Let me say up front that fishing is not really my sport. Like a lot of people, however, I enjoy it from the standpoint of a challenge.

There is an engaging cat-and-mouse game that comes from having a fish nibbling on your bait until he either steals it from you or you are able to set the hook in his mouth and haul him out of the water. I am not very successful at it but it is one reason I readily agreed to spend a week in the Crystal Springs, Florida, area in July 2009 with our son Jeff, his wife and their children, (aka, “our grandchildren.”) That, and the fact that Jeff “lured” me with the promise of a tasty bay scallop dinner and my wife “reeled” me in by saying I could play as much golf as I wanted.

OK, I knew the latter ploy was just a come on. She knows I can’t play as much golf as I want to because, A) I don’t have that much money, and B) I don’t have that much energy.

Why did we choose Crystal River for a vacation? There are several reasons from our perspective.

1. COST: Rental prices were very reasonable and as long as that nuclear power plant is sitting dead in the middle of Crystal River as it empties into the gulf, they will likely remain so. We paid $100 a night for a 3-bedroom condo that sleeps six on a canal with easy access to the river and Gulf of Mexico. Also, it had a pool, tennis court, locked gate and a handy boat dock within 100 yards of our quarters. Be sure to shop around because good deals can be found in the economic conditions of the late 2000s.

If you are interested in a condo rental in Crystal River, go to www.thecrystalrivercondo.com.

2. THINGS TO DO: There is a variety of activities nearby, from golf, to fishing, to scalloping, to bird watching, to dining, to shopping at gift and antique boutiques and swimming with the manatees, if you really want to do that. There is also the Crystal River Archeological State Park and Homosassa Springs
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