Corkscrew Swamp

This Wildlife Refuge has a couple of miles of wonderful boardwalk paths

 through the Cypress Swamp.

 You could spend many hours observing wildlife

 and taking in the sounds and sights of this amazing habitat.

The sounds of the doves soothe the spirit as you walk into the unknown.

Yellow Crowned Night Heron ... sleeping.

Looks like moss hanging in the trees. It is really an air plant.

The Spiny Soft Shell Turtle of Florida can grow to 25" long.

 This one seemed huge to me. I estimated over 18" long.

The head is very large and has a long snorkel-like nose.

Very different from any turtle I had ever seen! 

Little Blue Heron

Black Crowned Night Heron

Key West Snorkel Trip

We took a day trip to snorkel, fish, 

and explore the barrier islands and reefs around Key West.

Must of been a good joke!

The snorkeling was fabulous!

We saw so many colorful, beautiful fish and corals. It was the best!!

Then we fished. There were 12 people on board

and a total of 23 fish were caught in about 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, some caught many, and some caught none.

Anita ... 3

Margaret ... 0

Renee ... 0

Kathy ... 0

Then, while we explored the island,

the Captain and first mate grilled some wonderful fish ... 

and everyone got to eat!!!

The islands were covered with birds

and we watched Frigate birds

coming in to roost for the night.

As we approached the dock the rest of the team ran out to greet us.

After kisses and hugs for the captain, they checked the whole boat

for any stray morsels of left over fish.

So ends another perfect day in paradise.

Key West Sunset Sail

We rode our bikes all over Key West.

And then we took a sunset sail on a beautiful two masted schooner.

Several cruise ships were in town.

Anita and Kathy helped hoist the sails.

Then Renee and Anita took a turn at steering the ship.

This is a photograph of the boat we sailed on.

We could see the lights of the Mallory Square sunset celebration as we sailed by.

The cruise ships looked beautiful all lit up.

So ends another day in paradise!