We were all up and out early this morning.

It was beautiful out there.

The sun rose (yippee), there were no clouds (another yippee) and the wind was still there but significantly less so than recent days – phew.  The early mornings are so still and peaceful.  We saw a large grey crane and several Egrets.

We headed out to a modest and unassuming looking place, Hungry Tarpon

which was fabulous.  The food was average but the location, atmosphere and extras make this one of my favourite eateries anywhere.  We are definitely returning.  We sat outside, in the shade of the trees next to the ocean.

The service was friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.  The dress code was shorts, t-shirt and flip flops.  The food was Caribbean/Southern USA.  I had “Grits and Grunts”. No idea what the grunts were. On my plate I had grits (which I left as I dislike bland grainy starches), 2 eggs “over easy”, a biscuit, which is more like a scone than a roll and fried fish.  It was good.

 After eating we headed off to see the tarpon, after which the restaurant and neighbouring bar – Thirsty Tarpon – are named.  A tarpon is a long and ugly fish.  Some of them are huge!

We bought a bucket of fish to feed the tarpon.  Harvey and I were too scared to even try feeding them.  Lara tried a couple of times but at the last minute chickened out and threw the fish in ( no shame there, seriously, these things were scary).

James managed to hold his nerve, fed a monstrous fish and walked away with all his fingers intact – amazingly!

That was a breakfast experience like no other!  So if you ever end yourself along Highway A1A in Islamorada, I highly recommend Hungry Tarpon, next to Robbie’s.

After that, you may think the rest of our day was rather dull by comparison?  Oh no it wasn’t!  We headed back to our resort.

Where we waited beside the dolphin lagoons.

We were not alone – I can see you 🙂

Darn it, my cover is blown.  I am taking back this latest camouflage as it just doesn’t work.

We treated Lara and Harvey to some up close interaction with the dolphins.

The dolphins are very well trained.

I would have liked to go in too

but it was wonderful watching them enjoying it and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss that.

I often wonder if I am doing the right thing by working so hard and on days like today I think I am doing the right thing.  This is an amazing experience they will always remember.

A kiss for the pretty lady

and another for the gorgeous little guy.

Shall we dance?

Yes please.

What an experience.

Time to say good-bye.

Sad to go.

In the resort there are 6 swimming pools and this saltwater lagoon which we favour.  We lay on reclining chairs, next to the dolphin lagoon.  It was so amazing to be able to lie there, reading your Kindle, glancing up now and again to see the dolphins swimming by :-).  There are lots of activities for the kids and ocassionally adults, such as this kayak competition.  The smallest member of the duo swam out to the pontoon,

where they were rescued by their team member on a kayak.

Then they both had to race across the lagoon.

The winner won a free round of drinks.  Lara and Harvey were third which was impressive as Lara was the only female paddler.

We had some snacks in the afternoon beside the pool; an apple, Ritz crackers and some peanuts.  By evening we were really hungry so we headed out to the Upper Crust Pizzeria in Marathon.  Lara and I were craving fresh vegetables and both ordered a salad.  I had the Chef’s Salad which came with ham and 2 types of cheese.  I like the dressing being served on the side so you can add as much or as little as your like.

James ordered a very large pizza!  The photo makes it look bigger than it was, but nevertheless, it really was very large.

I had 2 slices of his pizza and 1 slice of Harvey’s smaller pizza, which was accompanied by a Budweiser.  No appetisers or desserts.  So this was a big meal which is not surprising as we didn’t have lunch and we had breakfast 10 hours earlier.

Today was fabulous.  What shall we do tomorrow?