Another Fun-Filled Weekend

Hello Everyone!! I hope everyone has had a great weekend;  I know I sure have! Let me tell you all about it! :)


Friday night we sat around and tried to come up with something to do.  It took a while, but we finally decided on going to the Dolphin Research Center in Marathon.  We were a little apprehensive about the plans because we had no clue what we would do there.  One of the mom's from Camp works there so she paid for our admission.  Saturday morning we took a $10 cab ride up the road to the Center and walked right in.  Because we were unfamiliar with the attraction, we asked the lady what to do and she said there was a showing at 1 o'clock, so we headed out to the dock.  There, we saw 7 dolphins freely swimming in the ocean.  Parts of it were blocked off to separate the mom's and babies from the daddies, but if the dolphins want to go back to the ocean, they are certainly welcome to.  

Once the trainers came out, the show began.  It was the coolest dolphin show I have ever seen.  The trainers let the dolphins do their own tricks and they interacted with one another.  It wasn't a show that was rehearsed, it was all kind of a free for all. 

Once we were done watching the two shows, we wandered around and figured out what we should do next.  We decided to keep the educational Saturday go, and we headed to the Turtle Hospital.  

Kristen, Nikki, Me

Robyn and I outside of the Dolphin Research Center

Our tour started at 4 o'clock and we sat down in a small room and learned about the 5 sea turtles native to Florida.  It was neat because it was just us four on the tour.  After the 30 minute classroom session, we heard some noise outside. We looked out the window, and there was nearly a hurricane outside.  It was a terrible downpour with thunder and lightning.  The tour guide gave us some ponchos and we headed outside to the tanks.  Once we were out there though, he got very nervous and told us we needed to head inside to end the tour early.  SO.....we got free passes to come back again in not so terrible weather.  

Nikki and I rockin' our ponchos

Even though our tour got cut short, we still got to see some of the turtles that had been rescued.  They were very cute little creatures.  Saturday really opened my eyes up to the wildlife around us here and it gave me a whole new appreciation for the animals.  It broke my heart when I saw Jax the dolphin with cut up fins, and when one of the turtles' shell was cracked and oozy just tore me up.  I hope that during Camp I can talk to the kids about these creatures and see what we can do to help them all stay safe and alive.  :)


Once we were done at the hospital, we decided we needed a drink and something to eat, so we called a cab and headed to the Sunset Grille.  Robyn and I shared some mozzarella sticks and ribs.  I also got a drink called the Cruzin Confusion which had a very confusing straw in it!  

After dinner, we headed back home to just relax for the rest of the night.  I finished a poster and we watched some television. 


Sunday, the girls who are on the Key West Navy Base doing Camp Adventure picked us up around 10:30 to head to Bahia Honda.  Bahia Honda is a small key just south of Marathon.  We headed into the State Park and found a small pavilion next to the beach where we got to know each other while barbecuing hamburgers and hot dogs.  The weather wasn't terrific, but it was great for just sitting in the ocean talking and laughing.  All of us got lots of sun which is great considering how crappy the weather has been this last week. 

Key West + Marathon

After we were done looking around the gift shop and me buying ice cream (of course), we headed back home.  We said goodbye to the other ladies and walked into our very air conditioned condo which felt amazing.  Robyn and I were feeling a little out of shape because we haven't got a chance to ride our bikes very much this week, so we decided to go on a ride.  I needed to get a soda and we also wanted to get a couple of movies, so we headed to Walgreens.  Before heading in that direction though, we went down our street to see what was around us. Fortunately, I saw a dinosaur.  

Ok so these actually aren't really dinosaurs, but when we first got to Marathon, we were driving down Sombrero Beach and I saw these mailboxes that I swore looked like dinosaurs.  The girls later informed me that these are called Manatees. Now it is our little joke that these are dinosaurs.  :) I found these mailboxes next door to us. (Awesome!!)  Then we hopped back on our bikes and continued our adventure.  Once we hit the main road, I saw these little creatures crawling across the sidewalk.  

These little creatures are little crabs. I don't know what kind, but they were hilarious because they were walking on their hind legs.  And they don't walk forward like us, they walk sideways.  It was so funny, we just had to take a picture.  


We headed to a dive shop before Walgreens to see how much it would be to get Scuba certified because we all want to go diving this summer.  It doesn't seem too expensive, so we are considering the idea.  Once we were done with that one mile bike ride, we headed back up north to Walgreens. Unfortunately, they didn't have the second movie we wanted to watch  so we googled the location where the movie was and we headed up there.  It was about a four mile ride up there, but it was a great ride.  The scenery was beautiful and the breeze felt amazing.  We got up to the Circle K, grabbed the movie, made one last stop at Walgreens, and headed back home. All together, it was about an 8 mile ride.  I was a tad sweaty (ok a lot sweaty), but it felt so good to ride, get in shape, and I didn't have to pay for gas! Awesome!


Once we got home, we had a quick meeting to go over our program for the next two days, and we popped in the movie In Time with Justin Timberlake.  Its just about done now, so I should probably stop here and finish the movie.  :)


I hope everyone has a fantastic night and an even better week! Missing you all!


-Live. Love. Laugh. Janise