December 20, 2006 - Thursday

Got up early this morning and went down to the dive shop to be suited up with wet suits and snorkel gear. We then went by boat to two places on the Crystal River and swam with the manatees. They were wonderful!! Large, gentle creatures - they came up to us to be patted and then would roll over for a belly scratch, just like a dog. Their skin is fairly rough with short bristly hair in places. They are supposed to be related to elephants way back when. They move very slowly through the water and seem to like people. One of the big ones was covered in barnacles - apparently he had just come in from the Gulf and the barnacles will fall off in a few weeks. We were thrilled to have shared our morning with these gentle creatures. Fortunately, they seem well protected here although we did see a few with propeller scrapes on their tails. In the afternoon, we went for a walk and ended up at a mall which had a cinema. We saw August Rush which we highly recommend - it was a feel good movie. We will go to dinner later and then tomorrow we will go to meet the kids and grandkids!