A river town that lives on the water
The Homosassa River runs from its spring west through marsh and islands to the Gulf. Discover Crystal River, the Citrus County tourism office, describes the town as amphibious, a place where people live and play on the water, and the old waterfront at Old Homosassa is where that feeling is strongest. It is a sport fishing base and a working commercial port at the same time.
The spring itself sits inside Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. It is a second magnitude spring, and the park's Fishbowl Observatory lets you look a manatee in the eye without getting wet. Wild manatees use it as a warm water shelter from November 15 to March 31, and rescued manatees live there the rest of the year.
For the table, the county points visitors to fish sold right off the boat at Shelley's Seafood and Fish Market and the Cedar Key Fish and Oyster Company, home of a well known hole in the wall called The Freezer Tiki Bar. Down the river, the Monkey Bar looks across at Monkey Island and its lively troupe of spider monkeys, the strangest view on the river.
South of town the Chassahowitzka River runs through a national wildlife refuge, which keeps houses off its banks. The Halls River, closer in, zigzags through marsh with fishing holes along the way.
How an art show learned to cook
The festival's own history starts on May 3, 1975. Eppie Boatwright, a local artist and president of the Homosassa Civic Club, proposed a Spring Fling Art Show to raise money for community projects. It drew 102 entries from as far as California. In 1987 the show moved to the club's grounds on Mason Creek Road.
Food arrived the next year. In 1988 the local chapter of the Organized Fishermen of Florida signed on as co-sponsor, and the fishing guides started selling a seafood dinner of mullet, shrimp, coleslaw, beans and hushpuppies, plus an all you can eat Blue Crab Special. The name changed to the Homosassa Arts, Crafts and Seafood Festival, and the organizers now count about 20,000 visitors a year.
