Manatees, Barbecue and RVs--Saturday, February 7

Belgian waffles for breakfast. One waffle maker and 7 people means that it takes a while, but it was free. What the heck. We head south, cross the Suwanee River and go into the Fanning Springs State Park. Two manatees—mother and child—in the spring and mullet jumping all over the place. Exciting morning. Water is down, the bald cypress knees are way above water. Lunch at Mulberry’s Barbecue. While we wait for our ribs we read the various articles posted on the wall. One handwritten sign lists all the things in the US that have been sold—the Congress, the ports etc. But we can’t figure out how they came to the conclusion that the ACLU sold the Bill of Rights. Seems to us that they have been protecting it. The sign (presumably erected by the owner) chides the reader to support the Fair Tax and save the USA.

Reading an article it seems that the Fair Tax is 20% VAT and the logic is that you won’t have all this recordkeeping and a $100 item will cost $100 because the tax will be included. What they don’t seem to realize is that a $100 item will cost $120. And that there will be lots of recordkeeping. But I guess it’s better to keep it sounding simple. At least Florida doesn’t include the rebel flag in their state flag.

As we pass through Ocala we see a sign for a RV Show. Can’t resist. We try to find the route. Ms Garmin can’t locate it, a person we accost has no idea where the Florida Horse Park is, so we stumble on. Lo and behold, there is the road! We go south about 7 miles—the address is still Ocala—and find it. We check out the various versions of our RV, the 24 and 25 foot copycats, to see what they have improved and what isn’t as good. I do like the sealed burners on some of them and a few have granite countertops (1/4” thick but still granite). The best of the lot is by Guest House, but it is $130,000!!! Not likely. We do get some ideas about things we can do to ours, and I manage to sell a couple of people on the Navion before we leave.

It is 6 by the time we arrive at our home for the next two nights and the gate is closed. A woman appears at my window, identifies us, goes to get our information and let’s us know that if we go out, we must have an escort to our site when we come back in. This park is for 55+ and has over 300 sites. We settle in, make supper, and decide on a quiet night.