Thursday, July 5, 2012

Key Largo 2012, Part I

Since we have so many photos from our trip to the keys, we will take several posts to share them.  We had lots of fun adventures in the keys, and then we took a day in the Tampa Bay area to visit a very special dolphin - but we'll get to that.  First things first:

This was the very start of our road trip, just reaching downtown Atlanta.

Our van was jam-packed from the third row to the back doors.

"Road Trips Are Awesome." - a quick refueling stop for everyone at Starbucks.

We stopped in Orlando for the night, stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn, and visited Downtown Disney.  The boys settled right in.

Both boys taking a nap en route to Key Largo.

M and G enjoying the sunset.
Our first sunset at Key Largo - outside the Jimmy Johnson's Big Chill, where we ate dinner.
Our first day there was Father's Day, and G chose a great Star Wars Aqua Droid action figure to give his Daddy.  
The first full day we were in Key Largo, we visited Theater of The Sea, the second oldest marine mammal facility in the world.
Here is some video of the best dolphin show we have ever seen.

The mission of this facility is to care for the animals, many of whom need to be cared for by humans, while raising conservation awareness in the public.

The small beach among the mangroves was rocky but charming.

You can buy lettuce for $3 a head to feed the iguanas.  A stranger shared his with Gabriel until this big guy jumped up onto the fence and tried to bite him in the stomach!


That evening, we had dinner at the Key Largo summer family home of G's friend, Finn, his little brother, Mac, and their dog, Brannon.
We are only through the first 24 hours - more to come!