March 6 Tuesday Day 9

Happy Birthday Danny! - brother-in-law for those who don't know.

We ate a lazy breakfast at Steve and Mary Ann's and off we went towards St Petersburg.

We wanted to see a manatee as long as we were close. We went to Homosassa wildlife Park in Homosassa Florida. The park is a refuge for injured Florida wildlife animals. This was a hoot, we saw flamingo’s during breeding season. A volunteer guide talked about the alligators in the pond, and that this was not their eating season and that even eating a a bird could cause them problems even death. During here presentation two alligators slipped into the pool and came close to the platform perched high above the water that she was speaking from. They pushed each other and frightened her. After that episode she talked about the hippo in the next pond. It is not part of Florida’s wildlife but it was in the park before it took in strays, it was finally resolved by the governor proclaiming the hippo was a citizen of the state and could live there until the end. They celebrate it’s birthday in February of each year by giving it an immense birthday cake, as she was spoiled by her first owners with peppermint candies. Now to the big shooe, as Ed Sullivan used to say, the manatees. As we went over the bridge to the other side of the park we were greeted by wild manatees on our right and injured manatees on our left. Both were quite the sight, much much bigger than I ever expected. I think she said later 1 to 3 tons. We took in the show, again delivered by volunteer guide. They presentation was next to the freshwater pool that fed the river with 300,000 gallons of fresh water an hour. That part of the pool was a light green, for a guy who is partially color blind. These docile animals are mammals that need to breathe. Two were lying in the river a short ways off but when the gal entered the water more came to her for slices of radishes, whole carrots and leafy lettuce. It was fun watching her pet the animals as they snuggled up to her. This was a great show, to bad these animals had been injured by boat propellers and being hit by them. The manatees were all female, as if any males were present offspring might be produced and they could not be kept in the park and they could also not survive in the wild. As they would have to be left go.

Down the road a long long way we go, hunger caught up with us and I saw a sign that said Catches Waterfront Grill was ahead at Port Richey. So there we ate. Sat outside to take in the rays as we devoured deep fried onion rings and zucchini, which was a meal in itself. Shirleen had grilled grouper and I had deep fried grouper with fries and steamed vegetables.

As the sun was setting I stopped at a beach in some town to watch it set, I know an old romantic. We had our picture taken by a guy and his wife who were setting on the beach doing as we were doing. I then noticed he had a hat on that said Scheel’s on it, he was from the Eau Claire Wisconsin store.

Can you believe it - No dinner that evening. Called Jim and Marge H. said we were running a day late and would come back that way to try and catch a Twins game and visit them. We owe them lunch.