Preserving the Beauty – Florida Pics (Port St. Lucie, Sarasota: motel, vacation, work)

[Judlea]

Oh yes Adream, these Dolphins were SO PLAYFUL and they were putting on quite a show. It was absolutely AMAZING to me that we got to watch them PLAY with this boat and all of us. They were having so much fun... We STILL talk about this, and for us, it was a once in a lifetime adventure.

The final glorious act...








Here is the one where the Dolphin seems to be looking at me. Sort of like, just checking to see if we are still having fun and watching, LOL






The final sunset pictures




And the very last...


What started out so IFFY, ended up to be so GLORIOUS all the way around.

This trip is over, but I still have hundreds of pictures to share!! What would you like to see next? I need to take a poll? Alligators - I have so MANY alligator pictures, the space center, Key West, our weekend in Naples (quite an event), the flight over the everglades, our vacation to St. Augustine...

Like most of you, we work a long, hard, grueling week and suffer from ALL the problems that most Floridians have - heck, that most Americans have. But we take advantage of our weekends... And that is the BEST thing about living in Florida... We CAN take advantage of our weekends to OFFSET the daily grind of dealing with the never-ending work and problems. We are REALLY looking forward to our retirement too...

Judlea

[nomoresnow]

Just gorgeous, Judlea. Many, many thanks. That might be something we'd like to do when we move. Dolphins are one of the neatest animals on the planet, aren't they? We have photos from when we were at Sea World, petting the creatures. They're almost human.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by Judlea

This trip is over, but I still have hundreds of pictures to share!! What would you like to see next? I need to take a poll? Alligators - I have so MANY alligator pictures, the space center, Key West, our weekend in Naples (quite an event), the flight over the everglades, our vacation to St. Augustine...

Like most of you, we work a long, hard, grueling week and suffer from ALL the problems that most Floridians have - heck, that most Americans have. But we take advantage of our weekends... And that is the BEST thing about living in Florida... We CAN take advantage of our weekends to OFFSET the daily grind of dealing with the never-ending work and problems. We are REALLY looking forward to our retirement too...

Judlea

St. Augustine would be great, also since many are considering living there.

[Florida Impressions]

Nice work Judlea! It's always a beautiful site when you can get the dolphins to run along side the boat like that.

Here are a pair of Atlantic Spotted Dolphins that were running at the bow of our boat while we were offshore one day. They will commonly come up and check things out while we're trolling.

I never get tired of seeing them...

[Florida Impressions]

Originally Posted by Floridabound09

We are taking her to Sea World soon to swim with them.

If you're going to swim with the dolphins at Discovery Cove (which is part of Sea World), I can honestly say that it is an amazing experience and well worth the money.

Here's a picture of my son, who was also 8 at the time, hitching a ride with Latoya, our dolphin for the day...

[Judlea]

Originally Posted by nomoresnow

That might be something we'd like to do when we move. Dolphins are one of the neatest animals on the planet, aren't they? We have photos from when we were at Sea World, petting the creatures. They're almost human.

When we first moved to Florida 10 years ago, we COULDN'T wait to see our first "wild" dolphin. We were on a mission and "driven." We had seen lots and lots of dolphin shows through the years, but that just wasn't the same as seeing a dolphin "in the wild."

Well, now we are "contented." We have our favorite places to go and see our beloved dolphins. Besides Ft. Myers Beach and the Caloosahatchee River, they love waters around the Sanibel Causeway, but they can also be seen (a lot more cheaply I might add) in the waters around Pine Island. We had a favorite (pre-hurricane) restaurant that we would go to on Pine Island after work - when we just wanted and needed to eat, relax, and see the beautiful dolphins, birds, sunsets... Ahhh - that was the day! (Picture attached)

Another dolphin story: When we lived in Cape Coral, we had a mother dolphin teaching her calf how to hunt in our canal... There they were - a mother dolphin and her calf!!! I didn't have a camera for some reason!!! But I SURE ENJOYED watching her teach her calf... By the way, it was on a Sunday morning and she was making LOTS OF NOISE. She stayed for about an hour. I wanted to CALL ALL THE NEIGHBORS!!!

We also saw dolphin every where when we went out sailing.

I know, I know... before you all get really jealous of me and my sweet life (house on a canal - sailboat), it was, but now we have downsized. And life is still very sweet, when it isn't really sour. Sweet and sour, isn't that a Chinese sauce? But I digress. I've had a really, really LONG day, and now I'm at play. LOL Where was I?

When you move here, nomoresnow, we will take you out to see the dolphins!

A note: we went from owning a sailboat to renting a canoe - much, much more fun!!! I have pictures!!! Anybody wanna see????

But first macguy: I have my St. Augustine pictures ready to go.

Thanks for the request!! Those will definitely be next - but maybe not tonight cause I'm SOOO tired; my husband called and said he will be home late from work; his cell phone died; traffic sucks; I still haven't gotten my exercise in for today (and I'm gonna miss a gold star from Karla in the exercise thread); and I ignored the "ergonomics" message on my computer that reminds me TO TAKE A BREAK; and, and... I KNOW there is more...but, but (The preceeding message was for the benefit of all you had a rough day.)

Florida Impressions: You are the best!! Thanks, thanks, thanks for the pictures.

Later, Judlea

The restaurant is still there, but it is no longer open it's right across the "fishing bridge."

[oceandreams94]

Judlea, Wanted to say also how much I enjoyed these wonderful pictures! You really did make my day! It so so nice to see the beautiful side of Florida, and very refreshing among all the negative posts.
We will be moving to central Florida in a few months too, and we are so excited about it. I would love to be able to take great pics like these!!
Keep em coming!
I would love to see some pics of PALM trees, because that is my favorite tree, and maybe some pretty bird pictures or aligator pics!!
Hugs
Jen

[nomoresnow]

When you move here, nomoresnow, we will take you out to see the dolphins!

Judlea, I'll take you up on that!

[Floridabound09]

Originally Posted by nomoresnow

When you move here, nomoresnow, we will take you out to see the dolphins!

Judlea, I'll take you up on that!

Can we go too..........

[Floridabound09]

Originally Posted by nomoresnow

When you move here, nomoresnow, we will take you out to see the dolphins!

Judlea, I'll take you up on that!

Hey NMS!!!
See we both found someone who is showing us the best of what Florida has to offer and more.
These are just stunning for sure.