We are up early but we are okay because we crashed so
early. I should note I woke up around
midnight and could not get back to sleep, ended up reading for three
hours.
We head to the nearest Starbucks – see nothing changes I
still have my priorities. Traffic is
very light at 6:30 am. I know you are
wondering why are you up so darn early.
Well we are meeting Barb and Craig for breakfast at Joe’s Diner for 7 am
and then heading to the Everglades for a tour for 9 am. We walk into the diner and we are so happy to
see them both. It has been a while but
since we chat often with them on Skype it feels like no time has passed. But good friends like them are hard to come
by and I feel like I am seeing family again.
Love you both if you are reading this.
The Everglades Safari Park is about an hour away. We prebooked a private hour airboat
ride. We wanted to get there early
before all the crowds arrive and so we could see lots of wildlife and they didn’t
disappoint. Lisa our guide for the tour took us out and would stop and explain
things and then carry on then stop and point out more things. She explained how the Everglades formed and
how large they are and how they have been used and abused in the years that
Florida has been settled. How they are
now working at rehabilitating the Everglades and how it affects the wildlife
that call the Everglades home. This tour
was amazing. We have done Everglades
tours before but it was a huge group in the boat and certainly not as
informative as this was.
I will state even though the day would get warm and I wore
shorts, make sure you wear long pants cause I was freezing while out on the
boat and when we stopped I warmed up.
Kind of like the alligators we saw. And we saw many alligators as they rose to the
surface waiting for the air to warm up to come out and sun themselves.
After the tour we headed to the Target store to stock up on
some supplies. We knew that this was a
smarter idea to just buy most of those toiletries we would need for the 7 weeks
on board, like toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, mousse, detergent,
bars of soap and other items.
We had a lunch at BJs and then went to Total Wines just off
17th Street near the pier to get our supply of wine. We ended up purchasing 8 bottles to bring on,
and of course Bernie got some of his Champagne.
The staff at Total Wine are so helpful, we couldn’t turn a corner
without someone there to help us fine what we were looking for and they even
recommended quite a few bottles too.
We dropped Barb and Craig off at their hotel and we went
back to ours. We knew we need a nap
before dinner tonight because of such a busy day. And nap is what I had, I swear I walked in
the hotel room, dropped the bags and put in my ear plugs, put on my eye mask
and I was OUT. After an hour and a half
I was rested and ready to begin the Valentine’s Day Dinner.
Craig had made reservations at Bimini’s Boatyard on 17th
street and we met them there. Barb and
Craig had little Valentine’s Day gifts for us.
Now aren’t they sweet. Barb embroiders
items and she embroidered a beautiful apron with Napa Valley Wine on it. A cherished gift from cherished friends. We also both got little care packages to
enjoy on the cruise. We gave them a big
chocolate heart from Purdy’s Chocolatiers in Vancouver.
Dinner was very good, our server Craig was hilarious and so
helpful and accommodating. I had
scallops with a pearl barley salad that was very good. For dessert Bernie had the key lime pie (one
of his favorites and he raved about it), I had a Black Forest type cake that
was very very good.
What a great day!
Vickie, who did you prebook your private hour air boat ride with?
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