About Elaine-iaK's Travels

As a graduate of Recreation Administration, from San Diego State University, I have made recreation and travels my career and life’s passion. After graduation, I traveled solo for one year throughout the South Pacific, doing travel photography in a wide variety of settings. Upon my return, many of my photographs became the subjects of my newly created line of handcrafted photographic greeting cards, "Exquisite! By, Elaine", a business I have had since 1986. Check them out at: http://ExquisiteCards.fototime.com . In 1983, I began teaming up with my mom, Goldie, teaching arts & crafts to cruise ship passengers, aboard Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean. In addition, I lectured on travel photography, as well as Australia and New Zealand history, aboard Princess Cruises. In 2004, I formed a new teaching team with my recently retired husband, Bruce, who serves as my "humble assistant" until 2010 when the cruise lines shifted the arts and crafts program to mostly being taught by their own staff. Currently, our favorite mode of travel is by river boat. Along the way, we enjoy poking around small European towns, meeting the people, seeking out interesting photo subjects, and always stopping at every chocolatier to make a purchase. Adding to my chocolate label and wrapper collection is a bonus! And, as a U.S. Masters swimmer, if I can find a pool to get in a swim with the locals, all the better! Cheers! Elaine-iaK ~ Believing in your dreams can be far more rewarding than living by your limitations~ -Karla Peterson

Strolling the Decks of the American Queen

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

Every time I walk the decks of this beautiful ship, I am in awe. The American Queen is the largest steamboat in the world, as well as the most maneuverable one, according to Jerry, our Riverlorian who conducted a tour of the pilot house for me and a small group of passengers.

“Riverlorian”? Yes! On board, Jerry is our river historian lecturer who is an expert at everything Mississippi River. Our “lecture” yesterday was not a lecture at all, though. Instead, Jerry told stories about the river and his experiences aboard steamboats over the years. What a hoot!

I had never traveled aboard a steamboat before, but it was love at first sight when we set sail on the Mississippi. I thoroughly enjoy strolling back and forth on the decks, exploring every detail; especially when I have my camera in hand. It is so picturesque and fun to explore photographically!

So, take a stroll along with me and explore the American Queen.

Aboard the American Queen

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

Step aboard the American Queen and it feels like stepping back in time to the days of “Gone with the Wind”. Although it was built in 1995, no detail was left out and no shortcuts taken to make this feel like an 1800’s era steamboat. She’s a beauty.

P1080689-1

We were greeted by a friendly all-American staff, as we embarked and made our way to our cozy inside cabin; a much more affordable option than the outside cabins with a view. Since we don’t spend a lot of time in our cabin, the interior option is just fine with us.

Our cabin is small, but we found it quite well designed to accommodate us comfortably with all of our belongings. I still have spare space in my drawers and on the shelves, so it doesn’t feel cramped at all. Since the beds are on risers, the suitcases stow easily under our beds, which, by the way, are very comfy! Between the pillow-top mattress and deluxe linens, sleeping is a dream.

Check out our bathroom; much roomier than a cruise ship bathroom for sure! The shower is quite large and there is plenty of space for our toiletries. The toiletries American Queen provides are full-sized and quite nice, though, so we really didn’t even need to bring our own. And, the towels are plush!

P1080677-1

American Queen Steamboat Company really adds a lot of nice touches. Between the complimentary bottle of French champagne greeting us when we embarked and delicious Memphis chocolates left on our pillow each night, we feel spoiled. And, the complimentary wine served with dinner has been quite good.

At the “Front Porch”; the casual dining option located down the hall from our cabin, there are fresh baked cookies available 24/7, as well as a self-serve ice cream sundae bar, popcorn, and an espresso machine that has just about any hot drink you would like, including real hot chocolate; the type made with steamed milk, rather than hot water. They even have flavors available in pump bottles to add to your coffee drinks. If cold drinks are your preference, ice tea, lemonade and juices are always available. And, if you’re hungry, the breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets offer a delicious variety of food.

Enjoy your treats inside with terrific views of the river or wander out on deck to a table, swing or rocking chair. It’s a relaxing, casual option to the formal dining in the beautiful dining room.

Throughout the ship are beautiful orchid arrangements that looked so perfect, I had to touch them to be sure they were real. And, the furnishings are beautiful and comfortable. My favorites, though, are the stained glass lamps in the library, as well as the oval-shaped stained glass windows at surrounding the dining room, just below the ceiling.

The ambiance aboard ship is so different than home; just what I had hoped for during our 640 mile trip down the Mississippi. And, with the 50 mph winds we experienced during our first night aboard ship, it truly felt like we were Gone with the Wind.

Memphis, Birthplace of the Blues

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

Greetings from the American Queen steamboat! We have been to Helena, Arkansas and are about to depart Vicksburg, Mississippi, however, I haven’t yet had a chance to post about Memphis; our port of embarkation. The days have been full, but FUN! So, making time to write has been difficult… But, I will take you back to our time in Memphis, before boarding this beautiful steamboat.

Our vacation with American Queen Steamboat Company included one night at the Marriott Hotel, in Memphis, Tennessee, before boarding the American Queen. The hotel was located downtown, on the Main Street trolley line with one of the stops right outside of our hotel. We were given a trolley pass to use throughout our stay, so we decided to take advantage of it and ride the entire route of all three trolley lines and take in the sites. Given the weather conditions, it was the perfect way to go. It was cold and rainy on our date of arrival and extremely windy the following day, as the storm blew out. According to Weather Channel, the “feels like” temperature was 37 degrees! Considering the average high temperature in Memphis is 61 degrees, in March, this was a bit of a shock! So, we opted to spend most of the time huddled up in the heated trolley cars, rather than brave the cold.

We made our way on foot to see some of the highlights, though. After settling in at our hotel and hopping onto the Main St. trolley, we disembarked at Union St. and walked over to the beautiful historic Peabody Hotel. Built in 1925, the Peabody is known more for their interesting tradition than anything else: The Duck Parade. Each day, at 11:00 AM, the resident ducks are escorted from their “penthouse suite” to the elevator, for a ride down to the lobby. They parade down the red carpet and up the carpeted stairway that leads them into the lobby fountain, where they splash around until 5:00 PM. At precisely 5:00 PM, the Duck Master sets out the red carpet and stairway for their parade back to elevator and up to their suite.

This has been a tradition since 1944. And, the lobby is packed up to an hour ahead with people vying for the best view of the 10 minute ceremony. We arrived too late for a front row view, so we headed up to the balcony to look down on the spectacle. Photos from up there weren’t possible, so I waited until the following day to return and catch some shots of the ducks frolicking about in the fountain. What a hoot!

Following the duck parade, we walked over to Beale St. and had dinner at Blues City Café, a funky bar-b-que joint that happens to also be known for their “World Famous Tamales”. Mom had the ribs (tasty!) and I enjoyed the best gumbo and tamales that lived up to their great reputation.

007

The remainder of the evening was spent strolling the famous section of Beale St., home of the blues. Memphis is a pilgrimage for those wanting to visit the birthplace of the blues, of soul and of rock ‘n’ roll. On Beale Street, W.C. Handy put down on paper the first written blues music. Joni Mitchell sings about Handy in “Furry Sings the Blues”. Check it out here: http://youtu.be/ybCwd1yBP88 .

For those who love the Blues, Beale St. is the place to be. Walk down the street and you can hear the sounds of blues at every bar doorway you pass.

The following day, we spent the blustery cold morning riding the trolley lines to get our last glimpses of Memphis life before boarding the American Queen. And, we took one last stroll on Beale St. to pay our respects to W.C. Handy.

Onward to the American Queen!

P1080528

P1080511

P1080523

P1080533

P1080518

P1080515

P1080516

P1080546-1

All Aboard…

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

… as the American Queen sets sail along the southernmost area of the Mississippi River. My mom and I will be aboard the 432 passenger paddlewheel, on March 24, after spending one night in Memphis, Tennessee.

Longer than a football field and six decks high, The American Queen is the largest riverboat in the world. She is a beauty, complete with gingerbread trim, fluted stacks, and a giant red paddlewheel giving her an old-fashioned appeal, even though she was built in 1995 and refurbished last year.

As a (former) California girl who feels right at home in the northwest or northeast areas of our country, living aboard the American Queen for one week will be as foreign to me as I felt observing a Balinese cremation ceremony and walking the old city streets of Casablanca. I live in a house with rattan furniture, handicrafts from my world travels, and fused art glass. The American Queen, in contrast, will be like stepping back in time to “Gone with the Wind”.

This is precisely the motivation for booking passage aboard the American Queen steamboat: Experiencing something completely different and not expecting it to be like home. There is nothing more frustrating to me when I travel than hearing other Americans whine and complain about how, “At home, in the U.S.A., the food is (fill in the blank), and the hotels are (fill in the blank), and the service is (fill in the blank).” BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! What I wish to tell those people, at that point is, “Well, then, you should have stayed home!”

Traveling, to me, is all about stepping outside of my comfort zone and trying new things. Not that an American Queen cruise is exactly roughing it. But, to me, the Deep South is like being in a foreign country; not unlike the experience of living in Texas, when we lived there for four years. Culturally, the people of Texas and Griffin, Georgia, where we have lived for the past four years, are more culturally different from Californians than many of the foreign countries I spent a lot of time in, including Australia and New Zealand.

It’s all good! I absolutely love the experience of living and traveling in new and different places. Ever since I spent one year traveling the South Pacific, solo, with my backpack, I have craved new adventures. Whether it be trying exotic foods, traveling to experience different cultures or moving from the 7^th largest city to a town of 23,000; I have been up for it all.

So, on Saturday, I leave my casually and comfortably furnished home (and healthy food… and swim training…) for an ornately decorated steamboat and good ol’ southern cooking.

All aboard!

2013 Goals: She SCORES!

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

I’m not one for making New Year’s resolutions, but I am big on setting goals; something I have done for as long as I can remember.

This past year, I did pretty darn well achieving my goals and even succeeded in making some I didn’t even have set at the beginning of the year (including winning the Georgia Championship Series for high points in U.S. Masters Swimming and swimming 3K & 1K races to achieve it). Like the experts say, always write your goals in pencil!

I will admit that I “write” my goals on the computer. But, I do leave plenty of room at the bottom of the printed out page to add more goals or make changes. This last year, I added winning the series and the open water swims, just so I could have the satisfaction of putting a big fat check mark next to it! Same goes for my 900, 2000, and 1000 yard butterfly swims. “Are you KIDDING me?” That’s what I would have asked YOU, if you had asked ME if I could even swim 200 yards of fly! But, I tried it one day, amazingly felt like I could keep going after 200 yards, and kept going… and going… and going…

But, when I added that new goal of winning the Georgia Championship Series, there were three goals (the only goals I did not achieve) that I was not able to achieve because of it: Making National Qualifying Times in my three breaststroke events; my core events that I am best at. Swimming a full slate of events at each meet to win high points meant not being rested enough for each race, in order to swim my best. My breaststroke times, for the most part, suffered this year. So, I was unable to achieve NQT’s for Spring Nationals (a meet it turns out that I won’t be attending, anyway). But, I sure did have a lot more fun at meets this year! I hate sitting on the bench…

2013 Long Course (50 meter pool) Summer Nationals, in Mission Viejo, California, is really what I am shooting for, when it comes to making National Qualifying Times. By making NQT’s in my three core events, it would give me the opportunity to swim three additional individual events, for a total of the maximum six individual events allowed per swimmer. In 2010, at my first Nationals, I did not qualify in any of the events, so I only got to swim three events. The following year, I made NQT in the 50 yard breaststroke, so I earned the right to swim four events, at both spring and summer Nationals. And, the same thing happened this past spring. So, I have been working towards qualifying in all three breaststroke events, so I could swim six events, just like the big boys (and girls).

As it turns out, I have officially made NQT’s, according to the U.S.M.S. rules that allow swimmers to use their best times going back two years. I recently received confirmation from a staff member at headquarters that my times from the St. Nick’s short course meters meet, in November, 2012, count. When entered in Swimming World’s Time Conversion Utility, I qualify with time to spare in both the 50 meter and 200 meter breaststroke, but make it EXACTLY in the 100 meter breaststroke: 1:42.58!

Now, having said all that, U.S.M.S. doesn’t actually verify your times; it is all on the honor system. But, even if I don’t swim those times on race day in Mission Viejo, I absolutely wanted to honor the honor system going into the meet.

So, my main swimming goal for 2013 (once again) is to re-qualify, so my times are up-to-date; at least more current than going back to 2011!

This is where Nationals will be held, August 7-11; the pool where several Olympians, including Greg Louganis (diver) and Dara Torres (swimmer) trained:http://www.mastersmvnswim.org/SubTabGeneric.jsp?team=scmvnm&_stabid_=23601

My chosen events will be:

August 7: 1500m Freestyle

August 8: 100m Breaststroke

August 9: 50 Breaststroke

August 10: 400 Individual Medley and 200 Breaststroke

August 11: 200 Butterfly

And, if our team can field enough swimmers for relays, I hope to swim relays each day, as well.

As for other 2013 swimming goals, I have set 475 miles for my U.S.M.S. Go the Distance goal (I set 400 miles in 2012 and swam 452 miles). And, there are a few non-core races I have set goals for swimming personal best times. Oh yeah, and I’m going for the Georgia Championship Series, again, too.

Meanwhile, I also have non-swimming goals, too; just the usual stuff.

How about you? Have you set goals for this year? If so, feel free to post your goals in the comments section; I would love to hear about them!

Happy New Year!

Jolly Ol’ St. Nick

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

Atlanta Rainbow Trout deserves an award for originality when it comes to swim meet trophies. Their Spring Splash High Points trophy is quite cool, but their St. Nick’s High Points trophy is a hoot! Yes, it’s a waving jolly ol’ St. Nick. I don’t even celebrate Christmas, but as soon as I saw that trophy, my determination to win high points for the meet was reaffirmed. Jolly ol’ St. Nick was going to be mine.

The year started with my usual list of goals; none of which included winning the Georgia Championship Series. I’m not the fastest swimmer in my age group, after all, so I didn’t think I would have a chance. But, as you may have seen in a previous post, I ended up winning high points at the Spring Splash and was told I had a good chance of winning the entire series. So, as of April, I was on a mission. I won the long course meet, in Athens, and then won at the Georgia Games Open Water swim. At that point, I had eliminated my competition for the Georgia Championship Series, however, I was determined to win in style and make a clean sweep of it at yesterday’s St. Nick’s Short Course Meters meet, at Georgia Tech. So, I entered the maximum five individual events, swimming my three best (50, 100, and 200 Breaststroke), and rounding out with two distance events (400 Individual Medley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkk525w-Qk0&feature=share&list=UUaJqJScxsYtclOJAW-i-gpw and 400 Freestyle; something my coach feels I would be best at if I train for distance, rather than sprints. To add to the heap, I was placed in two relays; swimming lead-off in a Women’s 200 Freestyle Relay and breaststroke in the Women’s 200 Medley Relay.

Although my times suffered due to the heavy workload, I was happy to win every event, including our relays. OK, some of those events were uncontested by anybody in my age group, but I had competition in others. In all, there were seven of us in my age group.

StNicks2012HighPointswinnerElaineKrugman

It was great seeing so many of my Killer Whales teammates also win high points awards; I went around with my Santa giving high-fives to their Santas. (See photo; Santa does have one hand in the high-five position!).

My Forumite buddies (U.S. Masters Swimming Discussion Forums) also won high points in their age groups; definitely a meet highlight for me, given the pre-meet discussion we had online in the days building up to the meet. Frank Thompson (on right) came all the way from Michigan, Swimosaur (Judd Jones) drove out from Tennessee, and ekw (Ellen Wilson) drove over from Alabama. They each now had their own Santa to accompany them on their travels home. And, as you can see by our final picture, our Santas gave each other a kiss goodbye…

‘Tis the story of Jolly ol’ St. Nick, who now holds a place with my other awards, on top of the wine cabinet, in my home office.

And, that, my friends is (almost) the end of my year as a baby geezer. I will soon be turning 51, on Inauguration Day, so I will no longer be the baby geezer; just a geezer. But, later this month, I will be joining a few of my Forumites in swimming 1,000 yards continuous butterfly, to close out 2012. I swam 2,000 yards continuous fly last June, so I know I can do it!

I Slept Like a Baby Last Night…

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

…but, this is a travel blog. So, back to Sanibel Island… 😉

We woke up this morning to winds too brisk for kayak fishing, so we opted to return to Tarpon Bay to paddle through the mangrove tunnels.

Although we weren’t as lucky this time to see a Roseate Spoonbill or River Otter, we did see many egrets and herons to keep my camera active and both of us entertained. It was a beautiful paddle, once again; a must-do for anybody traveling to Sanibel Island.

The afternoon has been a relaxing one. Lunch was very casual; an Italian Sub and California Wrap at Sanibel Deli & Coffee Factory. Once again, Trip Advisor reviews steered us to the right place!

After lunch and one last walk along Lighthouse Beach, we returned to the cottage to start organizing for our trip home. Whaaaaaa! The time, as always, has gone by much too quickly. We hit the road in the morning, stopping for the night in Ocala, before returning home on Friday. We are not keen on making the drive in one day, so it will be a slower trip home which is just fine.

Sanibel Island has been wonderful; a place we plan to return to next year. The only negative was the abundance of noseeum bites we managed to collect on every nook and cranny of our bodies; in between the tons of repellent we were forever spraying on ourselves to avoid them. But, noseeums and all, we’ll be back!

My Vote Goes to… THE PELICANS!

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

Happy Election Day (or, unhappy, depending on who ends up winning…)! You should have seen the lines at the polls, here on Sanibel Island! I just hope that when I wake up tomorrow, the election will be DONE; no talk of “hanging chads”, “pregnant chads”, “butterfly ballots”, etc. (Well, that’s not my only hope, but I’ll leave politics out of this post…)

So, the day began for us out on the water, near the bridge that links Fort Myers to Sanibel Island. The fishing is supposed to be good in that spot and dolphins are often spotted there, as well. Unfortunately, there was no catching or dolphins; probably thanks to the red tide that has plagued the area as it did last November.

Red tide is a natural phenomenon caused by tiny, single celled algae called Gymnodinium breve. While red tide causes little more than respiratory and eye discomfort for most humans, it has a more serious effect on marine wildlife. Exposure to the algal bloom can be dangerous, even fatal, to fish, sea turtles and birds. Yesterday, we saw numerous dead mullet everywhere.

Needless to say, the fishing has been awful for everybody. So, while Bruce gave it his best effort, I paddled around and photographed my favorite bird: pelicans. I also got some shots of the egrets, eyeing the schooling bait fish that came in right up to the shoreline. My last shot was of a heron, snapped right before it poured down rain and we both got too cold to stay out.

At the recommendation (once again!) of our Sun City friends, we had lunch at Island Cow; a very popular spot on the island. The atmosphere was quite cute with their collection of cows throughout the interior. And, the food was just fine. But, I am still thinking about Over Easy Café’s Summer Salad that I enjoyed yesterday for lunch.

The salad dressing alone; raspberry pecan vinaigrette was exquisite. But, tossed with the mixed greens, red onions, blue cheese, mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, candied pecans, and crispy chow mien noodles; it was simply the tastiest salad I had savored in a long time. So, since it is Election Day, Over Easy Café gets my vote as my favorite restaurant to go with my favorite bird. We also had great meals at every other restaurant we dined at, including: Gramma Dots, Cheeburger Cheeburger (a chain, but recommended by our friends), R.C. Otter’s, and today’s lunch at Island Cow.

After lunch, we browsed the boutiques at Periwinkle Place; all very nice shops. That was followed by a swim workout at the Sanibel Recreation Center; my 7^th and last one on my one week pass.

Well, it’s time to check in on the election. And, my vote goes to… I’ll give you one guess!

Who Let the Birds Out?

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

I felt like asking that question, this morning, as we paddled through the Tarpon Bay mangrove tunnels. There were so many interesting birds; it seemed as if we were paddling through the San Diego Zoo. But, the funny thing about it was that it appeared as if these birds were escapees from a bird show, where the birds are all trained performers.

When we spotted this Yellow-crowned Night Heron, I paddled up to it very slowly, trying my best not to make any noise with my paddle. As I got closer and closer, he didn’t seem to be bothered. So, I took several photos before saying anything to Bruce. Meanwhile, he stayed quietly behind.

At first, I whispered; still, the bird didn’t fly off. Next, I talked in a normal voice, but, he didn’t budge! I ended up getting so close to the little guy I could have poked him with my paddle!

In all, on the marked mangrove tunnel loop we saw dozens and dozens of various birds that never seemed bothered, as I approached with my camera. We even saw a Roseate Spoonbill (see above); a somewhat rare sight on the trail. And, as luck would have it, we saw one of the rarest sights of all out there on the trail; a river otter! According to one of the guides I spoke with at Tarpon Bay Explorers, he had only seen a handful of them during his eight years with the company. You will have to take my word for it that we actually did see it, because my photo of the critter was just a blur as he scurried in the dark shadows of the mangroves, hopped into the water, and then swam across to the other side before taking off again. But, at least we saw it, and, at least I get to share my other photos with you, now that I have the software downloaded from Fuji’s website for my camera. (I couldn’t wait until I got home… So, if you would like to see those dolphin shots I got, I added them to my Flipper post. Don’t get too excited; I missed their heads, but I did get the very tip of the baby’s nose in the second shot.)

So, back to the birds, the following are some of my favorites from today:

This Turkey Vulture had his eyes on a dead mullet, which, unfortunately were plentiful due to the red tide killing them off. I’m sure that also explains why Bruce didn’t catch any fish in Tarpon Bay today!

Other birds we saw and photographed were Little Blue Herons, Great Blue Herons, White Ibis, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Cormorants, and others I couldn not identify. I will have more photos posted on my fototime site, after I return home.

Besides paddling with the dolphins, this was definitely the highlight of our Sanibel vacation, so far! It was definitely for the birds!

When in Rome…

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Elaine-iaK's Travels

…do as the Romans do. We take that old cliché to heart when we travel, always being sure to seek out the local haunts and do what the locals do. So, today, we thought visiting the local farmer’s market would be just the local kind of thing to do- and, something we always enjoy no matter where we are visiting.

It was the first farmers market of the season and it seemed like the entire island showed up for the occasion. It was a great atmosphere, people running into friends and exchanging hugs, people with their dogs, tourists toting their free Bailey’s General Store reusable bags (I know, because we used our coupon for one, too), and plenty of smiles to go around. And, the vendors seemed genuinely pleased to be back in business for the season.

We surveyed all the options, settling on large pink shrimp ($15/lb.) from one vendor and fresh goat cheese ravioli from another.

Next, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a young German couple selling their homemade German baked goods at their booth. Pretzel rolls! I absolutely loved sinking my teeth into those when I was in Germany, last year. Two to go, please! Tonight’s dinner was now planned- and, cooked to perfection by the best “Cook” in the world: Bruce Cook. Paired with some Barefoot Bubbly, it was delicious!

Sanibel Island Farmers Market was well worth the stop. From the beautiful produce to the fresh seafood, bakery, cheeses, and artisan chocolates; there was something for everybody. And, by the time we left, it appeared as if everybody had arrived. It was time to get outta there and head to Captiva Island.

Captiva is connected to Sanibel by a bridge, however, at low tide, you can walk from one island to the other; the two are so close. At only five miles long, Captiva is smaller than Sanibel, but just as beautiful. And, from what we could tell, the one percenters who don’t have a home (or second home) on Sanibel, have one on Captiva, instead. Both islands are quite high dollar, but Captiva had some ridiculous homes- that is, if you could see them through all the high-end foliage.

But, we weren’t there to gawk at the real estate; we were there to look for manatees- oh yeah, and breakfast at R.C. Otter’s, at the recommendation of our Sun City friends (again!).

Breakfast was delicious (homemade granola with HUGE fresh berries for me; blueberry pancakes for Bruce), but I was determined to see manatees before returning to Sanibel. Thanks to our waiter pointing us to Jensen’s Marina, we were in luck; we saw three.

Did you know that the closest relative to the manatee is the elephant? I sure didn’t! They are big, though; the average adult is 10 feet long and weighs between 800 and 1,200 pounds.

Since they are found in shallow waters, they are easy to spot. One manatee we saw was feeding on the sea grass, just beyond the rocks of the marina, next to the shore. In one day, these slow-moving gentle giants consume 10-15% of their body weight in vegetation. So, much of their time is spent eating, like this one was doing. They are mammals, though, so they come up to breath. But that’s about all you will see of them above water; just their whiskers and mouth, grabbing a breath of air. And, that, my friends, explains why I don’t have any photos of these “sea cows” to show you! Photographing these big blobs below the surface of the water isn’t the easiest thing to do. Just seeing these manatees, though, was a highlight. They are an endangered species, so I felt fortunate to have that opportunity.

After returning to Sanibel for an afternoon swim, we grabbed our shelling tools to end our day with a stroll on the beach by our cottage. The pelicans entertained us as we hunted for shells and watched Bo fetch her ball.

Another great day!

Elaine-iaK's Travels: A Traveler's Tales of People, Places, Photos, Pools… and CHOCOLATE!

Author Archives: Elaine-iaK's Travels