Manatees Galore!

We had a late start this morning since we both had work related telephone calls and emails to make before getting on the road.  We left the Bayview Plaza Waterfront Resort around 10 am and headed toward the Manatee Viewing Center near Apollo Beach in Tampa. 

Hundreds of manatees in the water

The viewing area and visitor center is operated by Tampa Electric and has excellent educational displays and several overlooks to places where the “sea cows” congregate in winter.  When the power plant’s cooling water is returned to the bay, it warms the water making it desirable for the manatees to stay. 

A curious manatee

When we arrived the parking lot at the visitor center was nearly full.  Locals and tourists were flocking to see the unusually large number of manatees in the bay this week.  The recent cold snap is bringing many more manatees than can usually be seen.  When we were there, we saw literally hundreds of manatees in the water.  There were animals of all sizes with some moving about and others conserving energy by floating in the warm water.  On a walk out to one of the viewing areas we noticed the thermometers on either side of the causeway.  On the power plant side of the causeway the water temperature was 72 degrees while on the side toward the bay the temperature was about 50 degrees.  For obvious reasons, there were many more manatees on the warm side. 

After watching the manatees, we went through the gift shop and made our way back to the car.  As we were leaving we saw a number of cars coming in to the visitor center and looking for a parking place.  We really enjoyed our visit since I can’t imagine seeing that many manatees in one location.

After leaving Apollo Beach, we drive toward the pier at St. Petersburg.  It appears that work was being done there and many of the shops were closed so we kept moving and drove by the Salvador Dali Museum.  Since we had been driving during lunch we just ate some of the snacks we had packed.  We stopped at the Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg.  We really enjoyed our walk through the gardens looking at the well displayed plants and water gardens.  Most of the labeled plants on display are common Florida vegetation that is either native or, like most of the palm trees, widely planted non-native plants that are commonly seen in the state.  It would be nice to come back here in the summer when the plants are all at their peak.

When we left the Sunken Gardens, we drove to the Fort De Soto Park.  We were interested in learning that the fort and military structures were built in the around 1898 during the Spanish American War but the fort was abandoned by 1923.  We walked along the beach and out of some of the piers finding some shells and pieces of coral.  We found a few geocaches in the area and took some snapshots of the attractive beaches in the area.

We left Fort De Soto around 5:30 and drove back to St. Pete Beach to find a place for dinner.  Trip Advisor gave good reports to Dockside Dave’s for local seafood.  We were not disappointed with the food.  The restaurant is obviously frequented by locals since our waiter, a fourth grade teacher, knew most of the customers.  We had some great onion rings as an appetizer, which were free since the waiter felt bad because our order was taking longer than expected.  Mary had the local grouper dinner prepared country style with a light cornmeal breading.  She has cole slaw and steamed vegetables on the side.  I had the blackened Captain’s Platter that included grouper, shrimp and scallops with cole slaw and seasoned rice on the side.   We heard that their key lime pie is excellent but we far too full to consider dessert.

On the way back to the room we stopped Publix to get Mary’s breakfast for Thursday and Friday since I had plenty of fruit and cereal for the rest of the week.  She has taken a liking to the ciabatta bread made with muesli, whole grains and craisens.
We had a great day today with beautiful weather.  The past couple of days were a bit cool but not bad considering the sub zero weather back home.  Today was sunny and warm with a soft breeze. 

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