Florida Roadtrip

We have decided to fit air conditioning to the boat, trying to live in Florida in the summer without it is impossible.  So the unit is on order from West Marine and while we are waiting for this, we thought we would get off the boat for a bit of a break.

The first stop on our little trip was in Lakeland.  Daryl was keen to stop and meet Chris Parker, a famous weather guru, who broadcasts reports on the SSB each morning.  Cruising yachts all along the East coast of the States rely on his information to plan their routes and it was great to put a face to the voice that we hear on the radio.

Ybor City.
This town near Tampa on the East Coast of Florida is  renowned for cigar making.  It is named after Mr Ybor, a Spaniard who found his way to Cuba in the 1800's, learnt how to make cigars and then brought his skill to the States when he'd had enough of the regime in Cuba.  His famous cigar 'The Prince of Wales', put this town on the map, and later it was named after him.

The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg.
What a beautiful building and housing some incredible artwork.  I have never been a great fan of his art, but I have to admit that some of the work has taken great  skill, and his ideas are extremely innovative.

After checking in at the local hotel, it was time to head to the liquor to stock up on some NZ Sav Blanc!
This charming girl was doing a promotion for Ron de Jeremy.  We asked who Jeremy is, she was appalled that we had not heard of Ron Jeremy, one of the most famous porn stars here in the States, who had developed a side line in Rum!
Apparently quite good rum too!

The Everglades.
We took an airboat ride through the mangroves to see the wildlife.  These boats go seriously fast and have no draft at all, skimming over reeds and logs in the water.  They are steered by foils behind the huge fan at the back of the boat, and so instead of slowing down around the corners, they speed up to do a sort of controlled hand brake turn!  I loved the speed, but some of the landlubbers aboard were noticeably quiet!

Holding a baby alligator! ( It did have it's mouth taped up!)
The guide was throwing marshmallows to attract them to the surface. 

And this is what we came to see!!
The locals had named this chap 'Elvis', he was over friendly in my opinion and as soon as he saw the boat, he headed straight for us.  A couple of the guides had lost hands this year, being over-confident, showing off to the tourists and maybe Elvis here was looking for a snack.

These are the mangrove seeds.  They fall off the plant into the water and the brownish tip will stick in the mud, and the top will sprout the first leaf, ingenious!

Great break from the boat.  Back to Cape Canaveral now to see if the a/c unit has arrived.