Beachin'

Today was another great day in Florida!  We got off to a slow start but once we got going we didn't stop.  Our first stop was Mom's place for breakfast with my parents.  They flew in late last night so we had to take them there.  Eric got an omelet and I got biscuits and gravy.  Yum!  After breakfast, we drove around Tampa for a bit before going to the Florida Aquarium.  This was a great Aquarium. There was a lot of cool fish that we hadn't seen before.  

We only got through half of the aquarium before we headed out for a Wild Dolphin Cruise.  The cruise left straight from the aquarium and the mission was to find Dolphins in Tampa Bay.  

Being on a boat in Florida was dreamy.  It was such a beautiful day and the water made everything seem better.  At the beginning of the cruise, we were at the front of the boat.  It was very windy, but it felt really nice.  We got an occasional ocean spray, but nothing too major until we hit a few big waves and got DRENCHED!  It was actually really fun.  The Bay was beautiful and we saw a few dolphins.  It was awesome.  We've never seen dolphins in the wild before - they would come up to get air and then go back down underwater.  It was so cool.  

After the cruise, we finished up the aquarium.  We saw alligators and that was cool.  They stayed so still they almost looked fake.  If we hadn't seen them blink we probably would have thought they weren't real.  There were also otters and turtles and some cool birds.  They had touch pools with crabs and stingrays.  The crabs kind of freaked me out because their legs were pretty gross, but I loved the rays.  When my Mom was leaning over the ray touch pool one of them came by and put its fin out of the water and splashed right in front of her.  It was hilarious.  She jumped and shrieked a little while the rest of us laughed.  She joined us laughing before too long. 

After the aquarium, we came back to the hotel and changed into beachwear before heading to St. Petersburg to the beach.  We went to St. Pete Beach and fell in love with the white sandy beaches. We loved being in the water.  My Mom is a total beach bum.  She absolutely loves being in the ocean.  The water was kind of cold, but not too bad once we got used to it.  

After a while in the water, Eric and I came back to the beach and bummed around while my Dad went out with my Mom.  When he came back, Eric and I went back out with my Mom.  While we were in the water there were two pelicans that kept diving in the ocean and catching fish right by us.  It was so cool to see them dive.  

When it started getting dark we went and got a delicious seafood dinner before heading back to the hotel.  All-in-all, it was an awesome Florida day!