Attend SAT 4/15 at 10:00AM - Photo Shoot at Homosassa Springs State Park

You are cordially invited to join Linda Morehouse, our event host, for a photo shoot at the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park.

Park Address
Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park
9225 W. Fishbowl Dr. (West parking lot and a direct entrance to the main park) or
4150 Suncoast Blvd. (parking here requires you to take a tram or boat ride to the main entrance)
Homosassa, FL 34446
352-423-5564

How to Find Us
We will meet inside the actual park, just past the West entrance ticket counter, which is at 9225 W. Fishbowl Drive.

The park's other entrance is at 4150 Suncoast Boulevard, where you will find a ticket counter, The Elegance gift shop, illustrations of the history of the park, and the entrance to the boat docks.

At the Suncoast Boulevard entrance, you can catch a tram or a boat to the Fishbowl Drive entrance.

Note: If you choose to park at the 4150 Suncoast Boulevard entrance, you should allow at least 20 minutes for the tram ride or 30-60 minutes for the boat ride, depending on the number of people waiting to board.

Both the tram and the boats arrive and leave from the west entrance on Fishbowl Lane.

Lots of photo opportunities!
The park is full of face-to-face native wildlife photo opportunities, as well as some that will need a telephoto lens to enjoy.

• Many native birds fly freely. Others are caged in large enclosures.
• Animals such as panthers, alligators, deer, black bears, otters, bobcats, and more are in natural habitats, while a few are behind fencing. Reptiles have their very own house behind glass enclosures.
• If we are lucky, some baby birds will not yet have fledged when we visit.
• There is an underwater observatory called The Fish Bowl diving down into the natural spring allowing us to walk underwater to see various fish and hopefully a manatee or two!
• A manatee program is offered on most days at 11:00 and 1:00.
• There is also a dock along the main spring where we can catch shots of fish jumping, people kayaking or boating, and the occasional wild manatee.
• Maybe Maximus the black bear, abandoned by his mother as a 4-pound cub, or his neighbors the otters will make an appearance in their enclosures.

Technical Information
Bring the following (if you have it and think it will be of value for you to create artistic images):

• Telephoto lens for situations when you cannot get close to the subject
• Polarizing filter to reduce glare in reflections or help you peer through reflective surfaces (e.g., water)

Parking and Fees
There is ample parking in both the Suncoast Blvd. and the Fishbowl Lane lots.

There is a $3/person fee for the enjoyable boat ride to the main park.

The entrance fee is $13 unless you have a Florida State Park Pass.

• State Park pass holders are free.

Children 6-12 are $5. Under 5 are free.

Contest
Once the Meetup ends, we will create an album for you to post your three (3) best photographs from the photo shoot.

The winning photo will become the permanent album cover for the event.

Anyone clicking the photo will see the winner’s name, photograph title, and feedback on the image posted by other photographers.

Please be aware that we cannot accept sexually explicit or suggestive photos for any of our albums.

ABOUT THE ELLIE SCHILLER HOMOSASSA SPRINGS WILDLIFE STATE PARK
The park has been a tourist attraction since the early 1900s when trains stopped to let passengers off to walk to the springs. It became a roadside zoo in the 1940s, housing native, exotic, and trained animals, including Gentle Ben’s stand-in bear! The park was purchased by Citrus County in 1984 and then by the state of Florida in December 1988, officially becoming a state park on January 1, 1989..

The park is protected as an environmentally sensitive area. It is home to a variety of native wildlife that cannot survive in the wild. Well… except for Lu the hippopotamus, a well-known “honorary citizen of the state of Florida”. Lu is a long-time resident of the original zoo. Lu turned 63 on January 27th and was the recipient of a big birthday party in his honor as the oldest captive hippo in North America.

This park is an easy 1.2-mile walk The trails are mostly paved and handicap/wheelchair accessible. Restrooms are available at both ticket centers and the back of the park near the enclosures.

Food is available at the Wildside Café & Nest of Treasures Gift Shop at the west entrance on Fishbowl Lane. Picnic tables are also available. Water stations to refill are available (water bottles are encouraged to stop any plastic from ending up in the river or spring).

There are some very nice restaurants within a few miles of the park. My favorite is a few miles past the Fishbowl Lane entrance to the park. MacRae’s of Homosassa, 5300 S Cherokee Way.

Florida Cracker Kitchen is also a block from MacRae’s. Monkey Island is on the river across from Florida Cracker Kitchen and is now undergoing some renovations.