2/12/17 Sunday

Another beautiful day today - not a cloud in the sky and temps in the mid seventies.  We took a road trip down Gulf Boulevard next to the inter-

coastal waterway down to Fort DeSoto.  On the way we passed the Don Cesar hotel - a pink behemoth from the 1920's.  We spent most of our time on the pier.  We had a lovely chat with an older couple from England, who live here (St. Petersburg) from November through April.  They were fishing, but not having any luck.  We continued to the end of the pier and saw four dolphins playing very close to us.  One man was pulling in a big fish and the dolphin came out of the water and tried to get it, but the man was quick and pull the fish up out of the way.  I put a picture of the fish on here - the man said it was a sheepshead.  He actually caught another one while we were standing there.  There were plenty of gulls, terns, and pelicans feeding nearby.  We then walked over to the fort and listened to a volunteer talk about the hardships encountered while building the fort (built as protection during the Spanish-American War).  They had no water on the island so had to ship it in barrels from Tampa.  The water wasn't just for consumption by the soldiers, but was used to make the massive cement walls that made up most of the fort.  I put a couple of cannons on.  When we came back to town, we decided to go to the movies.  We saw "A Dog's Purpose" - funny and sad - a good story.  We came back to make dinner and do a load of laundry as we go back to work tomorrow.