Inspired Travels With Patti

Discover Crystal River Beyond the Manatees: Hidden Gems, Food, and Outdoor Adventures

• Patti Hunt • Season 2 • Episode 32

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 20:20

Crystal River may be known as the manatee capital of the world—but that’s just the beginning. In Part 2 of this conversation, I sit down with Nick Popham from Discover Crystal River to explore the hidden gems of Citrus County, Florida. From scenic biking trails and unique dining experiences to cave exploring, scalloping, and small-town charm, this episode reveals why Crystal River is more than just a day trip, it’s a destination worth fully experiencing.

Key Points

  • The Withlacoochee State Trail and Fort Cooper State Park provide scenic outdoor adventures
  • Local food scene features standout spots like Kane’s Cattle Company and Catch 22
  • Visitors can scallop or fish and have local restaurants cook their fresh catch
  • Unique experiences include Monkey Island, cave exploring, and natural spring pools
  • Inverness delivers a charming small-town vibe with shops, food, and historic attractions
  • Seasonal events like the Manatee Festival and waterfront fireworks enhance the experience
  • RV parks, hotels, and unique lodging options make extended stays easy and worthwhile

Resources & Links

Enjoyed this Episode 

It really help to follow / subscribe, and share it with a fellow traveler. 


Connect with Me:

Links and Discounts 

* Camp for Less than $9 a night: 

Reach out to Sharon & Warren Lewis Thousand Trails Membership Specialists.                  Call/Text 772-217-1851 

* Clear2O 20% off Discount Code: Inspired Travel 

* AirSkirts  $200 off with Code: RVPOD

* Rivet Supply Co Adventure Boards check website for FREE Personalizing

* KoolRV Optimize RV AC 

* Open Roads discount diesel fuel card 

* VIP Access Great RV product & services discounts 

* Innovative...

Discover Crysal River Beyond the Manatees

SPEAKER_01

One of the most unforgettable places that you could see manatees is also an area where you could see and experience so many incredible things. We're talking about Crystal River, and I am so excited to have Nick on. Nick, other than the incredible manatees that we talked about in part one of this episode, what else is one of the things that you love about Citrus County and this area?

SPEAKER_00

I feel like there's just endless exploring you can do here. I mean, we started this YouTube channel uh with Discover Crystal River in a series called Let's Discover. And we've been able to do so much that's even outside of just hanging out with manatees. I mean, we went to this amazing farm out in Floral City, which is our southeastern part of the county, to be able to experience these beautiful, like outdoor tents you can stay in and hang out with some cows. I mean, what's better than that? Um, being able to go biking on the Withlacuoochie State Trail. I mean, there's just so many different things you can do that when people hear the manatee capital of the world, they'd be shocked to find out that's that's one layer of our cake. And then once you dive in a little bit more, there is just a plethora of things you can do out here.

Welcome to Inspired Travels

SPEAKER_01

I want to welcome people to Inspire Travels with Patty. If you are new here, I created this podcast and YouTube channel to inspire people to live life more fully, and I believe that's through adventure, unique experiences, and exploring new places. I have the privilege of having Nick Popham on the show. You're originally from Southern California, and you have lived in nearly every region in this country and has fallen in love with Crystal River, Florida, which is where you are now located. You are the marketing and content manager for Discover Crystal River, where Nick loves to share all the amazing things people could do in Crystal River and the rest of Citrus County. And he's gonna share it with us today.

Meet Nick Popham of Discover Crystal River

SPEAKER_01

Nick, welcome to Inspire Travels with Patty.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you so much for having me on, Patty. I'm loving the content that you put together, and I'm just so excited to be able to talk about this place that I've fallen in love with.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so the two of us together being so excited about this area, we're gonna we're gonna try and keep it, keep it moving. Hold it together. No, we're not. We're just gonna jump in because it really is that kind of place.

Beach Vibes and RV Life

SPEAKER_01

So where I stayed in Crystal River at Crystal River Thousand Trails, it's an RV park. Um, down the road was a beach, and we went out on the beach and watched the sunset. And that particular day there was a drum circle. There might have been a hundred people out there. Just an amazing time, people super friendly, and and that's the vibe of this area. So, what else do you recommend? What else is going on in Citrus County in these different towns?

SPEAKER_00

First of all, Ford Island Trail Beach, I think is the beach you're talking about. That's our one beach that goes out to the Gulf, and it's absolutely beautiful. So cool to see a sunset out there. Definitely would recommend it. And apparently you see drum circles there every now and again. I have not seen that, but I'm not awesome as Patty. So definitely need to go do that. Um I think you're there once a month, actually. Okay, well, I need to make my way out there. That would be a ton of fun.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I'll have to send you the information.

SPEAKER_00

Please do. Um, since some of your audience are RV folks, we know we have an awesome new RV park that's in Crystal River called Sweet Citrus Acres. Pretty cool place to be able to say. Tons of uh lots for RVs to make their way to our community, which is pretty cool. Um,

Foodie Finds in Citrus

SPEAKER_00

aside from just the the outdoor activities, which there are plentiful, as I've mentioned. Again, some of our restaurants are absolutely incredible. If you're a foodie and you want to experience some awesome food in a place that you wouldn't expect to see some kind of high-level dining, make your way to Citrus County and to Crystal River. Uh, there are a couple restaurants in Crystal River. Cain's Cattle Company has incredible steak. It's a steakhouse that's really, really tasty that also is now serving breakfast, which we went to last week. And I was like, wait, breakfast at a steakhouse? Amazing. I would go there every morning if I could. Um further inland, in a town called Lakanto, there's a place called Catch 22. And the executive chef there is incredible. I think he, I believe he came from Washington, DC, and now is an executive chef for a few restaurants here in Citrus County. It just brings that level up a notch when you're seeing all these different restaurants that are making some incredible food, whether it be seafood or otherwise. Like I'm allergic to shellfish. Unfortunately, living in Crystal River is heartbreaking when that happens. But I've been still able to enjoy so many of these restaurants. There's a Cajun seafood place, like two minutes up the road from our office, and I'm able to go there because they care about people who have those allergies, and then also have great food outside of shellfish that you can enjoy. So there's so much to eat, so much to do.

Parks Trails and Inverness

SPEAKER_00

We have so many state parks here, too. Not only the wildlife state park that I mentioned down in Homasassa, there is a place in Inverness called Fort Cooper State Park. Beautiful walking trails around there, a beautiful lake that's out there as well that has picnic tables where you can just enjoy nature and just be in the thick of it. And then if you want to go to some small town environments, Inverness, an incredible small town. Their slogan is small town done right. They nailed it because it is so neat to be able to enjoy some of the coffee shops or the restaurants, or they have this neat place called the Train Depot, where it's an old train station from like the 1850s that they converted into like a pizza restaurant, a bar, and a duckpin bowling alley. Like it's so cool to be able to kind of do all of that. And it's right on the Withlacuoci State Trail. So, say you've done your biking and you're like, okay, I've biked five miles, I'm gonna go get some pizza. You could stop right there and go enjoy some grub and then get back on the trail and burn all that grub off. So it's the best of all worlds there. So there's so much to do, whether you want to be as long as you want to be out in the community, be active, and just kind of enjoy the outdoors. I mean, that's why people come to Florida is to enjoy our natural environment, to enjoy the weather and all that stuff. I mean, Citrus County is your perfect spot for

Scalloping and Fishing Fun

SPEAKER_00

that.

SPEAKER_01

And what I loved when we were out on the boat, the person who took us out said that if you go out on the boat and you go fishing. So I love scallops. So being there in July would be a great time for me. Absolutely. But they were saying whatever you catch, if you bring it in, there are restaurants that'll cook it for you, which I thought was amazing.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. That's one of the awesome appeals. Is some of the restaurants here, you can go once you go scalloping, you spend the morning scalloping, finding these scallops out in the Gulf. You come back, you can cook them, they'll cook them for you, and then you get to eat what you caught. Like it's incredible. And we have such a prominent fishing community here as well, some amazing fishing captains that when we I've never gone fishing before, Patty. I went fishing maybe like a month ago and I caught two fish. I'm like, how does that happen? I have no idea what I'm doing. And but it's so plentiful and they're so helpful that even if you're an experienced fisherman or a complete novice, you can have such a time doing it. My colleague Steph got like four fillets out of it. So she was set for dinner for the week. So it's it's pretty incredible.

SPEAKER_01

That sounds amazing to me. I love I love the idea. So I'm not really a fisherman either. Not my thing, but I would go out on a boat and get some scallops. And yes, I don't want to have to cook it. So I'm really happy to have somebody else cook it for me. What else?

Festivals and Family Fun

SPEAKER_01

There are events in this area. Let's talk about some of those. I want to cover it all.

SPEAKER_00

Sure, sure. So in January, we have the manatee festival. That's our big festival for the year put on by the Chamber of Commerce for Citrus County. And that's in downtown Crystal River where there's discounted pricing to go on boat tours to look at manatees. I believe it's free admittance into Three Sisters Springs where normally there's a fee. There's tons of vendors out there, food, um, all the different knick-knacks you could buy at like farmers markets and things like that. Excuse me. It's it's really a cool event out there. There's a lot of uh, and during Christmas time, rather, um, out in the Ellie Schiller Home of Sassa Springs Wildlife State Park, they decorate it with tons of Christmas lights. So if you love to do a Christmas light stroll, the Wildlife Park is absolutely spectacular for that. Because then during the day you get to see the manatees in the water, and at night you get to see the park light up like you're at the North Pole. But it's warm, so it's nice. So there's lots of that. Um, I'm trying to think, what other events? It the 4th of July, we have a lot of 4th of July fireworks that take place right on the water, whether it be at Crystal River, Home of Sassa, or further inland in Inverness. Inverness puts on a great 4th of July show. Um, so there's really a ton of things you can do. Or say, like, I know growing up when my family and I would go on vacation, we always like to do the fun family outings that are pretty stereotypical, like mini golf, right? Awesome Crystal River mini golf, right in downtown Crystal River. Then down the way from Crystal River and Home of Sassa is Bowl 360 Home Sassa. They just opened up really cool tiny bowling alley that was converted just recently and recently opened up. Super fun, a really neat environment there. So you got bowling alleys, mini golf. You can go actually golfing and regular golfing because we have some spectacular golf courses out here. It is Florida,

Where to Stay in Town

SPEAKER_00

after all. Right. And then we have some amazing RV parks. The reason why you made your way here, because we have some awesome RV parks. So you could be in an RV, you could be staying at one of our awesome hotels, which we have incredible hotels as well. We have the plantation, which is making its way back from the damage that it experienced during Hurricane Helene and Milton. Paddlale Lodge is an incredible place to stay. The Kings Bay Lodge, which I think is super cool, not only because the rooms are super nice and it's very affordable, but their pool. So most places have a pool, right? Whatever, no big deal. Their pool is a natural spring pool. So it goes with the tides of Kings Bay. So when there's a high tide, you're in a crystal clear pool of just natural spring water and there are fish in there and all that stuff. It's one of the only natural spring pools left in Florida. It's really, really neat to see. So there's a lot of interesting little tidbits about this community, whether you're just going to the park or whether you're staying here or just experience some fun mini golf. Like there's so much to do. We always like to say it's not something you can do in a day. A lot of people that are day trippers from Tampa, they think that they're accomplishing, but really, you got to spend a couple days here, at least a weekend, to be able to enjoy everything we got going on.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. And I would suggest people stay even longer. Like I said, I was there. I can't even think how many times I was there because when we'd go back and forth across the country and we go in the lower states, that would, you know, Crystal River, we just had to stop. All of these, I just want to let our audience know that all of the places and things that we've mentioned will be listed in the show notes. So nobody has to remember all this. You're giving so much incredible information. And there are a lot of RV parks in the area. You talked about a brand new one. What was that called? Sweet Citrus Acres. Sweet Citrus Acres, which we'll put in the show notes. Um, Crystal River Thousand Trails. Thousand Trails does have a membership uh program behind it. In the show notes, there's someone, if you're interested in membership, that uh in the show notes, I mentioned Sharon and Warren Lewis. Their phone number is there if you want to ask about that membership. I was able to stay in Crystal River basically for free because of my membership. But there are a lot of cool places. When I get on that plane and I fly down there, I'll be staying in one of these places. That pool with the natural spring sounds absolutely amazing. Like I have never heard of such a thing. Yes.

SPEAKER_00

I know neither had I. I was I was amazed when I got to sell. I was like, oh, this is so neat. They have an awesome sign telling you the history behind it, and it's just so cool.

SPEAKER_01

Those are the things that I love. They're the hidden gems, the things that you don't necessarily see everywhere. They're the kind of things I love.

Hidden Gems Monkey Island

SPEAKER_01

Okay, so we covered manatees and wildlife, we covered things to do, we covered places to stay and places to eat. What else is there? Are we missing anything? What else?

SPEAKER_00

I I think we've covered a lot of it. I think one of the when we're talking about an interesting spot, talk down in Homasassa, there's a place called Monkey Island, which is interesting. What's Monkey Island? There is there's this little tiny island that's in the middle of this like water channel that just has monkeys on there that are inhabited there. I believe a person back in the 60s or 70s brought them to the island. And we've helped to renovate their environment there, like build a new house with AC and all that stuff. So they have just this little island that you can observe monkeys from the mainland right in the middle of this water channel. So, I mean, whether you're a history buff or someone who just wants to enjoy nature, there's really so much you can do here.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, and I absolutely felt that way being there. There was always something new to see or learn about. And like you said, the history there every time I talk to a local, because I'd love to just go into places and talk to the locals and ask them, you know, questions or things to go see. It was just always something incredible and amazing. And like we've been saying over and over again, this area is like no other area in Florida that I've been to, and certainly not even like an area across the country that I've been to. There's just something very incredible about this area, and highly recommend people come and visit.

SPEAKER_00

We have lots of visitors who come and it still feels like such a well-kept secret, which is nice too. You don't feel like you're overcrowded or in a place that's just saturated with tourists. You can still enjoy that natural Florida feeling while still being in a place that so many like to visit and not feel like you're just crowded or surrounded by them.

SPEAKER_01

That's exactly what it felt like. It wasn't, I've been in Disney, it's a whole different world being on the the East come well, the middle of the state, and going to places like Disney. They have their benefits, but being able to be in Crystal River in that area just like no other area.

Plan Your Visit Online

SPEAKER_01

Okay, Nick, you have given so much incredible information. As we wrap up, is there anything else we haven't talked about? We are going to lead people to Discover Crystal River. Um, all of it in the show notes because there's so much information and there is a lot of information on that website.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, definitely. As you mentioned, our website, discovercrystalriverfl.com, a great resource for you when you're making your way to Citrus County. I would like to plug our socials because I'm our social guy. So Instagram and Facebook, Discover Crystal River, and then please follow our YouTube channel. We're revitalizing that um after it's laid dormant for a bit. And if you're looking for some inspo on things that you want to do in Citrus County, my colleague Steph and I are doing this series called Let's Discover, where we go out and do some of the experiences in our backyard. And so whether it's airboats, fishing, manatee swims, going on these walks, enjoying restaurants, we're doing it all. So if you want some inspiration, head to our YouTube channel and subscribe there at Discover Crystal River, and you'll be getting some more info on things that you can do in our area.

SPEAKER_01

And I have been looking at your YouTube channel, stalking

Caves Springs and Bug Tips

SPEAKER_01

it is what I said, but you were also going into a cave. Am I correct? That's right.

SPEAKER_00

No, thank you for reminding me. There's so much happening. Uh yeah, we went, so you can go cave diving of all things in here, not literally diving, but you could go into caves here. There are the Dames Caves in the southern part of Citrus County, uh, D-A-M-E-S caves. And it it has graffiti around it. A lot of people have put graffiti in there, but to me, even though that takes away the naturalness of it, it's still kind of cool, like artistically cool, um, hipster cool, for lack of better term. Um, seeing just kind of the different designs throughout the area, but say you're going on a hot Florida day, you go down there, it's like a 25-degree difference. It's bananas, how nice it is inside those caves. And you could just kind of go around in those different areas. But then if you want to go into a cave underwater, Seven Sister Springs along the Chassahowitzka River in Homasassa, Patty. If you love Three Sisters, and people who go to Three Sister Springs love Three Sisters, if you love their Seven Sisters down in Homer Sassa, might be my favorite springs. There are caves in there, cave channels that you can swim through. Um, one of our magazines, Discover Crystal or Discover magazine, it's our 13th edition that just came out recently. And we have three different covers, distinct covers, some hard work that our team put together. And one of the covers was from some influencers who we hosted here. Their names are Bonnie and Gava, and they took this beautiful picture from the Chassa Howitzka River and Seven Sisters, where she's in a cave just taking this portrait, and it's absolutely spectacular. And it just gives you just a little inkling of the experience that you can have. So definitely worth making your way over there for sure.

SPEAKER_01

I will have to check that out. I did see, and one of the things that people should be aware of, I don't, you know, just for people to know, don't like to talk about negative, but bugs in Florida in the summer are a thing. You need a bug spray. I know when you and Steph went in the cave, she mentioned having bug spray. Definitely need bug spray. But again, it is totally worth visiting, even in the middle of the summer when it is hot. That is my recommendation.

SPEAKER_00

It's it's always a good recommendation, especially in the summer, because the bugs can be kind of ferocious. I was out the other day for like 10 minutes and got like two bites on my arms. I was like, ah, I forgot the bug spray.

SPEAKER_01

Right, right. You just you just deal with it. That is just part of being in nature. And the more you're in nature, especially near water, the more that's gonna happen. So just a little tip there. Um, we have covered, like I said, places to stay, things to do, places to eat. It is just also an incredible area to just drive around and find these little nooks and crannies and areas. And a lot of the restaurants, you could sit outside and just be out in nature while you're while you're eating and be on the water and go out into from Crystal River. You could actually go out into the Gulf. Am I correct?

SPEAKER_00

Was that you can actually make your way like there are two different distinct driving paths that you can drive your car? It's like a good 15, 20-minute drive. It's just winding through, going through all this swampland that takes you right out to the Gulf. That's where Fort Island Beach is. And then there's another trail called the Ozello Trail that you go all the way to the end. You pass by an awesome seafood place called PEX. You make your way out there, and it's just a boat ramp that goes right into the water. You can make your way out to the Gulf there. It's pretty

Final Thanks and Wrap Up

SPEAKER_00

cool.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I want to thank you, Nick, for being on and sharing not only manatees that we covered in part one, but the places to stay in Citrus County, other things to do, other amazing things to do in this area, places to stay, places to eat. You covered it all. Thank you so much for being on Inspire Travels with Patty.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you so much, Patty. This has been a blast.