Tampa Electric Manatee Viewing Center

On President's Day we went to the Tampa Electric Manatee Viewing Center in Apollo Beach.  After living in Florida since July we hadn't seen manatees up close.  (We think we see a few moving around in the bay near us from our apartment- but that's a far view.)

There were hundreds of manatees just hanging out in the bay.  The Tampa Bay Electric Plant keeps the water warm during the cold months, so a lot of manatees congregate here.  It was fun to see them up close moving around a little.

 

 

After, we walked along another path and we able to see a few sharks jumping and some other big fish.  This was an easy to access, free activity- and now we can say we've seen manatees.  Next up, alligators! ;)

Bella Steals the Show

We went to visit Grandma Pauline two weekends ago down in Cape Coral.  A tornado hit Cape Coral in the beginning of January, and many of the homes still had tarps on their roofs.

We didn't take many pictures of our visit this time, but KC got one of Jake using his "engineering" brain to put the leftover pot roast in a container.  He got it right on the second try...  

Poor Bella hadn't pooped all day so Grandma Pauline fed her pumpkin, and had us bring her on a walk.  We weren't supposed to bring her back until we had "success."  Little Bella was pretty stubborn, and wouldn't go on the first leg of the walk, so Jake had to carry her.

Once we got to the end of the street and turned around, Bella had "success".  And, Jake got to carry that "success" all the way back. ;)

Thank you Grandma Pauline and Bella, for letting us visit.  We had a great time catching up, and are looking forward to the next time!

The Coldest Day in Florida Yet!

The last week of January in Florida- we didn't know HOW cold it would get...  Yep, that's ice!  Thank goodness we had the ice scraper from Minnesota in KC's car.  We saw other people sitting in their cars with the heat on until their windows defrosted.

 

KC's Birthday

We celebrated KC's birthday in a low-key way (it was the day after her friend left, and we both weren't feeling that well).  Chipotle, birthday cake, and a movie- it was perfect! :)

A Florida Visitor

KC's friend Heather came to visit for MLK Jr weekend!  

Our first stop was Whiskey Joe's on the way back from the airport.  There's a beach area, with tiki huts, a bar area, and even fires to sit by.  We grabbed a few drinks and sat at a fire near the water- and enjoyed catching up. 

The weather wasn't exactly what a Minnesotan excepts when they come to Florida in the winter...  The night Heather arrived was the warmest part of her stay.  It was in the 60s, but windy- which makes for chilly 60s.

We hit up Pier 60 and Clearwater beach- not in our bathing suits, but in pants and jackets! ;)  

While on the Pier, we saw two police vehicles and a large number of people stopping by to watch something.  At first we thought someone was in the water (large waves and rip current warnings), but the longer we watched we thought maybe it was a beached animal.  People were gathering round and taking pictures of whatever it was.  So, naturally being the nosy people we are, we walked out to see what the commotion was about.  

It was a rattlesnake!  What?  Why was the rattlesnake at the beach?  Who know!  Hopefully we never seen another one at the beach! 

Jake had to work, but KC and Heather had time rest, relax, and chat!  Being from Minnesota, Heather convinced KC to go into the hot tub.  It was surprisingly warm, and we even made some friends down at the pool/hot tub area (of course they were from Canada- one of them was even in the pool!).

It was great to have Heather here, and look forward to seeing her in March when she comes over her spring break!

Dolphin Watching on NYE

To make the most of our last few days before going to work, we decided to go on a dolphin watching boat ride  in Clearwater Beach.  The "Little Toot" was the highest rated tour on TripAdvisor, so we booked with them.

We were able to park in the marina, and walk around the beach area and Pier 60 for about an hour before we left.  It was a bright, sunny day and it was fun to walk the pier and watch the water for a bit.  (Jake even scored a new pair of sunglasses, because his broke on the ride back to Florida.)

Clearwater Beach area and Pier 60

The tour took off from Clearwater Beach and we weren't sure what to expect.  The Little Toot seemed like a small boat compared to the other tour boats.  They have a "dolphin guarantee"- if you don't see dolphins you get to go on another trip for free.  We were hoping to see dolphins, but just being on the water was a treat! :)

After being on the boat for about 10 minutes we started to see dolphins.  They were close, but hard to get pictures of because they kept surfacing and going back under.  We thought this was as close as we were going to get.

We were wrong!  A dolphin came right along the side of us and stayed there- jumping, splashing and giving us quite a show!!  He was alongside of us for about five minutes.  It was amazing!

After the dolphin tour, we spent time walking around the shops in Clearwater Beach and had dinner near the beach.  It was an adventurous 2015, and we're looking forward to 2016!

Ft. Desoto Park Beach Day

The next day after arriving in Florida, we decided to get our vitamin D levels up by visiting the Ft. Desoto Park Beach.  (Sorry to say it- but it was overcast and gloomy in Minnesota.)

This was our first visit to the Ft. Desoto Park.  The park was so big you could forget you were within populated Pinellas county. 

We weren't really in Florida for Christmas.   But, for the last few years we've written this in the sand somewhere warm- so we pretended. ;)

It was nice to be back in the sunshine state!