Winter and Hope

On Sunday, Aug 16, we made the beautiful drive to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium!

AKA: The home of Winter and Hope from the Dolphin Tale movies!!

We just watched these movies before our trip, and the boys were VERY excited to see these dolphins. Overall, the building is not that spectacular. You can tell that it was not built with tourists in mind; it is very much a functioning marine animal rescue center that has done its best to cater to the tourists coming to see Winter and Hope. These dolphins aren't trained to perform, but they do make some semi-scheduled appearances during the day. Regardless, the boys really, really enjoyed seeing the dolphins. Winter (the one without the tail) was not very active; she just kind of kept to herself in her own pen. Hope (pictured below) was quite a bit more active.

There was also an area where you could pet (debarbed) stingrays! The boys wouldn't touch them, but Kedron and I both did. It kind of felt like petting a slimy hard boiled egg.

 They have another building nearby that displays props from the movie - included in your admission. This is the houseboat featured in the movie!

 Probably the most exciting dolphin was Nicholas - he played "Mandy" in Dolphin Tale 2 (the dolphin they released back in the ocean). In real life, he came to the Marine Aquarium with his mother, who later died, taking away his natural source of nutrition. He was an injured baby dolphin at the time and remains here because he is incapable of fending for himself in the ocean. He is, however, a great jumper! 

After several hours at the Aquarium, we headed to the famous Clearwater Beach, with Pier 60.

One of my goals was to watch a sunset from Pier 60, which, unfortunately, didn't happen. This beach was PACKED. Parking was very difficult to find (and very expensive when you did), and when the black storm clouds rolled in when it was time to plug the meter, we decided to cut our losses and move along. We did enjoy our time there, and the boys continue to love the ocean!

One of the famous area restaurants is Frenchy's Salt Water Cafe; famous for their grouper. I had a Grouper Reuben. It was. . . well, just OK, but I always enjoy trying new foods so I was happy I tried it! Here we are with the restaurant's mascot?? Not sure what this thing is, actually. . .

At this point in our trip, it has rained (downpoured) every afternoon into the evening, so I'm getting a little concerned and hoping for better weather. We really do want a good day for Legoland. . .