Blue Spring & Manatee

Yesterday we went to Blue Spring, a refuge for manatees in the winter. In the summer, you can rent inner tubes and go to the mouth of the spring, where the water GUSHES from the earth, and float downstream in 72* water (a bit chilly!) It was super fun.

A few people had goggles and tried to swim to the bottom where the water was coming out of the ground but the current was too swift and the crystal clear water too deep. We played for a while then floated downstream and did it again.
Before we left, the boys in the group wanted to go downstream a bit more and look for alligators. The women stayed at the pavilion and chatted. About 15 minutes later, one of the husbands came running back telling us they'd spotted a manatee. Woah. We ran to observe and it was the highlight of my day! I expected it to move slowly, since it's nickname is "sea cow" but it was rather swift. Some people were in the water and were able to touch it when it swam past. Cool, eh?

Another highlight: JI jumped off the dock. We were very surprised that he did it. John was in the water, waiting for him to jump but never really expected JI to actually jump. He of course was wearing a life jacket that gave him a bit more courage.