Florida Vacation Photos: Part Ten

One day it was really cold and windy and foggy at the beach.

It was so bad I couldn't really even photograph anything outside.

So, we hit the welcome center of the hotel and saw that there was an Aquarium that was very reasonably priced to go to within 10 miles of the hotel.

I grabbed my camera, and off we went.

I didn't know if the glass on the tanks would give me difficulty in taking photos there or not.

Sometimes it did.

But other times, I got some shots that looked like I was scuba diving and was in the water myself.

The tanks had all kinds of plants at the bottom and beautiful fish, even though it was very small.

I loved this one, it reminded me of a sea cactus:

And this one looked like a bunch of bubble stems:

I wanted to stick my hand in and feel these!:

I wondered if they were rubbery or soft....

Then this yellow cutie swam by:



When the water moved, the edges of this ruffly plant danced, it was so fluid and beautiful:

More of the bubble plant.

Don't you want to reach in and POP them, like that plastic stuff that protects packages?:

Spotted fish!
Curious as to what I was doing:

These purple spikes swayed back and forth like grass in the wind:

There is just so much beauty in the oceans that most of us will never see.

Tomorrow I will have the last set of pictures from the aquarium for you to see....

More Local Police Reports!!!

So today, I thought I would give you a break from all of the Florida vacation photos and once again post a local Police Report along with MY COMMENTS in bold italics, like usual...

Don't worry, there will be more tropical pictures still coming tomorrow.

I still have a ton of them.

Oh, and remember to enter the PHOTO CONTEST...keep looking for something rusty and send me an email with your photo attached by Jan. 31st!

So, here goes:

**************************************************************************************
1. So the first one: Say WHAT?

Who was fighting WHO?

His wife's ex-girlfriend? His ex-girlfriend? His ex-girlfriend's wife?

I am still not sure. And WHO called this into the police? Him? His wife? His ex-girlfriend? His wife's ex-girlfriend?

Is this Kate and Jon?

Is this Tiger Woods? Did anyone have a golf club?

2. WHO can't relate to this lady when we all have had all this snow and cold and ice? She is a prisoner in her own home.

So remind each other when you are ready to call the police that you really shouldn't call the police when the ice is hanging in front of your door.

Even if you feel like you have cabin fever.

Even if you may get impaled like a dagger.

Even if you might feel like impaling yourself with the icicle...hang in there.

Spring is only about 90 or so days away.............

Florida Vacation Pictures: Part Nine

Welcome to more of my Florida pictures..today's post is mostly more wild birds at the nature park where we went exploring.

What's so nice is that it was completely free and only about 15 minutes from the busy tourist area.

Yet it was quiet and peaceful and we saw no other people around but us.

And the birds were wonderfully cooperative about me and my camera.

My daughter and my husband (her daddy!) were visiting on a bench.

I decided to give them some daughter-father bonding time alone

and

headed down by the water with my camera.

No sooner had I rounded a curve and just LOOK what was there!:

His blue was gorgeous!

And just to my right, were ALSO

these guys!:

I was so excited!

And my daughter and my hubby?

Still gabbing at the nearby bench.

So I went past them, gave them a smile and headed to the left of the little peninsula they were sitting at.

And saw THIS!:

I knew he was splashing and fishing, and I hoped I would catch him getting one.

Did I EVER!

Do you think this is an eel or a snake?:

I don't know WHAT it was, but evidently, there must have been a Whopper Special, because on the shore, this other bird was also snacking on the same thing!:

Mmmm...takes just like chicken....

Here's a blurry closeup of it again:

I loved his black eyebrows!

Ooooo...but THIS guy took my breath away:

And look at this guy's claws.

He looks so peaceful....but LOOK at his claws!:

Another shot of the beautiful blue heron:

And in the middle of the park, these lovely spikey flowers:




A closeup of HIM.
I just wanna reach out and stroke those beautiful blue feathers.
But I controlled myself...






But, I wouldn't mind climbing on HIS back and going for a fly:
How about YOU?

Florida Pictures: Part Eight

One day we had the opportunity to go to a nature park and walk around.

It was one of our best days in Florida, because I love all the wild birds there.

I sure wasn't disappointed.

Right there on the shore were beautiful white birds with huge wings:

Entertaining me with standing on one leg and fishing about in shallow water:

Is there anyone in Florida who can tell me what kind of birds they are? They look like a white pelican, but I am not sure? A stork?

There were the regular pelicans I see all about, and I love them (as you know!):

And then I spied this bird!

I think it was a blue heron:

The clouds got dark and I got this profile of a pelican:

I think this is a baby Cormorant playing in the water:

These guys were spotted as we first arrived and didn't even walk into the park yet:






He was looking for fish so hard, he didn't even see me for quite some time:







I loved this weird position the pelican got in as the dark clouds shadowed him!
Perfect for a horror movie, right?:

The wing span was SO AWESOME:

I thought of Karate Kid when they were teaching him the position of balance!


We had such a good time there.

Sometimes, you don't need the glitz of Disneyworld, Sea World or Universal Studios...
you just need a wonderful park and a camera.

Disney=nice, but expensive

Bird hunting for tropical birds at the park=PRICELESS.....

Florida Vacation Pictures: Part Seven

Another installment of the many, many photos I took in Florida in December!

Let's get to it, then, should we?


Who could not fall in love with a face like THIS?:

Ok.

He might need a nose job.

But I can overlook that, because that's what makes him so unique.

I also fell in love with this light that was outside our hotel on the beach:

Somehow, I didn't think I could fit it on the plane if I took it home.

Plus, I don't think it quite goes with a log home decor.


Here is a shot at night on the beach side of the hotel.

They decorated the palm trees with lights for Christmas:

Another shot of my favorite Florida bird.

(Shhh, don't tell the others I said that):

And the west coast of Florida never disappoints you for sunset opportunities:


And these guys are too adorable:




But if you are talking strikingly handsome?

Sorry, he still wins:





Unless you are into reptily things.
Then I guess this guy would be more your type:

To me, I just couldn't NOT take a photo of this lady strolling with her arms folded in front of her and her long flowing dress:

And the clouds formed in front of the setting sun:

Bringing a close to another beautiful day in Florida....

Florida Vacation Photos: Part Six

This is the 6th of a series of photos I took in Florida in December.

If you haven't seen the other five parts, just drop down from this blogpost and have fun!

One of the things I was waiting for was to see some Christmas decorations in Florida.

Most of my life, I have always been where there is snow for Christmas.

I was surprised that many of the homes did NOT have decorations up.

But I did see this:

I loved the large sized ornaments on it.

Here is closeup of it:

We took some neighborhood walks away from the main drive by the ocean and were delighted with the pretty flowers we saw:

I loved the swirly growth of this plant:

And the different palm trees really led to some fun black and white versions of them.

I loved this one because the leaves had such a feathery pattern to them:

So many wonderful colors of flowers in the yards:

And, if one got lonesome for pine-like plants, they had some of those too.

I loved these with the little green "pearls"..it was like a teeny Christmas tree with its own green ornaments hanging from it!:

And
I saw HIM:

Just hanging out.

I love that about Florida birds.

So exotic, yet they are everywhere...parking lots, yards, trees....

I would go crazy if I lived here year round, snapping them all!

Wonderful red and green colors for Christmas:

Oooooo....
and purple and red!:

And this strange prickley root

with a bug on it:

Looks like the bug

wasn't having such a merry Christmas.

Yikes!

Hope you liked the flower pictures this time of year.

Seeing flowers when all you have is white outside is uplifting

and

a reminder of what spring will bring us Northerners....