Winter in Florida = Time to see the Manatees

The cold snap means that the manatees are back in the natural springs of Florida. The 72 water temperature is way too cold for me, but it's warmer than the gulf water so the manatee herds flock to it. Cold weather will actually kill them, so 72 is better than nothing! Today Larry and Linda joined us for a trip to see these wonderful animals at Three Sisters Spring. 

These big critters are graceful in everything they do.  They don't expend calories unnecessarily so they move like a slow-motion film (unless they are disturbed; then they splash around). Generally speaking, the only thing I saw a manatee move quickly was it's nostrils. They rise slowly, gently break the water surface, then sink back down below the water. But in that little bit of time, they open their nostrils (which are closed tightly underwater),

and take one deep breath.  

Then, in 2 or 3 seconds, they are underwater again. 

They have to leave the springs in order to eat, and so did we. We went to Crackers again for a late lunch. My blackened mahi tacos were great and Randy enjoyed his mahi reuben, too. Crackers has installed a new intercom system to announce when tables are ready; it's loud and obnoxious - hope it doesn't last long!

What a great Saturday - sometime I can hardly believe we get to live in Florida and do this sort of thing whenever we want. And thank God for the many wonderful friends we have met here!

Hollywood Studios is getting better

Holllywood Studios is home to the "Tower of Terror", which is enough to send us there. The "Toy Story Mania" ride is icing on the cake. And they are finally getting the Galaxy's Edge area right. It looks awesome!

When you go into this area, it feels like a totally different park (which is good).

We've been on the "Millennium Falcon Smuggler's Run" a couple of times - it's fun but not in the same ballpark as "Tower of Terror".  Now, if I could just get a ride on the "Rise of the Resistance"!

More of the same...

Still working on getting the kitchen ceiling installed. Not fun, but I truly thank God for this machine - Randy would have a hard time getting this done if he had to rely on my ability to hold a sheet overhead. 

Always something new at Disney

There is always something new to see at Disney, no matter how often we go. Today, at Animal Kingdon, the walk around the Tree was open, so we could go right up to it. 

 The sculptures are amazing - so many animals!

The great part about being on the walkway is that there are a lot of sculptures here that have not been visable for a long time. 

 I like these charging antelope; they look like they were taken from cave wall drawings. 

All of this along with our favoirites - Lion King Show and Kilimanjar Safari tour - makes for a fun day!

Never too late for Christmas trees

We didn't get to Disney Springs before Christmas but no matter - we went today with Larry, Linda, Gary and Erin. Erin, a die-hard Irish girl, loves to dine at the Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant. We think that's a fine idea, too. She got reservations so we didn't have to wait an hour. 

And we were happy to be so close to the stage. These three ladies were multi-talented - singing and playing instruments. They sang several songs, including "The Last Shanty", which may not be Irish but it sounded great!

There were several Irish step-dancers, too. These folks make it look so easy...

After a fine dinner we headed outside and around to the Christmas tree display. There didn't seem to be quite as many as last year, but they looked fine. These folks have a lot of imagination (and a lot of $).

As we were walking through the displays, the Florida version of snow fell from overhead pumps. These tiny bubbles minic the look of snow with any of the cold and damp. My favorite kind of snow!

Tock, Tock, it's a new year!

Welcome 2020! We celebrated with Erin, Gary, Linda and Larry with a rousing game of Tock. May the coming year(s) see many more good times with good friends!