The Florida Aquarium

After an oatmeal breakfast, Mark and I changed some of his Wyze cameras to updated models then we all took the dogs for a walk around Eldred, Bassett and Cedar Gate. When we returned, we primed the garage wall that we had repaired with concrete board last week. We plan to allow the primer to dry for a day or two then spray with orange peel spray.

We left for Tampa at 10:30 for our 12:30 tickets to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. We were meeting Steve and Marcia at the aquarium to spend the day then go to a late lunch nearby. We had purchased our tickets online and had the email with our barcodes for admission. We parked in the lot that is used for the aquarium as well as cruise ships that leave from Tampa. We paid $25 for five hours of parking.

Steve and Marcia were already at the aquarium when we arrived, and we were happy to see them.

We walked around the many displays and especially enjoyed the large tanks with schools of large fish as well as marine invertebrates like algae and sea anemones. We also enjoyed the very colorful and unusually patterned fish as well as the very large fish like groupers and the Māori wrasse. Some of the larger tanks had several varieties of sharks and one tank had a large Ridley’s Sea Turtle. Smaller displays throughout the facility had snakes, lizards, turtles, alligators, birds, otters and other animals associated with water.

We had made it through the aquarium by 3 pm and we were all ready for lunch. We had planned to eat at Half Moon seafood restaurant which was only a couple of blocks from the aquarium. The restaurant had very good reviews online and offered seafood and a variety of other options. However, when we arrived we saw that they did not have an indoor dining room, only some shared tables outdoors. Since the day was cool and windy we opted to look elsewhere. Mary searched for someplace to eat nearby that had good reviews and a menu that would suit everyone. She suggested BurgerFi with an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars. We had never heard of this chain found only in the Southeastern US, but we were hungry and the restaurant didn’t appear to be crowded so it was our choice.

There was a table of six open in the small restaurant when we arrived. The counter employee at the BurgerFi greeted us when we arrived and was exceptionally pleasant making us feel welcome. We ordered burgers and chicken sandwiches. Everyone ordered onion rings that were highly recommended. My burger, the CEO, was a double patty of Wagyu beef with cheeses and sauces. My burger was excellent and everyone enjoyed the meal. We were glad that we arrived when we did since the restaurant filled up once we were seated.

Steve and Marcia had parked in the parking garage across the street from the aquarium, so we said our goodbyes and parted and drove back to Homosassa. We were not hungry for dinner, so we did or evening language lessons the watched Astrid and Vienna Blood on PBS.

Sunday in May, ID

When we got up on Sunday morning, Mark pointed out elk in the area between the fields. Using binoculars, it was easy to see the elk grazing.

We had banana bread and mini bagels before taking the dogs for a long walk to the irrigation ditch. We picked up glass fragments and rocks to polish in the tumbler.

After returning to the house, Cindy made biscuits and sausage gravy for a late breakfast.

Mark and Steve finished cutting up, hauling off and cleaning up the last downed cottonwood tree. They put the tractor implements back along the fence around the chicken lot and made sure that there were no places in the fence for chickens to get out or predators to get in.

Jade posing at the pond

Earlier in the summer, Mark had a problem with trout dying in the pond. The water is over 30 feet deep which should be deep enough to keep the water cool enough for trout. A few weeks ago, he added additional aeration to the pond which should help. We used Vernier probes to assess dissolved oxygen, temperature and pH, all of which came well within the requirements for rainbow trout. Mark bought a water temperature sensor for his Ambient Weather Station. This probe measures the temperature of the water at a depth of ten feet and sends the data to the weather station’s app.

Wolf skin in Whittington's living room

Mark bought several Wyze security cameras for the Idaho property, and we placed them in and out of the house to monitor the property when they are away. The security camera on the back of the house has a solar panel to power the camera even if the electricity is out.

We had an afternoon snack of tortilla strips then Cindy paid bills and took care of paperwork while Mary worked on notes for this journal and watched Sunday church service.

Mark cooked a tri-tip and grilled asparagus for dinner, and Cindy fixed bruschetta.

After dinner we watched two episodes of Good Karma Hospital on Acorn TV then turned in for the night. It was nice to have a more relaxing day after travel and taking trees down.