evil coffee.

Lunch at the Olive Garden, a few missed turns, and we didn't arrive at Silver Springs until 2:30. They close at 5. They gave us our tickets half-price, though. Nice.

Kayleigh said it was interesting, but not as cool as she thought it would be. I think it would be a pleasant place to hang out for a while. It has a retirement feel to it. Not sure why, but Eric got the same feeling.

On the way back, we stopped at a different fruit stand. The guy who worked there said they hadn't sold cumquats in about 10 years, and the place he bought them from doesn't even grow them anymore. Sorry, Mom. I think cumquats are a dying breed.

Speaking of dying, we passed this lovely little shop. Florida is full of outlet malls and pawn shops. This one was unique.