Parrish is an unincorporated, mostly residential community in Florida's Manatee County. The small business district is home to the Florida Railroad Museum and a few shops, restaurants and churches. Two state parks -- Gamble Plantation in Ellenton and Little Manatee River in Wimauma -- are within 8 miles, but if you look close enough, you will find Parrish has its own neat spots to visit.
Ride the Railroad
- Set in the heart of downtown Parrish, the Florida Railroad Museum is open to tours five days a week and home to more than a dozen locomotive engines, a covered gondola, passenger cars and cabooses, some of which date to the early 1900s. On weekends, you can take a 13-mile round trip train ride on a historic track that runs through rural Manatee County, rent out a caboose for parties and even take the controls of an engine under the museum's "Locomotive Rental" program. The museum sponsors several themed train excursions per year, including a staged train robbery, the Pumpkin Patch Express in October and the North Pole Express in December.
A Charming Chapel
- For a look at a historic house of worship, visit the St. Thomas Chapel at DaySpring Episcopal Conference Center, a retreat set along the northern banks of the Manatee River. Originally built in 1914 for an Episcopal congregation in Safety Harbor, Florida, the chapel was moved to the Parrish site in 1986. St. Thomas Chapel -- surrounded by moss-laden oaks and with interior features such as stained-glass windows, old wooden pews and a gold-trimmed wooden cross -- is open 24 hours a day for prayer and meditation.
Relax Along the River
- Rye Preserve, a county-owned nature preserve, lies on the former property of the Rye family along the banks of the Manatee River. The 145-acre preserve includes an old family cemetery with tombstones dating to the late 1800s, a canoe/kayak launch and fishing spots along the river. Other amenities include a picnic area, playground, primitive campsites and hiking, biking and equestrian trails. Set on sand pine scrub, oak hammocks and riverfront wetlands, the preserve provides the opportunity to glimpse native wildlife such as alligators, armadillos, deer, gopher tortoises and the Florida scrub-jay.
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
- Fort Hamer Park is set along a scenic and secluded section of the Manatee River at the end of Fort Hamer Road, near the former site of a U.S. military colony established in the mid-1800s during the Seminole Wars. Though no signs of the fort remain, the county-owned park is home to a 8,000-square-foot boathouse and rowing facility that has hosted a number of college crews -- including Harvard, Notre Dame and the University of Michigan -- who find the stretch of river a perfect winter training site. The park also has a canoe/kayak launch, fishing pier and picnic tables.
