Friends and Manatees

Lance and Janice came to visit again! They got here in the early afternoon so the first thing we did was go get something to eat at Eaton's Beach. Janice's birthday had just passed so later we celebrated with cake and ice cream, and Lance played his wonderful banjo for us.

Lance and Janice like to do something different when they come to Florida, so Randy made reservations for us all to go snorkel with the manatees on Saturday.  The advertisements show manatees in lovely clear water - that may happen sometime but not when we go! The last time we went the visibility was low and this time it was even cloudier. And the manatees were a little harder to find. The first time in the water we found one but it was moving steadily away from us, eating grass on the bottom. It did not seem to be trying to avoid us but it was a very fast eater. It was moving along the grassy bottom like a lawnmower and quickly left us behind (nobody can keep up with a manatee in water). Another one, with a half-grown calf, was swimming along the shore but also moving away - I think she really wanted to leave us behind and I don't blame her. People from another boat were standing on the bottom (which stirred up more silt), yelling and screaming, and petting the manatees - all things we were told not to do. 

The next one we found was napping. He would rest quietly on the bottom, coming up for air every 2-3 minutes. He would rise smoothly to the surface, take a surprisingly quick breath, then sink to the bottom, tuck his head down, and lie motionless. While he was resting he looked just like a big, oval, rounded grey rock. 

The last one we found was very tolerant of us. The only thing she cared about (I really don't know if these were girls or boys) was eating. And wow, could she eat! She kept her nostrils closed and her head down, totally ignoring us. 

Because she was eating, she was moving quickly - not as fast as the others we found, but pretty fast. I found it very difficult to get in front of her, and impossible to aim my clunky little underwater Walmart camera. To take a photo I had to be very close because the visibility was so bad, but I couldn't hold still in the water because she was moving and I'm not supposed to bump into her. So I couldn't use the viewfinder at all. I had to just hold the camera out and click, hoping she was somewhere in frame. I am surprised I got anything at all.

But I wish I could have done a little better!

That night Pete and Donna joined us for leftover cake and ice cream, and more banjo music. After church service the next day Lance and Janice took us out for breakfast at Rae Rae's, before heading out to their condo in St. Augustine. 

We joined up with Gary and Erin to visit the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park today. It's a bit of a drive over to the west coast but it's always interesting. 

Today in the reptile house a man was showing off one of their smaller snakes. I love snakes as long as I know they aren't poisonous, so I queued up to pet this little guy.

There were several Roseate Spoonbills standing in the trees today. Wow, these are beautiful.  Well, at least their feathers are. Their heads are not as pretty, at least not to my non-bird eyes, but they probably feel differently.

I thought this big black bird was either an Anhinga or a Cormorant but those don't have that kind of head. It's an American black vulture. 

 A lot of American black vultures, in fact.

I love the Fishbow viewing area because it extends below the water to give a view of the animals as they swim by. Some of the windows are almost opaque from age and scratches - they are going to have to fix that someday. But a few of the windows still show a worthwhile view. I knew there were lots of fish here, but today we saw a couple of the local manatees swim by. These guys are free to come and go, but have decided to live here year round. 

Lu, the oldest hippo in captivity and an honorary citizen of Florida, lives in a separate facility nearby.  He's 58 years old now and still holding court in his huge pond. Lu doesn't seem to let too much bother him. 

They have a few endangered Florida Key deer here, which are a smaller subspecies of white-tail deer, mixed in with some regular white-tail deer.  Pretty little things. 

We had 4pm reservations at Peck's Old Port Cove Seafood Restaurant (that long name is why we just call it "Pecks"). This is where they serve our favorite seafood dish, the stuffed catch-of-the-day. I don't know why they call it that, it's always the same fish, which is good because it's always wonderful. After we place our order, the waitress usually brings out a basket of onion straws. These are excellent - thinly cut, lightly breaded and perfectly seasoned. I don't like onions but I simply can't stop eating these! This time they brought us two baskets - we must have looked hungry.

Unfortunately they were so good that we ate them all. Then, when they brought our meal, it was difficult to finish the fish. But it was so good that we had to. Then, to celebrate Erin's recent birthday, the waitress brought her a free slice of key lime pie. That, too, was excellent but it was really too much!

Magic Kingdom with Erin and Kate

Erin's niece Kate is visiting her and her wish-of-the-day is to visit the Magic Kingdom. We've got our assembly of Disney ears, hats and shirts and are ready to go!

Kate hasn't been here before but she knew something we didn't - this is the place to get a Dole Whip. And golly-gee, she was right! I went whole-hog and got the one on top of a glazed doughnut, which gives new meaning to the Disney phrase "Best Day Ever!"

We went on a ton of rides, and stopped at Gaston's Tavern for a drink. Another great find - always stop at La Foues and get La Foue's Brew! Then we walked around and got on every ride where there wasn't a big line. Gotta say, this was a great day!

A new fruit (for us)

That cactus with the beautiful flowers has fruited, and I finally found out what it is. The owner thought it was Dragon Fruit but it's actually a Cereus Peruvianus, aka Peruvian Apple. Each one of those beautiful flowers produced a purple-skinned fruit.

The owner doesn't eat the fruit so he said we could help ourselves. Today I picked one that looked ripe, to see what it's like. 

Inside it's similar to a Dragon Fruit but the taste is a little sweeter. The seeds are edible which is a good thing, cause you could never pick all those out. The odd thing is that as you spoon it out, it almost liquefies. 

I wouldn't necessarily eat a bunch of these plain, but they might be excellent in smoothies.