Friday, 7 November 2008 - Sunday, 9 November 2008
A Quick Visit with Friends on the Way to Orlando
with Another Side Trip to See Manatees in the Wild
Seen in Georgia
This was too funny not to take a picture of - a racing pigeon trailer!
We started out our trip on Friday afternoon driving to Georgia. On Saturday morning we woke up and drove to Jacksonville and had a delicious lunch with our my high school friend Jason and his wife Melanie, my college friend. Of course, I somehow managed not to take ONE picture. Wren thought that J&M were just the greatest. I'm sure it didn't hurt that they took her to a totally fun playground in a beautiful section of Jacksonville. It was great to see them in their daily surroundings and to see their lovely home.
After our lunch with Melanie and Jason, we journeyed down to the Gainesville area to see our friends Bobby and Kim Cappozzi. Bobby is a fellow Lockheed employee and they were in Italy the same time we were. It was great to see them as we hadn't since January. They were gracious enough to let up stay the night and Kim not only made us a delicious dinner but also capped it off with the most delicious pancakes I've had in a long time.
Kim and Wren - just like they had never been apart!
Wren with Bob's plane. Jason even took a plane ride!
Bob, Kim, Wren, Lee Anne and Jason in front of the Capozzi hanger. Bob and Kim live on an airstrip and their house is not to far to the left of the hanger in this picture.
After our delicious breakfast with the Capozzis on Sunday morning, we headed down to Blue Spring State Park to see if we could spot some manatees wintering in the warm water of the spring.
Walking down to the spring
Snorkelers in the spring
We got lucky and were very close to a mama manatee and two babies!
The manatees are hard to see in the photos but they seemed just as interested in the people as the people gathering around the steps were to see the manatees! The park rangers came and asked everyone to exit the water or swim away from the area as the it is against the law to touch or harass the manatees in any way. We did see one young boy sneak a quick touch of the mama manatee though he was quickly chastised by his own mother!
We stopped in the park information center to hear a scheduled talk about manatees. One fact that I learned is that, sadly, manatees are still hunted and eaten. Mostly in South America, but apparently, even here in the United States too!
...Stay tuned for Part II - Animal Kingdom...
