Florida - Friday

Our last day in Florida, we decided to go visit Blue Spring State Park. Lafe's brother told us to go because you can see the Manitees as they swim up the springs in the winter to stay warm.

At the Spring (just because their "springs" are bigger than our rivers!)

If you look under the hanging moss, there was a mama and baby manatee. So fun to watch them! We started talking to a guy who had just gotten out of the water, and found out that for about 2 weeks, the swimming season and Manitee season overlap and you're allowed to swim with the Manitees!!!!! We checked it out, rented snorkel gear, and went for it! We still can't believe we did that! ( I know nobody there would ever see me again, so I was ok :) ). It was amazing! They swim right up to you - so friendly! In fact, it was sometimes overwhelming to see that huge animal come right for you! We weren't allowed to touch them, but we definitely could have! They're so cute and friendly! We had such a great time swimming with them.

And, we happened to have swimsuits with us because we were headed to Daytona Beach afterwards......but, it was COLD! The water wasn't bad and we would have gotten used to it, but the air and wind - BRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! So, we got in to our knees and loved playing around with the tide coming in. I love waves in the ocean - it's so addicting to see how high they're going to go next....

Then, we decided to drive home a different way and maybe hit another beach. Well, we were getting close to Cape Canaveral, so we tried to find the Space Center. We missed - we found the RESTRICTED area and we're glad we didn't get arrested or anything, but then we were getting done so we just went back to Orlando. Great day! So fun to be able to visit more places than just Orlando!