What a wonderful trip we had to South Florida for spring break! We enjoyed our relaxed, lazy days in Pompano Beach. We built sandcastles, looked for shells, swam in the ocean and the pool, played card games, and had some great dinners at local spots.
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| At the airport - ready to go! |
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| Sunrise... |
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| Waiting for the boat to get to Cap's Place, one of our favorite local restaurants |
I celebrated my 39th birthday on this trip, and my parents drove down from The Villages for the day and we loved spending time with them, too! They brought a yummy cake and made us breakfast the next morning. We cherish the time with them!
We also went on some great daytime adventures throughout southern Florida. We spent an afternoon at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, where they care for injured sea turtles in the rehab center, preparing them for re-release into the wild. They have many other animals there too, so it's fun to tour the grounds and see them all up-close.
We also went down to the southwest tip of mainland Florida and toured Everglades National Park. As we walked the paths, we saw plenty of alligators (we spotted a juvenile alligator having some lunch, a fresh fish catch, just beneath the footbridge we were crossing), beautiful birds, snakes and fish. We finally made our way down to the Flamingo Visitor Center where we went out on a boat into the Florida Bay, which separates the Everglades from the Florida Keys. As we boarded the boat, Cassie asked about the potential for seeing any dolphins. The captain told us they had not seen many lately, so we'd have to get very lucky. Once we got going, he (jokingly) told Cassidy that if she could shriek in her highest voice, that might attract dolphins to the boat. After a few of her best shrieks, we found ourselves next to a pod of dolphins! Some might call it coincidence, but in Cassidy's own mind, she is now an official dolphin caller and has a new career path ahead. We ended the day with dinner at the little dive restaurant on-site at the Flamingo Center, called The Buttonwood Cafe, where the most popular entree is the breaded alligator nuggets. We gave them a try...mixed reviews. (Kind of like dark chicken meat? But a little greasier?!) On our way back to Pompano Beach, we stopped at a giant fruit stand we had seen on our way down earlier that morning. It was called "Robert is Here." We'd never seen such a funny name for a fruit stand so we had to stop in. We picked out a few strange fruits to take back to Pompano for the week....
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| A young gator eating his freshly-caught dinner! |
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| Dolphin-spotting! |
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| Alligator nuggets - eek |
Another fun day-trip we took was to the Miami Zoo. We thought we'd be fighting spring break crowds, but for some reason it wasn't the least bit crowded. One of the best parts of this zoo is all the hands-on opportunities they had. They had a bird-feeding center, where the birds eat from the little seed cup in your hand and land on you (Erik loves this; I'm more ambivalent, ha). Cassidy and Gavin loved feeding them; Tyler thought it was terrifying and dropped his seed cup as soon as they came fluttering towards him! Later, Cassidy took part in a turtle feeding, handing the turtles all sorts of vegetables for their snack. It was very sweet and a trip highlight for her.
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| The kids loved this slide that took them (literally) through the otter habitat! |
After enduring winter in Chicago, it sure felt great to spend time in the warm sun. We always look forward to returning!
