The Everglades

Yesterday we visited the Everglades. We thought we had good directions, but had to stop in Homestead to ask for more. We did not see any signs going north from Key Largo, but once we got turned around, south, there were the signs!

Our first stop was a park ranger guided tour of the Ahinga Trail. If you visit the Everglades, don't miss this trail. You will see more wildlife here than in other sections of the park. Here we saw quite a few birds, soft-shelled turtles, gars, tilapia, bass and alligators. We saw an ahinga, which is a bird that hunts fish underwater.

After the Ahinga we continued southwest to Flamingo City for a guided pontoon boat tour. We wanted to get on the 12:30 PM boat, but when we got there, at 12:20, we were told the tour started at 12. The next one was at 2. So, we bought some lunch at the Marina Shop. Not much of a lunch selection. It would be better to bring along some food.

We ate on a marina picnic table. Ventured off to nearby Echo Pond to kill some time. Got some photos of a fishing spoonbill along with several mosquito bites...the mosquito season is supposedly over by this time of year.

Went back to the marina and got on the Pelican pontoon boat. Saw lots of mangroves...after this trip I don't need to see anymore! Spotted a few birds, herons, osprey, cormorants. Did not see as much as I thought we would.

Overall it was on okay day. I am disappointed that there was not more wildlife. If there is a richness here, we missed it.

Got back to Azul del Mar, our boutique hotel, about 5 PM. Dinner was salads we bought at the supermarket. Watched Dreamgirls, read a little and then lights out!

More driving

I vowed not to drive so much yesterday, but that is what we did. First we went to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Paid $9 to enter. It was not worth it. Mostly a park to rent kayaks and boats. The reef is actually offshore.

Continued heading south towards Key West. Stopped at the bird sanctuary/nature center. It is privately owned. Donations must be low. It is a sad place. Not worth a visit. Something dead was near the parking area...the smell was very strong. The most interesting bird was a cockatoo near the entrance. All the cages were in dark areas and heavily enclosed making photography virtually impossible.

Drove to Robbie's, a landing where you can call tour guides to pick you up for a trip to the bay area of the Everglades. You have to call in advance, so we didn't go. Plus the tour prices are based on four passengers at $40 a head. A private tour is $300. We haven't decided to spring for that yet.

At Robbie's you can buy food to feed the tarpon by the dock. The tarpon are very large and hungry. There was a teenage kid feeding them by holding the food up above their heads to make them jump to get it. They did and one of them got his hand in the process and he was bitten. He continued feeding them with blood running down his hand. Crazy!

A highlight on the way back was a stop at DQ for an ice cream cone. Then a stop at the grocery store to pickup dinner, salads and some California rolls.

Took a short nap in the afternoon. Enjoyed the evening sunset. Watched one of the Bourne movies on TV. Read some more of "Best Friends Forever." and then to sleep.

Overall kind of a disappointing day. Perhaps we needed such a day to get a feel for the place. We did decide not to vacation in Florida again. We like the mountains and the West.

We will make the best of it! Off to the Everglades today.

Today...Salvador Dali Museum; Yesterday...Driving, and more driving, finally...the Florida Aquarium

On our way to Key Largo, we went to the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. We begin touring on our own only to find that his early work is "boring" in the respect that it was very traditional...still lifes...stuff he was learning in art school. Before going too far we joined a tour with a docent. As we went along the exhibit was chronological. It did not take long before the images became much more abstract and interesting. Dali was strongly influenced by Freud and his images are a clear reflection of his dreams. We thought he might have been on drugs or some substance that brought out these themes, but his biographical information does not indicate any substance abuse. A strong influence was his wife, Gala. He signed many of his works with her name first and then his.

From childhood, Dali sought attention. His art is a reflection of this search. He did manage to get a lot of attention during his lifetime. Here are some facts about his work/life we found interesting:

• First gallery show at 17
• Something red in each painting
• Symbol of the lion is his father (a love/hate relationship)
• Gala in many of his works. Met her at 25. She was married at the time. Pope annulled her marriage much later. Married Dali when he was 52.
  

We enjoyed the museum very much. This is a trip highlight!

Yesterday Vicki and I drove Dave to the Tampa airport. He is returning to South Korea for his second "deployment." The first time he taught English in a public junior high school. This time in a private school where he will teach kindergartners and junior/senior high students. It will be interesting to hear his stories.

Anyway there was just a lot of driving yesterday. Early morning to the airport. Back to the hotel for a little while, back to pick up Mom and Dad and head for the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. Tampa is about an hour from Bradenton, so two round trips and the adventure finding the Aquarium.

We asked the hotel front desk guy to get us directions to the Aquarium. He did a Google search and said there were two results...one to the Tampa Bay Aquarium and another to the Florida Aquarium. We asked him which one was THE Aquarium. He picked Tampa Bay Aquarium and printed the directions. Anyway...he was wrong! He had picked a place that sold aquarium supplies...which we never found. I stopped to ask for directions to the Florida Aquarium and discovered we were way off course.

The Florida Aquarium was worth the effort. Highlights were the river otter and penguin programs. Amazing were some sea dragons that are fish, but seem to be sea horses that look like weeds. Very strange.

Drove back to Bradenton. Stopped for Chinese food. Said our goodbyes to Mom and Dad. Back to the hotel to crash. I was tired.

Today...vacation begins. We are headed for Key Largo. The plan is to visit the Everglades and time permitting visit Key West (Dad warned us not to walk the streets and night because he heard there are a lot of weirdos.). Such a warning makes us curious about seeing "weirdos."

St. Petersburg and the Roaring 20s

Yesterday we went to The Pier in St. Petersburg. Mom and Vicki had a lot of fun feeding the pelicans. We also visited the aquarium that had a hands on exhibit...we could touch sea urchins, star fish and other critters.

At a hat shop we tried on a few that had hairpieces attached. Pretty funny! I should have bought the cap with the ponytail!

In the evening we went to The Roaring 20s pizza parlor. The featured attraction is a pipe organ that is connected to many different instruments...drum kits, trumpets, marimbas and more. The organist plays mostly show tunes and 20s music. He takes requests, but never got to mine, "Stairway to Heaven."

Florida Trip/Vacation

From the coolness of Fort Worth to the muggy 80s in Tampa, Florida, we made our trek to visit my Mom and Dad yesterday. We burned up our AAdvantage miles and came first class. The trip was the smoothest ever with the exception of Vicki "hiding" a can of Diet Dr. Pepper in the backpack I was carrying through security. Well, it was discovered! The inspector asked if I wanted to drink it outside the security area...like I really had the time to just get out of line and have a soda. Anyway, another item "confiscated."

Got the rent car from Alamo. After completing all the paper work they sent us to the car lot with instructions to just "pick out a car." The keys are in the cars, so we just picked one from about a five or six different models. We ended up with a Dodge Charger...big enough to carry everyone (Mom, Dad, Dave, Vicki and myself).

Headed for the Holiday Inn @ River Ranch in Sarasota. Checked in, took a short nap and headed for "Il Villaggio", formerly known as Bradenton Missionary Village in Bradenton where Mom and Dad live. Village owners changed the name to attract rent paying residents. The primarily missionary residents do not pay rent, only utilities, hence making it affordable.

Visited with Mom, Dad and (brother) Dave for awhile. We had not seen Mom and Dad for more than two years. Both are doing well. Dad is two months into knee replacement surgery recovery.

Took everyone to dinner at The Outback. Celebrated Dad's 82nd birthday. After dinner went back to their place and watched some of the first game of the World Series - Phillies vs. Yankees.

Back to the Holiday Inn. While getting ready for bed Vicki managed to drop her ring (not wedding ring) in the toilet. Just know that it was not worth fishing out. Use your imagination to fill in the details or ask her about it. :)

June Vacation: The Path and San Antonio

Well, not too much rest and relaxation on this one. The vacation began last week, Friday, June 5, when Vicki and I began "prepping" the large flower bed/garden for the path. We finished up putting in the weed preventer cloth. Oliverio and three of his guys came over on Sunday morning to put in the decomposed granite that makes up most of the path. About 200 feet of 300 feet of path is complete. We are hoping to get the rest of it installed on Sunday, June 21.

On Monday and Tuesday we bought and installed a variety of plants based on a plan a landscape architect (Steve) put together for us. We are sticking to Texas natives to reduce irrigation needs. We also put down more than 100 bags of mulch.

Needless to say it was five days of hot, hard work!

We left Wednesday morning, June 10, for San Antonio, Texas. Our hotel, La Mansion (Omini), was on the Riverwalk. The room had a balcony overlooking the Riverwalk...on the first floor. Fortunately the hotel is on a quiet end of the Riverwalk, so noise was not an issue. We would have preferred a room that was higher up, but this one worked well. We kept it dark and cool...got some good sleep...better than at home. I guess that is one of the reasons for going on vacation.

Wednesday evening we walked around. Had dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the Riverwalk, Rita's. Mediocre food, good margaritas.

Thursday we walked around downtown San Antonio. Looked at a lot of touristy shops...did not buy anything. It was mostly junk. It was really hot and muggy. Not comfortable weather.

In the late afternoon we went to the Watermark hotel spa across the canal from La Mansion. Lounged in the relaxation room reading and then had massages. Dinner was at Las Canarias, in the hotel. It came highly recommended and deservedly so. The spa and dinner were the highlight of the trip.

Friday, we went to Seaworld. The shows were good, the heat oppressive...over 100 degrees. Shamu remains my favorite. We did feed dolphins, which was fun.

Dinner was at Rosario's, a restaurant south of downtown. The food and service was great. We learned to stay away from the Mexican restaurants near the Riverwalk...this was worth the short trip.

The "trip" was a short taxi ride ($7 including tip). The driver suggested another place, Los Barrios, and was a bit disgruntled when I reiterated Rosario's. He made some kind of crack about you can't "lead horses to water" --- some kind of hint that we were not making a smart choice. So, how much was Los Barrios paying him to bring visitors? Also, a much further cab ride?? Geez.

Headed home Saturday. Toured a couple of the missions. Stopped in Austin to lunch with Justin and his roommate Donald. Got home in the evening.