2011-12 Inverness Florida

Inverness Florida

Great Blue Heron

I’ve been checking out the area and if you’ve never experienced the Real Florida this is about as close as it gets.  The town is surrounded by lakes covered with lily pads, lush landscapes, cypress trees draped with Spanish moss, cattle farms and horse ranches with there 4 board wood fences.  Rich green pastures and an air-boat in every yard.

Just down the street from where I’m staying along the Withlacoochee River is one of many fishing camps called Riverside Lodge & Rv Resort.  I had to stop by and take a picture of their signage out front.  An orange painted trailer with a man sitting in a canoe fishing on top of the trailer.  It is one of the best advertisements I’ve ever seen.  The owners son came out and gave me a tour of the place on his gulf cart.

They’ve got lots of old and newer deluxe cabins, about 14 Rv sites right on the Withlacoochee River, with a couple small gators on the banks of the river near their boat dock, and they even have 4 platforms for tenters on an island.  What a cool place.  Nice to meet locals from the area.  A tad overpriced for their campsites, (unless you have Passport America) but still a fun place to check out.

Today I went on the Wild Bill Air Boat Ride on the Withlacoochee River.  $30.00.  It’s barely a hop and a skip from 1000 Palms where I’m staying.  The Air boat holds up to 20+ people in a stadium seating arrangement.  The day is very warm and sunny.  The water as flat and calm as plate glass reflecting a deep blue sky, or is that the effect from my sunglasses.  Our captain is a heavy set good ole country boy with a soft voice as he describes the scenery each time we stop and he turns off the huge fan blades that propel our flat bottomed boat across the water, weeds and hydrilla.  Gators are everywhere along with ibis and great blue herons.  An osprey nest is high up ion a dead tree and we watch an osprey catch a fish and struggle to fly off with it.

Withlacochee River

Along hwy 44 east of Inverness:

Had lunch at a local place called the Fish House and had a fish sandwich.  The mild white fish was lightly blackened and covered over half the plate.  Hardly saw the sub roll it was sitting on.  They do special dinners once a week and you have to make reservations for the special of the evening.  Only one dish is served and they are always packed.  This week it was a complete Turkey dinner.  Why not?  No reason to wait all year to have a good turkey dinner.

Molly McGees

I also checked out Molly McGee’s.  It’s a colorful Deli and Mini Mart that specializes in Cuban Sandwiches.  When I first walked in, it was a bit confusing.  The place is an odd mix of a mini-mart and a really eclectic shop/restaurant seating area. They were out of Cuban bread, so I had an 8” turkey sub with chips and a drink for $6.  Molly put a lot of heart into making one tasty sub.  The place is a wild collection of stuff inside and out that Molly has collected throughout the years.  She tells me her and her sister used to go out  competing to find the best stuff and that what’s in the shop is not her real good stuff, just more of the stuff she collected along the way.  And now Molly wonders what on earth she was thinking buying all this stuff and the money spent on it.  Well, for us customers, it sure is fun to see all the things she’s acquired along the way.  Great atmosphere, great subs.

Molly McGee's dining room

Checked out their local flea market which was a total disappointment, but we’re hitting the heat of the summer and they may be slowing down during the summer months.

and you know there are more pictures at:  my Picasa site.