The day started early with a quick pastry in the hotel garden then we hit the road. Our first stop was Manatee Park in Fort Myers where, unsurprisingly, manatees like to hang about. Our fingers were crossed and we were lucky enough to see loads of manatees. It was amazing, they were much closer than yesterday and I actually managed to get some photos.
Our next stop was Fisherman's Village at Punta Gorda which is shops and cafes on an old pier. It was nice and I grabbed a butter pecan shake and K had a vanilla malt, delicious!
We drove up the 41 to Venice. Venice beach is the shark tooth capital of the world so we imagined we could go a peaceful stroll and hopefully find one or two. However, we underestimated how popular the shark teeth are - the beach was packed and everyone had special teeth finding nets. It was also really hot today so there were a lot of sunbathers too. We went our stroll along the beach regardless and paddled all the way along which was lovely and then K spotted a tooth! It was only a wee one but it was exciting none the less. K is a champion shark tooth hunter.
On K's Aunt Margaret's recommendation we decided to go to Panera Bread for lunch. I had a half salad and half panini (chicken & fuji apple salad, beef and cheddar panini) and K had soup and a half salad (chicken noodle soup & ceasar salad). It was all very delicious and a good recommendation by Margaret.
Next was our most anticipated stop of the day, the Museum of Whimsy in Sarasota! What is life without whimsy? It is a collection of quirky paintings, sculptures and other stuff. The volunteer that greeted us said their main aim is that we leave smiling which we certainly did. K's favourite thing was a little jack horner sculpture and mine was a flamingo sculpture. We also saw the giant sculpture called Unconditional Surrender of a soldier kissing his broad. It was amazing, I've attached a picture with K in it for scale.
We drove to the hotel via the amazing Sunshine Skyway Bridge which is massive. The woman that checked us in was wearing a Jews for Jesus necklace which is my favourite of all the religions.
We headed into the centre of St Petersburg for the late night opening of the Dali Museum. It was super busy as it is the only evening it's open and it is $10 instead of $24. The building was amazing too (see pics), lots of concrete and glass. The Museum was good but the crowds made it difficult to see everything.
After the museum we were pretty hungry so we got a sweet outside seat at the 3 birds tavern and ordered some grub. I had pulled pork with chips and k had a blt with chips. The pork was good but a bit too spicy for me, k said her blt was awesome too. They were playing some rocking tunes which delighted k.
On the way back to the hotel we popped into Target where K bought a couple of v neck tshirts, it's a brand new look for her!
Now we're back at the hotel and Jimmy Fallon is just starting.
I can't believe you happened across a shark tooth, that's so lucky, and you didn't even have a net. The museum of whimsy is a strange concept eh, it's the kind of place you would find a portal to narnia from the sounds of it. Stevo says dali lived in America, I never knew that. V necks for k you say, I'll check the photos x
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