Manatees at Tampa Electric's Viewing Center

Florida manatees can’t tolerate the cold, so when the water temperature in Tampa Bay drops below 70 degrees, they seek out warmer water. The Manatee Viewing Center was created in 1986 when employees at Tampa Electric’s Big Bend Power Station noticed large numbers of manatees gathering in the warm water of its discharge canal. In 2002, the center became a federally designated manatee sanctuary.

Sandals Royal Caribbean

Thursday

Sandals Royal Caribbean was our very first Sandals resort, back in 2000. Ron and I had been going on cruises every year and we really wanted Jenny and Jeremy to join us, but since Jeremy gets seasick, cruising was out. We decided to try an all-inclusive vacation instead. That trip with Jenny, Jeremy, Mama and Daddy was one of the best weeks of my life, and I cried when it was time to leave. Now after 21 years, we were going back to our first Sandals “home”.

Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park

On Saturday, Ron and I took a spur-of-the-moment drive to the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. Our last road trip seemed like a lifetime ago, and we needed to go SOMEWHERE. We’ve been fortunate enough to take our boat out most weekends, but Saturday was too hot even for boating. To highlight just how much of a rut we were in, when we pulled out of the driveway, my phone notified me that it was a 17-minute ride to the boat marina. Sometimes, I think smart phones are getting just a little bit too smart. :-)

A Day with Florida's Manatees

I’m a wimpy Floridian when it comes to being cold, so there is only one thing that will get me to swim in 72-degree water. Manatees! On the day after Thanksgiving, Ron and I took the boat to Homosassa Springs in Citrus County to swim with the manatees. Manatees can’t tolerate cold water so when the temperature of the Gulf of Mexico drops into the 60s, they seek out the warmer water of the springs.

The Keeper Tour at Big Cat Rescue

On Saturday, I went to Big Cat Rescue in Tampa for the Keeper Tour. Big Cat Rescue is a sanctuary for exotic cats who have been abused, orphaned, rescued from fur farms or simply abandoned because their owners didn’t understand the realities of owning a large cat as a “pet”. Each cat at BCR has a story. There is Nikita the lioness who was used as a guard in a drug house and was found chained in the basement. Hoover the tiger was the sole big cat survivor of an illegal zoo in Peru. Moses the bobcat was four weeks old and almost dead when someone dumped him in front of BCR’s gates. Kricket the serval was raised as a house cat until her owners divorced and decided they didn’t have time for her anymore. At Big Cat Rescue, these cats are given a chance to live out the rest of the lives in peace.

Labor Day Weekend in Jupiter

We got to Jupiter late on Saturday morning. Our room at the Jupiter Beach Resort wasn’t ready yet, but the front desk gave us wrist bands for the pool and beach amenities and wrote down our phone number to call us when we could check in. We took a quick tour of the hotel grounds and then headed off to lunch. We ate at Guanabanas, an open-air restaurant on one of the canals leading to the Loxahatchee River with tropical gardens, brightly painted Adirondack chairs and fresh food. We watched the paddleboarders paddling up and down the canal while we ate.

Sun and Fun on Norwegian Sun

Port Canaveral

We didn’t realize that this cruise left on Friday the 13th when we booked it. Not that it would have mattered - we just wanted to go somewhere the first weekend possible. :-)  But I was starting to wonder if we’d made a mistake when two days before the cruise, I came down with a cold and the night before the cruise our air conditioner stopped working. First thing Friday morning we frantically called up air conditioner companies and made arrangements for our friend Bob to meet the repairman that evening. Thank goodness for good friends! I was feeling pretty frazzled by the time we got on the road, but then Zac Brown Band’s “Castaway” came on the radio and I got into the island state of mind. “Pour me another one, make it a strong one, we’re gonna have some fun tonight. Just like the other one, make it a double rum, we’re gonna castaway tonight.” Bahamas, here we come!

Giraffes and More at Giraffe Ranch

I thought giraffes were fascinating long before I spent two months waiting for April the giraffe to give birth. :-)  When I found out last year that Safari Wilderness had a sister property in Dade City that offered giraffe feedings, I knew we’d have to pay a visit. With the weather finally turning cooler, it seemed like the perfect time to go.

Giraffe Ranch is a family-owned exotic game farm that runs guided tours twice a day. We had signed up for the 11 o’clock Safari Vehicle Tour and were lucky enough to have both owners, Lex and his wife Elena, for our guides. Elena started off the tour with a 10-minute educational talk about the giraffes and other animals at the ranch. Did you know that a giraffe’s neck has seven vertebrae, the same number as a human? It’s just that each vertebra is much longer! Also, animals whose hooves are split into an even number of toes have no top front teeth while animals with an odd number, like zebras and horses, do. That was why we’d be feeding the giraffes but not the zebras. We were much less likely to lose a finger. :-)

Live Aqua Cancun

After having to cancel our vacation twice this year, I don’t think either of us believed we were really going to Cancun until we were on the plane. We landed in clouds and drizzling rain. What happened to the beautiful weather I’d been seeing on the webcam all week?? I hoped it would clear up soon. I really needed a few days in the sunshine.

Our transfer driver met us outside the airport terminal and whisked us off to Live Aqua, an adults-only all-inclusive resort in Cancun’s Hotel Zone. The building was large and U-shaped, with a tropical garden and restaurants tucked inside the “U”. Past the garden there were several pools, including an infinity pool and a swim-up bar pool, more restaurants, and a bar with swing chairs. And beyond that was the amazing, endless beach. When we checked in, I was disappointed with our room because we’d booked an ocean front room with a king bed and somehow we ended up with two double beds. But the room did have a lot of nice amenities – robes and slippers, mini-fridge, handmade soaps, a beach bag for use while at the resort. There was even an aromatherapy oil warmer with a menu of oils to choose from. The best part of the room, of course, was the view of the ocean. That's what keeps us coming back to Cancun.

Key West Getaway

When we landed in Key West at 1 o’clock, it was sunny and beautiful and about a million degrees. Surprise – it’s hot in Key West in July! :-)  We immediately headed to the taxi line but unfortunately, I gave the taxi driver the wrong street address and we ended up on the opposite side of the cemetery from Chris’s house. It wasn’t that big a deal, all we had to do was drive around to the other side, but the driver was not amused and practically threw our suitcases out of the van. Yeesh, what a grouch! No wonder everyone was excited that Uber had finally made it to Key West. We decided we would definitely be checking out that option on the way back to the airport.

Swimming with Manatees at Homosassa Springs

Last week instead of fighting the Black Friday crowds at the mall, Ron and decided to do something completely unique to Florida – swim with manatees. Although manatees look fat, they actually have very little body fat and can’t tolerate cold water. So in the winter months when the temperature of the Gulf of Mexico drops into the 60s, manatees make their way to the warmer waters of Crystal River and Homosassa Springs. Since it had been a warm November, I was a little worried that there wouldn’t be many manatees at the springs yet. But before we’d even finished launching our boat at the boat ramp, I spotted a couple swimming up the river. A good sign!

Pumpkin Safari at Safari Wilderness Ranch

On Sunday, Ron and I spent the afternoon at Safari Wilderness, a 260-acre ranch located in Florida’s Green Swamp near Lakeland. The ranch is home to over 50 species of exotic animals from Africa and Asia, including antelope, deer, water buffalo, Watusi cattle, zebras, llamas, and even a wart hog. In 2012, the ranch opened to the public for tours, but it is not a zoo or a theme park. The animals roam and graze freely around the natural Florida landscape.

Most people visiting the ranch take the Vehicle Safari tour, which is offered twice daily for $75 a person and lasts about two hours. But this month the ranch is celebrating its annual Pumpkin Safari with shorter tours leaving every hour from 1 PM to 6 PM on Saturdays and Sundays for $39. The Pumpkin Safari also includes a free pumpkin to carve or give to the animals for enrichment.

Maui 2016 Part 1

Friday/Saturday – Getting There

When I said last year that Maui was a pain to get to, I didn’t know the half of it! We actually hadn’t planned on going back to Maui so soon, but then we got the email from Jenny saying they were selling the condo at Wailea Point and it was now or never. Well, that was a no-brainer. We weren’t going to miss our last chance to go to Maui!

So here we were, touching down at the Kahului Airport, 36 looooong hours after we’d left home. The adventure had actually started Thursday night when the phone rang just as we were going to bed. It was American Airlines saying that our flight in the morning would be delayed 45 minutes. Hmmm, that would cut our layover in Dallas in half. I thought we could still make the connection as long as there weren’t any other issues, but I wasn’t sure that our luggage would. Just in case, we threw a change of clothes and some basic toiletries into Ron’s backpack.

When we got to the airport the next morning, it looked like things were going to work out. The crew was on the plane, the passengers were on the plane, the doors were closed. But then the pilot came on the intercom and announced that there was some bad weather near Dallas. We were going to have to put more fuel in the plane and take a longer route to avoid the storm. There went our connection. :-(

A Sea Turtle Goes Home

This week I had the opportunity to witness something really special – the release of a rehabilitated sea turtle back into the Gulf of Mexico. This is something I’ve wanted to see for a long time so when I got an email from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium that they were releasing Kreacher, a young loggerhead turtle, from Clearwater Beach, I had to go.
 
Kreacher was found floating half a mile off of Clearwater Beach on May 8. After being treated at the CMA for gastrointestinal problems, she was well and ready to go back home. Before the release, the CMA partnered with the Sea Turtle Conservancy to attach a satellite tracking device to Kreacher’s shell for research purposes. This was CMA’s second turtle to be fitted with a tracking tag. Ozzy, released last September, traveled all the way up to the Outer Banks of North Carolina before her tag stopped working a few months later.

Celebrity Summit Day 3 - Barbados

I’ve wanted to visit Barbados ever since I found out that you could snorkel with sea turtles. We snorkeled with turtles in Akumal, Mexico last year and it was amazing, so I was especially looking forward to this port stop.

We’d booked the 5-Hour Lunch Cruise with Calypso Cruises, which included snorkeling, a sail along the coast and lunch. Here is a description of the tour from Calypso’s website:

5 Hour Lunch Cruise
Sailing Barbados aboard the Calypso Girl is an experience like no other. For this cruise we limit our numbers to just 14 guests for an intimate and personal ambiance. A splendid buffet-style lunch and unlimited drinks await you during our five hour cruise. Transportation and snorkel equipment are other included amenities when you sail with us.

Sail with us for an unforgettable day!
Sailing time is 10:00 am– 3:00 pm
Price: US$100.00 per Adult & US$60.00 per Child (16 & under).

ME Cancun

We’re back from a long weekend in Cancun, our last hurrah for the year. We stayed at the ME Cancun, an all-inclusive hotel with a South Beach vibe. The modern lobby had a Starbucks-style coffee bar, water fountains and lots of odd black sculptures of either women or cats, I was never quite sure which. Ron said he thought they were aliens. :-)  One thing that a lot of people mentioned on Trip Advisor was how good the lobby smelled. I caught myself taking a deep breath a few times when we walked inside. Very spa-like.

The Outer Banks - 696 Steps and One Giant Hill

We got off to a late start leaving Norfolk. The skies were cloudy and gloomy but they were supposed to clear later in the afternoon so there didn’t seem to be a reason to rush. Plus, it gave us the chance to have a nice breakfast with Mary. After she left for work, we packed our bags into Mary’s little Honda and headed for the Outer Banks.

The drive took longer than we expected, especially those last 20 miles driving through Duck, which seemed to go on FOREVER. By the time we got to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, it was already 11:15 so we didn’t have much time for exploring. We bought our tickets to climb the lighthouse and started up the steps. Despite the clouds, the view from the top was beautiful. We could see all the way to Virginia to the north and the 1920’s era Whalehead Club below. The lighthouse itself was very pretty – a red brick tower with a Victorian lighthouse keeper’s house. One lighthouse down, two to go. :-)

Aruba - Part 3

Wednesday

After breakfast at the Palm Restaurant (which had finally reopened - Yay!), we took off in the rental car armed with two maps and some general instructions from Google. The people who said that there aren’t many street signs in Aruba weren’t kidding! We pretty much had to guess what roads we were on. But we only had to turn around three times, so I thought we did pretty well. :-)  It’s a small island – you can’t stay lost for very long.

Our first stop was the Casibari Rock Formations, a pile of gigantic boulders rising up from the flat landscape. The Aruban government had added walking paths and gardens around the rocks, giving the area a peaceful feel, especially since Ron and I were the only ones there at that hour of the morning. At the top of the rocks, we had a great view of Hooiberg, Aruba’s second highest peak. But the wind up there – EEK! I was too afraid to stand up so I took my pictures sitting down on the rocks.

The Flavors of Africa – Lunch at Disney’s Sanaa Restaurant

When we did our DIY tour of the Disney resorts’ Christmas decorations, we ran out of time before we got to see the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Since then, I’ve been looking for excuses to go back to see the hotel. That’s how I discovered Sanaa, a restaurant located on Kidani Village’s Sunset Savanna where you can watch the animals while you eat. Food and animals – two of my favorite things!

Sanaa means “artwork” in Swahili and the restaurant was filled with African artwork – beaded necklaces and lights hand-crafted out of gourds and baskets. The menu was a fusion of East African and Indian cuisines. Ron and I started with an appetizer of Lamb Kefta Sliders and then shared a plate of slow cooked spicy Durban chicken and beef short ribs with basmati rice. Our waitress suggested we add a side of naan, an African flatbread, which was delicious by itself or dipped into the meat gravy. We finished up with the Dessert Trio - Tanzanian chocolate mousse, coconut cheesecake and chai cream.

TECO's Manatee Viewing Center

Florida is one of the few places in the world where manatees are found. Although manatees look fat, they actually have very little body fat to keep them warm. So when the Gulf of Mexico dips below 68 degrees, they migrate to warmer waters like the natural springs in Homosassa or Crystal River. Every few years, Ron and I like to take the boat up to Homosassa to swim with the manatees. But since it didn’t look like we’d have time this year, we decided to spend an afternoon at Tampa Electric’s Manatee Viewing Center instead.

The viewing center was created after the Big Bend Power Station opened in 1986 and employees noticed large numbers of manatees congregating in the warm waters of their discharge canals each winter. The center includes an observation platform, as well as educational displays, a nature trail and butterfly gardens.