Friday, January 22, 2021
Gainesville to Inverness
Moving further south today and having fun along the way. Overcast this morning, but we'll keep our rain gear handy. Florida showers usually pass quickly, I'm told...
Kanapaha Botanical Gardens occupies 62 lovely acres comprised of 25 specialty gardens, such as a butterfly garden, a “vinery,” various water gardens, a palm garden, and Florida's largest public collection of bamboos.
Delightful discovery
Gatekeeper of the gardens
Tom in some big 'boo
Beautiful butterfly
Colorful koi
One of the waterfalls
Most of the flowering plants were out of season, with the exception of the azaleas and camellias, but it was still well worth $10 each. It took us about an hour and a half to stroll all the paths.
Camellias in bloom...
...and azaleas
Peaceful path...
...leading to enlightenment
Deep in the Kanapaha jungle
Jana and a HUGE praying mantis
Kanapaha Lake Overlook
In the afternoon, we biked the short but beautiful Dunnellon Trail through a scenic swamp and across the Withlacoochee River. There are plans to someday link this 2.5-mile trail to the nearby Withlacoochee State Trail, but for now, it's on its own. A quarter-mile spur to Blue Run Park on the Rainbow River extended our ride to a total of 5.5 miles, maybe the prettiest 5.5 miles of our trip!
Short but scenic
Withlacoochee River
Taking a break on the Dunnellon Trail
Cypress swamp
Rainbow River
Before leaving Dunnellon, we drove to the northern terminus of the Withlacoochee State Trail before continuing south to Inverness to check out the trailhead where we'll be starting our 50-mile ride tomorrow. We found plenty of parking at the Apopka trailhead and at Liberty Park right across the street, so there should be no delay in that regard in the morning.
Caboose at the Apopka trailhead, Inverness
There's only one trail-side motel in Inverness, and it was already full, so for the next three nights we're staying ten miles away at the very nice Quality Inn Conference Center Citrus Hill, kind of in the middle of nowhere in Hernando, so let's just call it “near Inverness.”
Roadside Florida
For dinner, we went to the nearby Mariana's the Stinky Rose for some Italian food. “Stinky rose” refers to garlic, but what a terrible name for a restaurant! We might not feel like going out tomorrow night after our big ride, so I considered this my birthday dinner on birthday eve. Tom had spaghetti and meatballs, while I chose the delicious chicken marsala and a glass of cabernet. Very nice.
Tom
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