New Smyrna Beach, Canaveral National Seashore

We had our morning beverages and did our language lessons before coming down to Mark’s breakfast of biscuits and sausage gravy. It was excellent. We walked the dogs then got on the road toward the Apollo Beach area of the Canaveral National Seashore. My lifetime National Park pass got us in at no charge. We drove to beach 2 where we had lunch of corn nuts, Ritz crackers and peanut butter. We watched some ruddy turnstones and gulls mooching scraps of our lunch. We didn’t notice that an older lady fell in the sand not far from us. We thought that she was trying to get a closeup photo of something in the sand. Walking along the beach was difficult in the soft sand. We looked at a few shells and took a few pictures. The afternoon was beautiful in the low 80s. We had to take pictures to send to friends back home since they were in the middle of a winter snowstorm with high temperatures in the 20s. We were happy to be in Florida this week.

There were several armadillos scampering along the road as well many more that had been hit and killed. Mark spotted a large tortoise near the road, so we backed up to get a better look and take some snapshots. We didn’t see any wild hogs but there was plenty of evidence that they are in the area. Large areas looked like they had been plowed from the groups of pigs rooting in the damp sandy soil.

We drove along the beach areas and stopped at several places to enjoy the view. We did not stop at any of the clothing optional beaches in the park. Near the end of that end of the park we visited the historic Eldora State House in a community that was formed in the 1800s. The volunteer on duty told us that her husband was a Marshall graduate from the 1960s. We explored the well-preserved house and watched an informative video on the community around the house before we returned to the car.

We drove to the Hampton Inn in Titusville where we checked in and cleaned up in our rooms. The Hampton Inn was very nice and appeared to be fairly new of at least recently remodeled. Our room had two double beds. We met Mark and Cindy at 6 pm to drive the short distance to Dixie Crossroads for dinner. We were pleased not to have to wait for a table and were seated immediately. Our waitress as very nice and efficient I picked up on what I thought was a Pittsburgh accent based on her use of “yinze”. When she came to the table to bring drink refills, Cindy asked where she grew up. She said that she was born in Baltimore but grew up in Pittsburgh.

Cindy had a dinner of crab cakes, Mark had a rack of ribs with fries, Mary had grilled mahi mahi and I had the special which was a flounder filet stuffed with lobster dressing with cheesy grits and a cup of Cajun soup. We all enjoyed our meals. We were surprised that our bills were within one cent of each other at $41.70 and $41.71 for each couple.

We went back to the hotel and went to sleep quickly.

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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