Well, it looked pretty iffy when we got up. It wasn’t raining but it was still wet from the rain last night. The dogs and I made the initial run up to the doggy walk area then came back for breakfast. With the TV on it looked more promising for today with lower temperatures expected (low 70’s), partly sunny and light winds.With a better weather forecast we decided to try to go for our bike ride again, only this time we would visit the Loggerhead Marine Life Sciences Center about a quarter mile away (http://www.marinelife.org/). Riding out of the RV Park we crossed US 1 and through the Juno Pier Park to Florida A1A which had bicycle lanes along both sides of the road.
We got to the Loggerhead Marine Center and parked the bikes outside the entrance. Signing in as visiting guests we went through the display area where we marveled at the size of some of the local turtles – from the smaller Green Sea Turtle to the huge Leatherback Turtle. Also in the exhibit area, they had a skeleton of a prehistoric turtle the lived during the age of dinosaurs, 65 to 70 million years ago. Known as the Archelon, this massive creature measured about thirteen feet from nose to tail and fifteen feet from flipper to flipper.
From the exhibit s and education area we went out to the rehabilitation holding tanks where the staff of volunteers was getting ready to remove one of the loggerheads from its tank. It was going to the hospital area to have some stitches taken out. It had recently been recovered from the Florida Power and Light cooling discharge area with a damaged flipper. Taken to the Center it underwent surgery to remove the flipper at the shoulder. Once the stitches come out the turtle will return to its holding tank for observation then in another two weeks it will be released back to the sea.
We watched the staff as they drained the holding tank, entered the tank and lifted the turtle up to the edge of the tank then transferred it to a gurney and strapped it in for the trip to the hospital twenty feet away. The photos in today’s album show the sequence of events http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski .
Leaving the Turtles we returned to our bikes and rode another mile to the bike shop so Tina could get a new pair of gloves. While Tina was selecting her choice of glove I asked the mechanic to suggest a place to eat. He recommended Connie’s Beach Connection, just a couple of buildings away. So off we went for lunch.
We got an outside table to enjoy the early afternoon sun. Ordering a couple of wraps we had a really enjoyable and relaxing lunch before starting our ride back to the coach. Riding along A1A we saw a flock of Ibises on a lawn searching out their lunch so we stopped for a couple of photos. Then it was back on the bikesto complete our ride. Much better than yesterday!!
After changing clothes and walking the dogs we headed off for West Palm Beach to check out the Norton Museum of Art (http://www.norton.org/) and their “Art After Dark” program. The only photos we could take were outside in one of the courtyards. We toured all of the Permanent Collections of American, Chinese, European and Contemporary Art as well as the current special exhibits. We especially enjoyed the Chinese and European works.
From the exhibit s and education area we went out to the rehabilitation holding tanks where the staff of volunteers was getting ready to remove one of the loggerheads from its tank. It was going to the hospital area to have some stitches taken out. It had recently been recovered from the Florida Power and Light cooling discharge area with a damaged flipper. Taken to the Center it underwent surgery to remove the flipper at the shoulder. Once the stitches come out the turtle will return to its holding tank for observation then in another two weeks it will be released back to the sea.
We watched the staff as they drained the holding tank, entered the tank and lifted the turtle up to the edge of the tank then transferred it to a gurney and strapped it in for the trip to the hospital twenty feet away. The photos in today’s album show the sequence of events http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski .Leaving the Turtles we returned to our bikes and rode another mile to the bike shop so Tina could get a new pair of gloves. While Tina was selecting her choice of glove I asked the mechanic to suggest a place to eat. He recommended Connie’s Beach Connection, just a couple of buildings away. So off we went for lunch.
We got an outside table to enjoy the early afternoon sun. Ordering a couple of wraps we had a really enjoyable and relaxing lunch before starting our ride back to the coach. Riding along A1A we saw a flock of Ibises on a lawn searching out their lunch so we stopped for a couple of photos. Then it was back on the bikesto complete our ride. Much better than yesterday!!
After changing clothes and walking the dogs we headed off for West Palm Beach to check out the Norton Museum of Art (http://www.norton.org/) and their “Art After Dark” program. The only photos we could take were outside in one of the courtyards. We toured all of the Permanent Collections of American, Chinese, European and Contemporary Art as well as the current special exhibits. We especially enjoyed the Chinese and European works. 
Leaving the Norton around 6:00 PM we headed off to dinner at Souvlaki’s Grill, a noted Greek Restaurant. When we got there, Tina was not impressed as it looked like a converted hamburger stand so we headed back into West Palm Beach where we parked and went to Rocco’s Taco and Tequila Bar on Clematis street, just a block away from Centennial Square. We both had a really great meal then headed down to the concert in Centennial Square, “Clematis By Night”, (http://www.clematisbynight.net/), a free weekly fountain-side concert on the shore of the Coastal Waterway. 
The Ruby Baker Band was on stage and playing some pretty good music. We walked around to see all the venders and listen to the band then decided to head home after an hour. It was a very nice day.Arriving back home, we gave the kids their dinner, took them for a couple of walks and settled in for the night.
To see all our photos click on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
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