Dolphin watching

We left our villa at 8am this morning and I have to confess to feeling a pang of regret that we were leaving the lovely house behind for three nights. The space and comfort is wonderful, but when we return we'll have another six days to enjoy it.

We took the Tamiami Trail (route 41) south and within half an hour we were in the Everglades National Park. The traffic was a bit busier than last time and we even saw a couple of lorries speeding past so obviously word has got out that this road is a lovely alternative to the I75! We were too early for lunch at Joanie's Blue Crab Cafe but I did spot it as we sped past!

This time I was determined to stop at the Miccosukee Indian village but all hopes of having breakfast were dashed when we realised that they were only serving coffee (we later saw the restaurant a short distance down the road). A very friendly young woman showed us how to use the machine and we wandered around looking at all the Indian arts and crafts.

Mike doing an impression of  Don Johnson in Miami Vice

Back on the road, the kids spotted a couple of alligators in the Tamiami Canal and then we saw a huge flock of black vultures feasting on something...they looked really sinister!

From the Tamiami Trail we turned right onto the 997 and drove down to Homestead, stopping at a Subway again for an early lunch. We had stopped here three years ago and Sophie was very nervous, but she enjoyed the break today and couldn't understand why she had had such bad vibes before!

There was a lot of roadworks on this route and we can only surmise that they are widening the road. Once past Homestead and Florida City we turned onto Route 1 that traverses the whole Keys. There were loads of cars coming north and I really hoped that the Keys would be quiet like the last time we visited!

View from a bridge

Selfies in the back

Thankfully the weather was glorious and the outside temperature was hovering around the 100f mark. We decided to go to the Dolphin Research Centre first as it was a bit too early for us to check into the Holiday Inn in Marathon. The DRC is on Grassy Key, about ten minutes from the hotel. We paid $112 to enter but the first thing we needed was the loo!

There were four portaloos in the grounds and I have to say that the one I used was disgusting, so not really a good start to our visit. The toilet pipes here in Florida are really narrow and they can't cope with masses of paper or human waster, and my toilet had both. Yuk!

We went to one of the back lagoons first and listened to a talk from one of the trainers while the dolphins demonstrated their skills. One of them, Jax, had been attacked by a bull shark near Jacksonville and had part of his tail and dorsal fin missing. He was a baby at the time and had been separated from his mother so he would never be able to cope in the wild. He looked very happy hanging out with the other males, in their "bachelor" pod!

The DRC is a lovely, quiet place and to escape the heat and humidity we went into the small theatre to listen to a talk about sea-lions, of which the centre has four - three females and a male. The woman giving the talk was obviously passionate about the animals and she was very knowledgeable which made the talk interesting.

Afterwards, we sat on the benches overlooking the lagoons and watched the dolphins, who in turn, watched us!

After a couple of hours we were all wilting in the heat so we decided to call it a day. Sophie looked at the tee-shirts but they were $32, which I thought was a bit steep, so we left and joined the men who had gone to the bar next door. We visited the last time we were here, three years ago, and Sophie and Mike pinned a dollar bill to the wall, as was the custom. We were looking forward to returning and finding out if it was still there...only it wasn't. The bar had been taken over two years ago and the new owners took all the money down. What a shame! I wonder if they paid the dollars into their bank account?!

We had some drinks and two bowls of fries and then went to the Holiday Inn to check in. There were two huge SUVs parked by the entrance and several men loading film equipment into them and for one dizzying moment I thought that Nev and Max from Catfish were at the hotel filming as it's the sort of place that they stay! The receptionist thought that was hilarious! If only it had happened! It would have made our holiday!

We had rooms next to each other on the ground floor and we unpacked and showered. I was a little worried about the noise of someone stamping about above us and really hoped we wouldn't have a noisy stay!

For dinner in the evening we decided to eat at The Island Fish Company across the road so I could have a night off driving. Yippee! We went to the Tarpon Bar and Grill first and I enjoyed a delicious Kentuckian cocktail. It was so lovely to sit and sip a proper drink overlooking the inlet and all the boats moored up for the night.

A mix of Bourbon, raspberry puree, Grand Marnier and Agave syrup

We strolled over to the Island Fish Co at about 6.45pm and were seated immediately, right by the water. The sun was shining at us, but I knew that after about an hour it would be sinking lower in the sky and I really wanted to see the sunset. The people at the table in front of us had a kind of blind down protecting them but I wanted the full view, uninterrupted!

We started with drinks - I had another cocktail which consisted of white and dark rum with tropical juices - Sophie had a Margarita and Keith had a beer. I did feel so sorry for Mike for not being able to join in as he could do at home with a beer. Against my better judgement, we ordered two plates of nachos to start followed by grilled grouper with beans and rice for Sophie and I, Coconut Shrimp for Keith and a burger for Mike.

One of the things we're finding annoying with eating out at the moment is that the servers are bringing our main courses before we've even finished our starter, which is a total pain. This happened tonight and it felt like we were being rushed when that was the last thing we wanted! Amazingly, the people sitting behind us (who sat down after us and pulled our blind down...grrrr!) had been and gone in a very short time so as it neared the sunset time, we were able to ask for the blind to go back up again. This set off a chain reaction around the restaurant as diners realised that the magic hour was approaching!

The views over the water were stunning:

As the sun sank slowly behind the horizon, people went out onto the boardwalk to take photos.

Our food had been delicious, but in a bid to prolong our evening, we asked the waiter for a few minutes before we had dessert. He was quite comical and I don't think he understood much of what we were saying to him, but we managed to delay pudding until the sun had set. Sophie and I ordered Key Lime Pie (not deep fried as Keith had the last time) while Mike had a gooey chocolate cake.

After we'd paid the bill ($154) we walked out to admire the view again and spotted a sinister looking little jellyfish!

Heading back to the hotel

Before turning in for the night we went back to the Tarpon Bar and Sophie and I enjoyed a glass of Prosecco each, while Keith had a Jack Daniels over ice. It had been an expensive day today!