Manatees

Today our Florida trip brought us to Blue Spring State Park, where this time of year the manatees swim in for the warmer water. We parked in the upper parking lot and walked down to the water. We got there a little late so we didn't get to see the manatees swim in, but we saw a ton of them out where the sun hit the water.

When we arrived, the worker told us there were about 264 that swam in this morning. We couldn't believe it, there were so many! We walked down the boardwalk to see if we could find a spot to see the manatees up close, but they were all out pretty far. So we decided to walk around and then go back and see if we could see them up close on our way back to the car. We walked down to the dock where they took you out on boats, which weren't running yet. We saw a bunch of birds but no manatees. So we walked around the playground and then back to the boardwalk.

On our way back up the boardwalk, we stopped at one of the lookouts and got to see an alligator swimming in the water. Avery was really excited. She wanted to see one so badly so I'm glad we decided to stop. A couple stops up the boardwalk again, we saw 3 turtles off past the manatees.

We walked up to where the swimming hole and were completely shocked to see a bunch of manatees swimming right under the boardwalk. It was amazing to see them up close. You could see all of the scars on their bodies from boats and other things. They are really big too. I always knew they were bigger animals, but seeing them up close it really hit me as to how big they really are. When you see them out further in the water, they don't look as big so it was definitely a shock up close.

I walked to the stairs where people could walk down to go swimming or snorkeling. There was a manatee at the bottom of the stairs, and when it saw us standing there, it came up the stairs to the top of the water, and poked its nose out. It was so cool to see one that close!!

After we were done looking at the manatees, we got to follow some that were playing together. It was fun to watch them swim around each other. I tried to get it on video, but they didn't seem to play as much when I was recording. I would miss the best parts every time I stopped recording.


After following them, we went inside the house that was turned into a museum. It was nice, but I think the manatees were the best by far! Although, the manatee made out of glass and tile pieces was really cool too. It would take a lot of talent and time to make it.

We all went back to the car and decided to go to Daytona Beach since it wasn't far. We got to go inside where buy tickets for tours or races, but we never figured out how to get in so we could see the actual race track. The gift shop had a ton of jackets and shirts for kids and adults. We weren't there very long but we had a lot of fun. We got to see where the winners put their hand and shoe prints and signed their name. Each winner had a square on the sidewalk.

Then it was back to Kimarie and Jason's to spend the evening! What a fun day, we had a blast!!