A dozen turtles that are recovering at the Marinelife Center in Palm Beach. They each have their own pool and individualized treatment plans that can include stuff like hydrotherapy to strengthen recovering flippers and nebulizaer treatments for respiratory problems. Pretty cool. They range from new hatchlings to a 250 pound Loggerhead. It is a good chance to see Green, Loggerhead and Kemps Ridley turtles. I’d love to see them in the wild but we are too early for nesting. Maybe another time or further up the coast.

Lower Keys: Live music at the KOA pub; just saying that sounds funny! Not bad though.
Key West – Seafood restaurants everywhere. A local tip took us to a pretty good one for oysters, conch and shrimp.
Key lime pie comparisons…in three tries we didn’t find any bad ones.
An oceanside sunset at Mallory Square along with a few 1000 of our closest friends. Not exactly a quiet romantic setting but the sailing ships were beautiful as they moved across the color blazed horizon. There was even a Jolly Roger flying…on the Jolly Rover.

They have beaches
The sort of rocky, rough kind at camp-ok for sitting by and people watching
The soft white sandy kind at Bahia Honda SP-pretty good for swimming and wading and walking with a great view of the open ocean
Shallow sea grass beyond the beach to try a little off-shore snorkeling.
They have critters
Key Deer (they are adorable little guys), alligators, Iguana (seems quite a few have been released and are thriving here), and all the familiar Florida birds.
No flamingos though!

Two weeks dry camping in the Everglades vs the KOA in the Keys. From solitude, birdsong, night time silence and dark skies to neighbors within arms reach, music and voices drifting on the air all the time, roving bands of kids on bikes, and street lights. But; there is also, power, a pool, hot showers, a beach and even a hot tub…it’s filled with kids most of the time but hey, maybe we will find a few moments to enjoy it. Looking forward to checking out the happenings here in the Keys.

What is that racket? Setting at the table I heard this weird sound. It was sort of a metallic clunk and sort of a swish. It went on long enough we had to go out and check what was happening. We found a confused, slightly dizzy Cardinal. He was busily challenging his reflection in the motorhome hub caps, the shiny side of the cab door, and every other reflective area on the cab. His imagined interloper led him to do a lot of wonderful singing too between the bouts of head banging. The little guy is very pretty but obviously not so bright.

We strolled Ocean and Collins Boulevards in South Miami. It was a continuous scene of cream colored stucco with pink, violet and sea foam green accents. I am sure there is a much deeper more complex understanding of Art Deco that can be had; but, for the novice like us, that about covers it. It was Monday so the crowds were pretty light but if the piles of rental lounges were any indication, this place must be fanny to fanny sunbathers some days. Today is was a long strand of white sand against Caribbean-like aqua water. Nice

A Cuban panini and a basil, mozz, and tomato on beget for lunch. Polo Tropical made our diner. It is a southern fast food place that serves sort of Jamaican style grilled chicken/ribs/roast pork with lots of rice and black beans plus all sorts of salsas. Quite good.