Under the sea, under the sea...Darlin it's better down where it's wetter...

Early this morning after a stop at Cracker Barrel for breakfast we traveled to Weeki Wachee Springs for the mermaid show, a boat ride and history lesson.

Weeki Wachee is a Seminole name which means winding waters. The springs produce 100 million gallons of crystal clear water every 24 hours. The temperature is a constant 74.2, 12 months of the year.

This statue is at the entrance of the park. You will see in a later picture, the same move produced in the closing water ballet.

First stop was a picture of the boys with one of the mermaids. I really had to twist their arms to get into this picture....NOT!


We took this picture of Bob so his son could see what good care we are taking of him while Ralph and Karen are in Iowa. By the way, hurry home.....I want to get to say goodbye to you. If not, you are definitely going to have to come to the island!!!

And of course there always has to be one "dirty OLD man" in the group!!!

Love the peacocks....you could walk right up to them....if they didn't walk up to you first!

Salt alligator wrestling??????

King Neptune and one of his favorite mermaids..

Our first show was "Fish Tales" which was basically the story of the springs, how the first theater was built in 1947 and basically how the girls train to be mermaids, how their breathing mechanism works, etc.

The colors of their costumes were beautiful,and we could see them but when you take pictures through the glass and into the water they aren't as clear. I love this picture where you can see the turtles and fish swimming with them. It makes one believe that the mermaids may be real...well I can pretend!!

After the first show we took a boat ride down the Weeki Wachee River and once again we were able to see all sorts of wildlife, including wild turkeys, bald eagles, this blue heron.

Here was a manatee just lounging in the warm water.

an egret......

I was able to snap this picture of one of the peacocks.....magnificent colors!!

Caught the tail end of the animal show as we wandered into the last mermaid show.

I can't believe I even got close enough to take this picture.....I HATE snakes!!!

Baby alligator.....

Tortoise.......

And on to the mermaid show.....Theme was "The Little Mermaid"

and of course the prince who fell off the ship and into her arms.....

We all loved the frog.....

And here is that wicked witch who wanted to steal the little mermaid's beautiful voice.

And on land with her prince after she was granted her wish of having legs.....

The final ballet.....remember the statue?

I loved this little girl....you could tell she just wanted to be a mermaid and be right in that pool!!!

After the show, we made our final stop at the Russel Stover chocolate outlet to stock up on their delicious hot fudge sauce. Hot fudge Sundaes for all the grand kids in 2 weeks!!!

We all had another great day....I can't wait to take the granddaughters here....hopefully next winter!!