Like the old people we are, we were in bed and asleep before midnight. I'm guessing people were shooting off fireworks at midnight, but we slept right through them. No, we're not much fun at a party. Y'all have been so diligent listing your goals for next year. All my projects are sitting untouched at home. I'm afraid my only goal for 2018 is to get home safely and without anything breaking.
We made our way to Lee County Manatee Park yesterday. Despite their recorded message that it was "unlikely" manatees would be present, we found the park overrun with people and park employees directing traffic to the extra parking lots they'd opened up.
And there were probably hundreds of manatees under the surface of the water. Occasionally, we'd see their noses and backs break the surface, but we couldn't see much. The black water obscured our view of anything more than what you see in the image below.
It was like whale watching on the Oregon coast...not much to see, but it was kind of fun being in their vicinity anyway. We're still hoping for a better view of them when we get to Crystal River.
It was a nice little park, however, and we ended up walking the nature trail. It took us down past the inlet where the manatees were hanging out to the Orange River.
There was a fishing pier and there were folks kayaking there. Kayaks and canoes were for rent inside the park.
Off in the distance, we saw some large bird...a Great Blue Heron perhaps? Hard to tell from the distance I was shooting.
Okay, so the best view of the manatees was this little park sculpture.
Also, this photograph contained at a handout provided by the park.
(Photo credit: Patrick M. Rose)
After that, we headed back to the RV. Along the way, we picked up some fresh clams. For our dinner, we had Linguine with Clams and Fresh Herbs. It's a pretty easy recipe, and you can find it right here.
This morning I'll be making our traditional New Year's Day breakfast of Eggs Benedict. Ordinarily I would make the sauce from scratch. I don't have any sort of double boiler set up...not even a stainless steel bowl...and so I'm opting to do it from a mix for the first time ever. I've had pretty good luck with these RV shortcut methods so far. Let's hope the Hollandaise turns out as well. It's a low-maintenance cooking day today. I'll be heating up a ham and making Maple Baked Beans. Also, my mother's version of a Seven Layer Salad. It's pretty much a traditional food day. I had in mind to make another Pecan Pie for Two, but we picked up a Key lime pie at the seafood market yesterday. When in Florida, you know...
As I mentioned, these are low-maintenance cooking items, and so I'm hoping to have some time to sew today. I'd love to start off the new year by finishing off the Hocuspocusville quilt top. I think there's a very good chance. I hope y'all spend the day doing something you love as well.
7 comments:
Happy New Year to you. Sorry about the manatee non-sightings but there's always the next stop to look forward to.
Happy New Year! We loved seeing manatees when visiting my in-laws in Florida. There’s a place near St. Petersburg where they congregate near a power plant and you can see them well from viewing platforms. We also saw them at Homosassa Sprinfs Park. They are such gentle creatures. Enjoy the warm weather. Cold has descended on SC and my son in the upstate reported snowflake sightings!
Manatees! My daughter adores these sea creatures and wants to visit Florida in the winter sometime to see them. She swam with them several years ago in Mexico. Hope you get a better sighting before you leave. Ugh and dealing with the crowds. We and a half dozen other people should be the only ones there hoping for a sighting lol.
Sounds like another fun day and looks like you had glorious weather. We did the wine and cheese thing for New Year's, but we did make it to midnight, barely. Hope you got in some nice stitching time today.
Happy New Year. Sorry you did not get a good look at the Manatees.
Happy New Year from York PA! I got a little plastic Mana"Tea" for Christmas last year, you basically put your tea in him, screw his head back on and dunk him in your hot water. The tea comes out the holes his ass when you pick him up out of your cup. Not my favored method. :D Real manatees are not nearly as disgusting!
Well, you got a sorta sighting of Manatees at least. Hopefully you will have a better view soon (or already, as I am so far behind).
I had stay-at-home, PJ days for New Year's Eve & Day. I was up until after midnight - thanks to the close- by fireworks going off from 10:30 pm to 12:30 am! I made some black-eyed pea dip for New Year's day. It's my take of the Pioneer Woman's recipe (Zannie's black-eyed pea dip or something like that). It was good - made it in my little crock pot instead of baking it & ate it with saltines because I forgot to buy some tortilla chips. Your clams & linguine looked good!
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