Day Two!

After a chilly, but great, first day - the sun begins to warm us up on the second day as workshops continue in full force!  Awesome jams last night and all you can eat blue crabs for dinner.  Today's a big day of rehearsals for the Manatee Orchestra, which will perform on Saturday night during the concert.  Be sure to share your pictures if you are here with us!  If you're not here, it's not too late to join us for the weekend at a per diem rate of $40 per day!

Day One: Here We Go!

The first day is here and we're already having a blast!  Many folks had to battle the unusual cold weather to get here and are still arriving due to the frozen roads; we're keeping everyone effected in our thoughts today.

If you're still thinking about joining us - you can!  $40 per diem rate for each day - concert is $10 at 7 pm on Saturday.  Whether you come for a day or for the remaining three - we've got plenty to offer!

Jam tonight at 7 pm during the all you can eat blue crab dinner at the Monkey Bar and Riverside Crab House!

See Monkeys

When G.A. Furgason bought the land that is now the Homosassa Riverside Resort, he had a potential eyesore in the form of a rock pile in the marina outside of the restaurant.  So, he put a lighthouse on it and then added some local monkeys that he'd been working with.  The result is a longstanding tourist
attraction dubbed "Monkey Island" which is currently home to five spider monkeys named Ralph, Sassy, Ebony, Eve and  Emily.

The monkeys are easily seen from the Riverside Crab House, Monkey Bar, Yardam Lounge or marina and boaters can navigate right up to the island.

Be sure to check out this article on the monkeys and say hello during your stay this week!

Get Your Seafood On

The Homosassa River is a premier fishing attraction known to anglers far and wide.  The next best thing to enjoying fresh caught fish off the river is to visit Shelly's Fish Market right there on the banks.  If you've got a kitchen in your lodging package and want to live like a local for a few days, head down to Shelly's and pick up some fresh seafood.  Best time to visit is around 2 pm when a lot of the boats come in from their daily harvest.

The Homosassa Riverside Resort has some basic items in the boat rental store but there is a full sized Publix off of Halls River Road and S. Suncoast Boulevard.  Rooms with a kitchen have cooking and eating utensils with a large fridge, oven and microwave.  Get some seafood for the week, then freeze some to take home!

We're really looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Get Wild At Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park

In case you're wondering about some of the things you'll be able to see while you're in Homosassa, I'll be sharing some of the highlights with you, starting with the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park.

Doubling as a wildlife preserve, this park was once home to the t.v. series "Gentle Ben" and is home to a number of rescued Florida wildlife like bald eagles and Florida panthers.  It's about a minute's drive from the Homosassa Riverside Resort and a wonderful half-day trip into the wilder side of Florida.  You might even get to meet "Lucifer", the charismatic hippopotamus that holds court in his own olympic style swimming pool, remembering fond days of his early acting jobs in "Tarzan" films shot in Florida.

This is one of our favorite places in Homosassa - and it has lots of history on display at the main entrance building.  If you do one other thing besides the retreat, be sure to do this!

Just Around The Corner...

We're at that point now where you start to get tickled, just knowing how much fun is coming.  We're just around the corner from the second retreat and we're looking forward to seeing many returning folks, lots of new friends will be there and I hope we get a nice, curious public coming out from the local towns, Citrus and surrounding counties.  There's a good chance they don't know of the diamond that is Homosassa Springs, so, instead of cheerleading for this event, which runs January 30th - February 2nd, I'll just post a link to the blog where we had just finished last year's inaugural event.  There's a bunch of photos in this post.  I want you to look at them and picture yourself in that place making music with all those folks.  Then, be sure to register with us by using the button over on the right side.  Don't forget to mention the retreat to the front desk at the Homosassa Riverside Resort when you book your room.  We not only get a special rate there but also at the Homosassa RV Campground right near by.

http://floridagulfcoastdulcimerretreat.blogspot.com/2013/02/thank-you-lets-do-it-again-next-year.html

There's the link.  It'll do the talking for me.  See you soon, I hope!

Get Your T-Shirts!

With just three weeks to go before the retreat - t-shirts are available for order!  Visit this link and order your shirt soon!