Manatee Day!
Today we went kayaking at Three Sisters Springs, which is just off the road..they're so clear and beautiful! You'd never know all of that hidden beauty was there from the road! Before we left we had to watch a short video on not disturbing the manatees..I feel like that should be obvious. :/ We went early (8:30, bleh LOL) so we'd have a better chance of seeing the manatees, and we saw lots of them! They're so cute and docile hehe. There are places roped off where you can't go, called "manatee sanctuaries"..manatees can't survive in water lower than 68 degrees, so they come to the springs, which are always 72 degrees. Mom and I pulled up to the edge of the sanctuary to see the manatees better, and all of a sudden a lady on the boardwalk (which you'll read about in a little bit) was like "YOU IN THE KAYAKS, GET AWAY FROM THE SANCTUARY, YOU CAN'T BE IN THERE!!!!" OMG wow, calm down, we were on the EDGE of the sanctuary, sitting there and doing nothing harmful..jeez. You can swim there as well, and she wasn't yelling at THEM, even though they were at the edge too! We saw more manatees as we kayaked down the channel, and they even swam under our kayak! Awww (they're not aggressive at all, so it wasn't scary lol). There were lots of tour groups there, and as we went by a bunch of swimmers and their guide, he was like "has everyone had a chance to touch a manatee? Move over if you have!" OMG WHAT. Did you not just watch that video that says NOT to touch them??! Ugh, leave the wildlife alone! I'm sure they're used to humans (and will come up to you if you're still), but you still can't harass them! Ugh. I also loved identifying the various trees along the canal (yep, I'm a nerd LOL). I saw probably the biggest magnolia (it smelled amazinggg too) and golden rain tree I've ever seen! Funn :P
After we kayaked for a couple hours, we had lunch at McDonald's (they've gotten really high tech..you can order from a sign without even talking to anyone! I couldn't believe I got three things for $5.00!!! In Alaska it would be like $10), and then took the trolley to the boardwalk, which goes around the different springs. We got to the sanctuary part, where we saw the lady that yelled at us, and yelled at a lot of other people while we were up there too..wow, that must be a fun job. :/ The Manatee Police are watching you. :P The trail continued down the roped off part of the canal we couldn't go to in the kayak..there were LOTS of manatees there, awww! I love the pretty water in the springs too. That was a cool experience :)
After that we stopped at grandpa's house for a few minutes to check on Reese, and then went shopping downtown..my bank account hurts now LOL ( I wanted to go to the bookstore I went to last time, but it closed a couple months after I left :(). It was fun, but I'm glad to be relaxing now :P
Here we go!
O hai birdie :D
I found some!!
The Yelling Manatee Police Lady (LOL) told us the white marks were scars from a boat propeller..omg that is awful :(
The sanctuary, with a bunch of manatees kinda near the top of the water
Taken from the boardwalk now..so pretty!
It would be cool to swim there, except for the fact the Manatee Police are watching your EVERY move D:
Lots of manatees!!
It got busy after we got done kayaking, so it was good we went early lol
A random turtle on a palm tree :P
November 23 - Did you shop for Black Friday? I did go shopping, but not because it was Black Friday lol
After we kayaked for a couple hours, we had lunch at McDonald's (they've gotten really high tech..you can order from a sign without even talking to anyone! I couldn't believe I got three things for $5.00!!! In Alaska it would be like $10), and then took the trolley to the boardwalk, which goes around the different springs. We got to the sanctuary part, where we saw the lady that yelled at us, and yelled at a lot of other people while we were up there too..wow, that must be a fun job. :/ The Manatee Police are watching you. :P The trail continued down the roped off part of the canal we couldn't go to in the kayak..there were LOTS of manatees there, awww! I love the pretty water in the springs too. That was a cool experience :)
After that we stopped at grandpa's house for a few minutes to check on Reese, and then went shopping downtown..my bank account hurts now LOL ( I wanted to go to the bookstore I went to last time, but it closed a couple months after I left :(). It was fun, but I'm glad to be relaxing now :P
Here we go!
O hai birdie :D
I found some!!
The Yelling Manatee Police Lady (LOL) told us the white marks were scars from a boat propeller..omg that is awful :(
The sanctuary, with a bunch of manatees kinda near the top of the water
Taken from the boardwalk now..so pretty!
It would be cool to swim there, except for the fact the Manatee Police are watching your EVERY move D:
Lots of manatees!!
It got busy after we got done kayaking, so it was good we went early lol
A random turtle on a palm tree :P
November 23 - Did you shop for Black Friday? I did go shopping, but not because it was Black Friday lol