USA – Hudson (Florida) – Week 2
- By Denise
- March 3, 2016
- No Comments
Hi y’all…
After a long journey we made it to our next stop – Dragonfly Ranch in Hudson, Florida. This is a little place about an hour north of Tampa and our Airbnb stay was located in the rural outskirts of the town. With our usual requirements of self-catering we were in for a treat as breakfast was to be included on this stay. Yay – Carter was in his element as he was given a choice of hens eggs, duck, turkey or the smaller option of quail eggs to have for breakfast….Dave of course didn’t participate in the egg breakfasts so relied on his trusty faithful toast!
Dragonfly Ranch with our rental car in front
Our hosts Boston Bill and TL are the most amazing people we could have stumbled across. TL is a wealth of knowledge and has seen and experienced a great deal in her time and Boston Bill is this wonderful laid back kind of guy happy to be living at his beloved Dragonfly Ranch and loving his challenges with TL and her amazing stories and wit. They both have a heart of gold and offer their property more for education than anything else.
Just some of Carter’s new Shark’s Teeth collection.
Carter was mesmerised by their fossil collection and especially the different shark’s teeth they had collected over the years. A sabre tooth tiger scull and mammoth tooth also part of their collection!!
After settling in we ventured to the local Publix grocery store where (among other things) we bought yet another wonderfully hot cooked chicken. They are so good and cheap especially when you end up using the cold meat for lunch the next day. A late night talking to Bill and TL discussing just about everything and a good night’s sleep.
Next day we met Melanie – a ‘woofer’ helping them look after the animals and maintain their property. They also have ‘workaway’ students and we have introduced them to HelpEx.com as well so that gives them a good source of new people willing to help on a small farm in exchange for board.
The Tampa area is beautiful – we are just loving our time here in the States – I think I have already said that in an earlier blog – but it’s true. It feels homely. We took a drive down to Tarpon Springs to visit what used to be known as the sponge capital of the world . This area was the base for fisherman to travel in their boats into the Gulf and dive for sponges. We watched a film about the industry and are now well informed that there are many different sponges, each with their best use. For example, the Wool sponge, the silk sponge, the wire sponge, the flower pot sponge and a couple of others.
It was in Tarpon Springs too that we became aware of the portion size when eating out. A lunch at a Greek Restaurant ended up ‘stuffing’ us for the day as the two Gyros Dave and I ordered were humungous. We have decided that from now on we will ask for an entrée each OR one of us will order a main and just share that between us. The meal itself was amazing!
Next day was a full day’s trip to Clearwater Beach and Madiera Beach (both just north west of Tampa) which was lovely – a little cool with the wind blowing from the sea and the sea too cold to swim in but otherwise a lovely day. With buskers on the beach at the end of the day it was quite the atmosphere.
Carla (another woofer from England) had arrived and will help on the ‘Ranch’ over the next few weeks so it was a full house and fabulous as we all got on beautifully. TL’s friend Terri was able to get us tickets to the Tampa State Fair so after a chatty breakfast and some chores (cleaning and bleaching all of the water and feed dishes for the animals and birds) where we all pitched in it was off to Tampa for the afternoon and evening. Part of the ticket we had been given was an armband which gave us all free rides – worth $US35 each so we were very very spoilt. So, our first stop was the Ferris wheel to take in the view of the fair and what was on offer – what a view and a rainbow of bright colours. Food, food, food and more food – it is mind boggling just how much food is on offer – from deep fried oreos to corn dogs to giant turkey legs, popcorn, corn chips and cheese, fried and oh, just so much more…everywhere you look there’s a food truck like the ones in the pictures.
Dave, Carla, Carter, Melanie and Denise
Up the top of the Ferris Wheel – wow the Fair is huge!!
Carter winning his race!!
Carter loved the huge slide and the trampoline jump and of course the Cotton Candy (candy floss) and corn chips and melted cheese!!! He also enjoyed watching some amazing pirates and their show using a trampoline and diving from extreme heights into a swimming pool. Quite entertaining. A quick look at little pig racing and it was time to watch the fireworks display and then head home which took a bit longer than planned as I couldn’t read the directions properly!!!
Carter and Captain Bella the dog…
Next day was another experience kayaking down the Chassahowitzka River with Billy and TL, Bella the dog, Carla, Melanie and us all venturing to see manatees in their native surroundings. When I was about 10 I did a school project on Dugongs. Well, after all these years I get to see one as manatees are dugongs and also known as sea cows and they make their way from the ocean up the rivers to keep warm in the winter. They are large docile mammals and we were fortunate enough to see a lot of them. They live on the river bed and come up for air every minute or two – quite the sight, watching a hippopotamus type face coming out of the water right beside you!
Kayaking down the Chassahowitzka River – awesome experience…
This is what they look like!!
We were able to kayak for around 3 hours and this time was blissful and we felt quite the adventurers in having to tow our kayaks through very shallow, tree root infested parts of the river just to make our way to a fresh water Spring. Truly natural and back to nature.
That night we took Billy and TL out for dinner to their favourite pizza place and had yet another wonderful American experience with beer in pitchers, carafes of wine and loads of tasty pizza!
Until next time Dragonfly Ranch!
Leave a Reply