A Day in Untouched Florida in Citrus County

Citrus County in Florida is untouched beauty that you must see. The manatees love it there and along with old style Florida

Citrus County in Florida is untouched beauty that you must see. The manatees love it there and along with old style Florida

Citrus County in Florida is untouched beauty that you must see. The manatees love it there and along with old-style Florida.

Untouched Florida in Citrus County

Central Florida is known as The Home of Mickey and who doesn’t enjoy going to Disney World. But……….there are days when hubby and I just want to see what this state is all about since we both grew up in other states. Our recent Date Day took us to the Citrus County area where sandy beaches are very uncommon. Several back roads were scheduled on this day trip and GPS is a must.

The area is mostly untouched and is known for its great fishing and having the most natural springs in the country. But there are some really neat places to see and things to do. During the winter, hundreds of manatees will make their way to the area to enjoy the warm waters for a few months until they migrate back south again. The picture below was taken in June at Homosassa Park where some manatees will stay all year round. Click HERE where you can see what the manatees are doing in the Manatee Cam.

Untouched Florida in Citrus County

I love the manatees, but hubby and I were wanting to take the back roads of Florida and see areas not often seen. We only have to drive about 2 hours and end up in the Gulf of Mexico.  Beautiful marshes are seen everywhere.

Untouched Florida in Citrus County
Untouched Florida in Citrus County

Remnants of hurricanes past as you ease closer to the Gulf

Untouched Florida in Citrus County

More water starts to appear.

Untouched Florida in Citrus County

With a small peak at the Gulf

Untouched Florida in Citrus County

We rode through a small town called Crystal River and Yankeetown, a fishing town that just dripped of charm. Very quaint and streets lined with old live oak trees and situated on the Withlacoochee River. There were small cottages to rent dotted all over the area and don’t you just love the colors they used. Reminds me so much of old Florida

Untouched Florida in Citrus County

We also stopped by the old Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins which have been there since 1851. It amazes me how places like this can still be standing after so many years of harsh Florida weather and hurricanes.

Untouched Florida in Citrus County

We also passed a beautiful home for sale and just had to stop to look at it longer.

Untouched Florida in Citrus County

Now I know you thinking “beautiful”?? Mr. G and I use to restore homes like this and we are always oohing and ahhing over them and what we could do with that particular home we saw. This home would make a wonderful Bed & Breakfast for the area with the water only 15 minutes away. It had a great lot too!!!

Untouched Florida in Citrus County

You will also notice, the closer you get to the Gulf, the higher the homes are off the ground.  Understandable. Mr. G calls this living the high life. People can be very creative with this idea. We also saw a very small island with about 20 homes on stilts which were almost in the water. I don’t know if the tide was up or if that was like that all the time.

Untouched Florida in Citrus County

After all that driving, it was time to grab a bite and so we stopped by a restaurant in Crystal River called Charlies Fish House and Restaurant where they only serve the fish they catch and bring in daily. I LOVE grouper and I was so excited about having some that my hands must have been shaking and my picture is a bit blurry.  It was wonderful!

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20 Comments

  1. How beautiful! It looks like you had a lovely time. Those houses are built to last. My grandparents live in one very similar. It has made it through several hurricanes.

    1. Hubby and I thought seriously about checking out that house more because we use to redo homes all the time. Especially older ones like that. Make it into a bed and breakfast. So lovely and a nice large lot for Florida.

  2. I’ve never seen that side of Florida and I’ve been going to see Mickey and visit the FL beaches since I was really young! I loved looking at the untouched areas and especially that old house! And the food looked dang good, too! Thanks!!

    1. Thank you for stopping by. It so well worth going down those back roads. You never know what you might see.

  3. Oh WOW your non Disney trip looked fabulous. I love exploring and looking at land marks, awesome buildings, awesome houses etc… Did you see any alligators or Swamp People?

  4. Beautiful photos Tammy! I love seeing other things besides amusement parks Florida has to offer. I would had loved to get a close look at the manatees.http://mylifeabundant.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-monalisa/icons/wpml_wink.gif

  5. Back road finds are always the best in my opinion. And you struck gold! I absolutely love these photos and your finds from your adventure! =D

    1. I haven’t been to see the manatees in the winter yet and I hear its spectacular to see all of them there.

  6. These are great date ideas, Tammy! I just so happen to be moving to Florida soon, and my husband Jared and I definitely want to take in the sights of our new home. Thanks for sharing on Hump Day Happenings!

  7. That looks like the perfect place to just relax! I love all of the pictures you shared. I feel like I could get so inspired to write there. How beautiful! I love the bright-colored cottages! I would totally like to stay in a pink one!

  8. I also love that old house! What town was it in? I also love driving around to see place in Florida that are still rural and not the huge tourist traps.

    Have you gone to Micanopy? http://www.micanopytown.com/ Such a nice tiny town. Great old book store and if you and your hubby like BBQ try Pearls- we love that place.

    Thanks for sharing your photos

    1. Thanks Linda for the tips and stopping by. Isn’t riding the back roads fun. Every time I try to pronounce Micanopy, I mess it up. I will put that on the one of the towns to visit for sure. That house was on the main drag at Yankeetown. I loved that picture so much, its now my desktop. The ideas I have for that house. Would make a perfect B&B and the lot is huge. Something you don’t see in Florida often.

      1. I use to do the same thing but now we go to Pearls so often that I finally got it right!

        Thanks for the information on the house – going over to zillow and see if I can find it.

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