The trip was scheduled for 8:00 a.m.
We arrived early morning at this beautiful small town of Crystal River. Just across the dive center we had breakfast in open air enjoying the view of Kings Bay.

At 8:00 we were still the only two people for manatee tour and they suggested us to rent a pontoon boat and make the trip ourselves.
So we did – my husband was the captain and i was helping with the map.
We were boating around Kings Bay along Buzzard Island around Banana Island where is the Big Spring or King Spring and we made a stop to look for manatees.
There were few of them around but too shy to come closer.

Then we drove the boat back and under a bridge on the way to “Tree Sisters Spring”

We made our second stop and we took a bath in refreshing pure cold spring water.
Back on the boat we got warm again on the sun.
We had beautiful weather and made gorgeous pictures of water sights – an example how happy life in nature could be.
More pictures of our Crystal River boat trip

Orchid growers from around the state came to show and sell these exotic tropical beauties – thousands of gorgeous orchid plants, different species, colors and variations to please the taste of every orchid lover.

Doors for visitors opened at 10 a.m. and after one hour about half of the orchids were already sold.
Prices were very reasonable for such elite quality and every body could get priceless professional advice and information about the particular orchid they buy and how to care for. Suitable fertilizers and soil were also offered.

Hundreds of people came to buy or just to enjoy the show

For no additional cost lectures were provided by professionals. After the shopping some of the earliest visitors were already taking sits in the cozy atmosphere of the shady Oak Pavilion just relaxing and waiting to learn more about repotting and mounting orchids and different orchid cultures – Cattleya, Oncidium, Vanda, Phalaenopsis.

Orchids sensual beauty have fascinated people for centuries as symbols of love, beauty and luxury.

These are the best exotic natural flower decoration for our house, room, office, patio, balcony and a delightful gem to integrate into our garden.

Click to see our collection of pictures Exotic Orchids, Orchid flowers wallpapers, check also our Orchid flower greeting cards and Mother’s Day Cards with orchids.

It is spring time and the few kapok trees in St Peterburg are full of blossom.

These rare exotic tropical trees are really spectacular with their huge beautiful red flowers. The leaves are deciduous in winter. Red flowers with 5 petals are born between January and March before the green leaves develop. The flowers mature into small husks containing fibres, similar to cotton.

Kapok tree with only flowers in spring:

Huge bright red beautiful flowers:

See more exotic kapok tree pictures.

Mother Nature is blossoming in spring flowers now!

Enjoy and have a beautiful spring time!

Click to see all pictures as Beautiful Pink Roses Wallpapers – 1024x768px

My husband bought the Rose and came home with a big smile and said that he had a surprise for me.

The rose plant was SO BEAUTIFUL – full of blooms and radiating a charming sweet fragrance. We had been enjoying this beauty for days and took lots of pictures to share.

Click to see the selection of Pink Roses Widescreen Wallpapers – 1920×1200

Two weeks later the rose was full of buds and soon in blossom again with more then 10 new rose flowers

Enjoy the beauty!

Rainbow spring is the third largest from all Florida’s Springs and the source of the beautiful Rainbow River. The headspring is a complex of four vents(outlets). Numerous smaller vents and boils contribute to the average flow of 450 million gallons per day.

Rainbow River, once known as Blue Run, flows about 5.6 miles and joins the Withlacoochee River on its way through Lake Rousseau to the Gulf of Mexico.

The headspring is a natural swimming pool with crystal clear and purest water.

The feeling of this pure cool freshness is an unique experience of joy for the skin, the whole body and soul that will attract you again and again.

Canoes and kayaks for rent are available for those who want to explore the river’s abundant wildlife, including otters, alligators, many species of turtles and fish and also variety of water birds.

All around the headspring there is a beautiful park with picnic areas surrounded by green lush vegetation, blossoming bushes full of butterflies and mixed forest providing fresh cool air and shade. The famous azalea gardens are in bloom In February and March.

The park is huge with nature trails for those who want to stroll and enjoy the butterfly garden, man-made waterfalls and the sandhill pine forest.

Rainbow Springs State Park is located 3 miles north of Dunnellon, Marion County, Central Florida

Open 8 a.m. until sunset, 365 days a year.
An entrance fee of only 1.00 per person is required.
Parking lots are in the forest very near the entrance of the park

During the hot summer days the many Florida Springs are some of the most attractive places to go. Clear water with constant temperature year round and many recreational possibilities, including scuba diving,snorkeling, canoeing, fishing,swimming and others, are just perfect alternatives to the busy city life.

Silver Springs is a small town in Marion County, North Central Florida, several miles east of Ocala.
Silver Springs on Google maps

Silver Springs provide the headwaters of Silver River – nearly 550 million gallons crystal clear water are being delivered every day.This forms the largest natural artesian spring system in the world. The water purity is 99.8% and temperature is 72 degrees F year round. The water is so clear and transparent that the place became favorite for filming and TV shows’ underwater scenes.

The high visibility makes things look nearby as the bottom might be dozens of feet away from the surface.

This park is open every day from 10am to 5 pm and combines the natural environment with family entertainment of different kinds (glass bottom cruises, concerts, animal shows and others). Admission is $34 for adult and includes all the features inside the park.

From the glass bottom boats you can see all underwater habitants and feed them

Have fun and enjoy!

This post might give you another sight.

Some time ago i was thinking of buying a small inflatable canoe or kayak to explore closely beautiful Florida springs and rivers. At that time I could not find something suitable that I would like from the first glance. But I did not give up the idea and a month ago I searched some online stores and found my past idea “materialized” .

“Coleman 2-Person Inflatable Sit-on-Top Kayak With Paddles”

So I immediately ordered it from WALMART ( it is available online only ), where they had the lowest price of 79.98.

And for less than a hundred dollars (including shipping and two paddles) I got it in a few days.

And of course we ( my wife and me ) tried it right away. The first evaluation is:

• when properly inflated the kayak is very stable in the water
• despite its size of 11 feet, it is relatively light and can be carried and handled inflated by a single person
• easy to clean, wash and deflate after use
• can be folded and put in a bigger bag
• and finally it is very inexpensive water sport -;) – going in the water costs nothing to you

Kayaking in the ocean might be as exiting as it is in the mountain river. Like the other day we went in the water in pretty “breezy” weather and after a while we got company – a couple dolphins just a few dozens feet away.

But the most excited as always were the children on the beach. They all wanted a ride.

On St.Pete Beach

Enjoy open air and open water kayaking!

When I first visited Sunken Gardens I was really surprised of how a tiny piece of natural beauty could be maintained amidst the large city’s concrete environment. Situated just minutes away from downtown Saint Petersburg on 1825 4th Street N., it is open for the public every day of the week.

The 100 year old garden accommodates more than 50,000 tropical plants and flowers from different parts of the world among brooklets and cascading waterfalls.

Huge exotic palm trees

Lush bushes

Every spring here took place the famous Orchid Festival, well organized with lectures, demonstrations, musical entertainment and show thousands of gorgeous orchids.

With its peaceful atmosphere Sunken Gardens is an ideal place for some special events as well as educational programs and workshops.

More information can be found at the city’s official website Sunken Gardens

We moved to Florida in the early spring of year 2002 and the first destination to check out was Tampa. Since we loved to have beaches nearby and the city of Tampa seemed to have pretty much ocean water around. The next morning after our arrival I bought a detailed map of the city and for my big surprise I did not find beaches almost anywhere on Tampa Bay. So, that was the end of our search for a new place to live in here.

This is how we went on south and stopped in Sarasota – nice and clean city with some of the finest beaches.

During the winter of 2002/2003 while watching the weather forecast on the TV one thing caught my attention. Anytime the temperature showed for Saint Petersburg, which is 40 miles north of Sarasota, was up to several degrees higher than in Sarasota.

Then we decided to take a day or two and visit Saint Petersburg.
…. and we ended up in one one of the most beautiful places in Florida to make it our new home.

Saint Petersburg is situated at the southern part of Pinellas Peninsula, on Florida West Coast.
St.Pete Google map

Surrounded by the waters of Tampa Bay and Gulf of Mexico the city has 244 miles shoreline and intracoastal waterways.

This perfect location also determines the very specific climate conditions – constant breeze cooling down the land summertime and mild winter.

The name Sunshine City comes from one very impressive record in Guinness World Record Book – most consecutive days of sunshine – 768 days that began in 1967.

With its many parks and some of the nicest beaches Saint Petersburg is an ideal place for sport and outdoor recreation.

Some information can be found at the city’s web site St. Pete

Topic to be continued on this blog with facts, information and photos from our home city – Saint Petersburg.

God bless

The urban style of life in the cities isolates us from the nature – from forests, birds, animals and flowers – from the source of life, God gave us for healing and recreation.
Yet some places in Florida still manage to protect the nature as much as possible and preserve the vegetation, maintain the landscape and lakes and protect the birds and animals, including huge alligators.
One such beautiful place is the Reserve at Lake Pointe in Saint Petersburg – Florida.
Along the lakes groups of ibises walk around digging the ground in the search of food, ducks take their morning bath enjoying the water, mother ducks teach baby ducks to swim and great herons are hunting around.

The patios are all decorated with blossoming bushes and huge variety of flowers. Pretty bright colored hibiscuses are seen everywhere because they are better adapted to the dry sandy soil.
For a happy family life a healthy natural environment is the best for adults to get easily rid of the stress after work and for the kids to play outside in the nature and grow up strong and healthy!