Homosassa Springs

The Outdoors

Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. Here you can see many manatees and several species of fish through a floating glass observatory known as the Fish Bowl—except in this case the fish are outside the bowl and you are inside it. The park's wildlife walk trails lead you to excellent manatee, alligator, and other animal programs. Among the species are bobcats, a western cougar, white-tailed deer, a black bear, pelicans, herons, snowy egrets, river otters, whooping cranes, and even a hippopotamus named Lu, a keepsake from the park's days as an exotic-animal attraction. Boat cruises on Pepper Creek lead you to the Homosassa wildlife park (which takes its name from a Creek Indian word meaning "place where wild peppers grow"). 4150 S. Suncoast Blvd., U.S. 19, Homosassa Springs, FL, 34446. 352/628-2311. www.hswsp.com. $13. Daily 9-5:30; last boat departs at 3:15.

Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park. This state park has the remains of a circa-1851 sugar mill and other remnants of a 5,100-acre sugar plantation owned by Florida's first U.S. senator, David Levy Yulee. It makes for pleasant picnicking, although it is somewhat lacking visually. Rte. 490, (Yulee Dr.), 3 mi off U.S. 19/98, Homosassa Springs, FL, 34447. 352/795-3817. www.floridastateparks.org. Free. Daily 8 am-sunset.