Thursday

Thom and I started out early-ish this morning so I could get in as much of Florida as I could before I left.  We loaded the kayak and headed out on the Intercoastal Waterway around 8:00am.  Our plan was to kayak down to the kayak rental place so we wouldn't have to load it onto the van.  As we were making our way along the merky, but peaceful, waters a fin popped out of the water. Of course, my immediate reaction was to freak out, however after watching it for a second, we realized it wasn't a shark. It was dolphins! Two dolphins were swimming with us! We watched them for awhile, but they moved on quickly. Shortly after, we saw another one! It was amazing to think that we were out on the waters with dolphins.  Once we arrived at the rental place, the workers said that seeing dolphins was fairly common, but told us there were also manatee in the area.  He said they were rare to see. You would only see their little whiskers pop out of the water for air, but then they'd go about 30 minutes before needing more air.
Once we returned the kayak, we walked the beach back a mile to the condo.  It was so great! The waters were high, but it felt so good to walk with the sand under our feet and the tide rushing over our toes.  There were also lots of shells. I couldn't stop to pick them all up, but if I had a big bag, there were so many full shells to collect.
Once we got back to the condo we decided to get the paddleboard out and take it to the gulf. Thom and I rode double on it. I sat on the front while he stood and paddled. It was very very peaceful. We saw a fin of a dolphin (we hope it was a dolphin) and a long nosed fish (I don't know what it was called...it was about a foot long).  The water was so clear that when Thom jumped off and lost his watch he could see it through the water to swim down and get it.  Then I paddled around for awhile by myself. Dustin and Sarah joined us at the beach then so we relaxed in the water with them for a bit.
Whe it was time to head back to the condo all of us headed back. As I was getting dressed after showering I heard Thom yell from the front balcony that there was a dolphin in the Legacy little cove/boat dock area.  Sure enough we saw one swimming around! Sarah, Thom, and I went down one story to get closer to it (so we were right on the edge of the water. The dolphin swam right up to us! He did a little flip in the water and then headed away. It was crazy to think that we were so close to a wild dolphin.
I am now sitting at the airport waiting for my flight to Cedar Rapids. Mom and I will visit Grandpa in the hospital tonight and I'll head to UNI tomorrow, so this is probably my last post. The vacation was wonderful. It was relaxing and fun to be with friends.  Until the Alaska Blog-Becca out! :)

(sorry no photos-I didn't want the camera getting wet!)