Feb 28 2012 Dolphin Research Center

The dolphin research center was where Flipper was filmed. Many of the dolphins are descendants of Flipper, who was a female dolphin named Mitze. She is buried here at the Center.

The Dolphin Research Center, if you pay an extra $25 you can pet the dolphins

three dolphins playing, a dolphin waving to the crowd

Trainer with the dolphin. They research them there, so they have to teach them to be ok with being examined. The first photo he is looking under the tongue and in the mouth and the second one is how they draw blood from the tail veins. this is a young dolphin they are still familiarizing with the positions.

For an extra $180 you can swim with the dolphins.

Training the dolphin to tail walk, he has a way to go. The Manatee Rescue Team

Mitzi’s (Flippers) grave, and an iguana hanging around

After that we went snorkeling, with our K mart cheap snorkels. It was too windy and wavey where we wanted to go, the water was too turbid to see anything, so we went just off the shore.  It was about 2-3 feet deep. We got to look at sea grass, and a fish. It was fun, and it was hot-83 degrees-  so the water felt good.

The shore where we snorkeled, and some wild flowers

We went back to the RV park and snorkeled there. It was deeper.  This is the beach and Tiki bar. We went out to dinner at the Sunset Grill, next to the park. This is sunset from Sunset Grill!

John in the center at the Sunset Grill, and he had of all things-grilled dolphin.  He claimed that it was not the dolphin mammals we say, but some kind of Mahi Mahi fish that is called dolphin.

Sunset over the 7 mile bridge, from the Sunset grill pier.

Feb 28 2012 Boot Key

I got up bright and early to go biking before it got hot. It was only 74 degrees when I took off.  My bike had a lizard sunning himself on my tire. I didn’t let him deter me, I shooed him off.

Lizard on tire, bike path at Marathon

I bought a hand woven palm frond sun hat from Hatmaker Grif, John heading toward Boot Key

We boated out to Boot Key, the island just off the coast of the key we are on-Knights Key to explore the channels into the mangrove swamp

John heading in to the island between mangrove islands. The mangrove roots are impenetrable.

The  channel through. It was too narrow for my fat boat,  I was having a hard enough time trying to keep my paddle from getting stuck in the roots. It would get caught cross ways and try to throw me out of the boat as the boat floated forward. Or get caught above me.  That and trying to pull the boat through the tight spots.  John  sweetly switched with me. His boat is much skinnier and just floated thru.

John in my boat in a tight spot and on the way out.

Almost out, watch out that paddle will get caught in the root!, John in the bay on the way back.

In the background is the bridge to no where. A developer was going to develop Boot Key. So he built the bridge. A hurricane damaged the bridge, so he abandoned the project. The city did not want to pay to fix the bridge, so they tried to sell it on eBay-buy bridge, come pick up. No one bought it, so they just took part of it out since it was unsafe. Boot Key is still uninhabited.  John in the bay.

A mangrove sprout poking up.  Hardy little things, they sprout, make a tree with lots of roots, dirt get caught in the roots and another island starts. Sunset on the 7 mile bridge.

Feb 26-27 2012 Key West

Key West was a 60 mile drive each way. We are at MM 47 in the keys. They are 110 miles long. Key West is pretty busy, tourist oriented key. Two cruise ships were docked when we were there. Lots of people,traffic, T-shirt shops, expensive shops, nice old homes and lots of history. No where to park. We took the Conch train- a tour train around town and saw the key points and learned lots of history.

Greetings from Key West. The Conch Republic Flag.  A ways back the government put up a road block  on the keys to monitor illegal aliens and smuggling. It was a 4 hour wait to get thru. Key West said it was ruining their tourist trade. The road block continued anyway. So the mayor of Key West declared it the Conch Republic, he was the prime minister. They seceded from the union and declared war on the union.  They armed themselves with Cuban bread and went to the naval base and threw it over the fence at the soldiers. When they ran out they surrendered and then asked for a million dollars in aid. After all the newspaper publicity the road block ended.

John with Mae West at the theatre. The kept the rococo décor on the outside of the theatre, but built a Walgreens inside it. Historic episcopal church.

stained glass windows inside.

The original Margaritaville café. You could not take a photo of anything in Key West without others in front of it, it was too crowded .The southernmost, southernmost house in the USA. It was built south of the original southernmost house

The southernmost point in the continental USA. John is more southernmost here.

Mimosa flowering tree, passion flower vine.

butterfly museum. The blue fish is a sicklet.  A plant at the butterfly museum

red flower and bird wing butterfly. a zebra long wing, it is Florida's state butterfly

mating butterfly's, blue butterfly

another blue one (morpho maybe??) and a butterfly grasping the flower to eat.

Julia butterfly , male  bird wing butterfly

butterfly on a leaf, and a banyan tree

A cock. The Cubans brought fighting cocks to the US. When they became illegal they just released them all. The birds are protected by the Florida wild bird law, so they have lots of chickens roaming the island.  the stained glass window is the eye of god. It is in the first Afro-American church in Key West.

The Green Parrot, oldest bar in Key West-1890. The Conch train-we took our tour on it.

Mile marker zero on US highway one. A kapok tree. They used to use the fibrous seeds to fill life jackets.

John with the dancing girls on the beach, A red sail boat

They have the’ Celebration of the sunset’ at Mallory pier. Artists and performers are there every night. The first guy is juggling fire on top of tall unicycle. The second guy is balancing a unicycle on his chin and doing contortions. 

sailboat in the sunset.