Big Pig 5 - Day 7: Goodish News

Well, the news of the day is that James has two or three small breaks in his toe bones, but doesn't have to get a cast.  Instead he has to wear his boot pretty much non-stop for the next three weeks.  He lobbied the doctor hard to be able to take it off to swim and also to be able ride these crappy go carts in town.  The doctor grudgingly allowed the swimming as long as he doesn't run and jump and use the foot in any way, and seemed skeptical that the go cart place would even let him ride with the boot on (James, to the doctor, after hearing this: "so, what you're saying is I can if they'll let me?").  All in all, it could be much worse.  Now it's down to us to keep the little Tom Sawyer from  making his problem worse.

Beyond all this, the theme of the day was wildlife.  It began when I walked up on a several-foot-long black snake meandering around the base of the condo stairs on my way back from the grocery store this morning.  No thank you. 

To kill time before his doctor's appointment, I took James and Juliet on a trip to Merritt Island's Black Point Wildlife Drive, on the north edge of NASA's Kennedy Space Center.  It's basically a long, meandering loop through swamp land, where the aim is to drive super slow and try to see swamp creatures doin' their thang.  The first half was a complete bust, but before we'd left James had spotted an alligator, I saw a rat of some sort, and we all saw quite a few gawky looking heron and crane species eating fish in the shallows. 

The alligator slinking away through the swamp grass 

We then took a ten minute detour over to the Haulover Canal, which is an important link in the intercoastal waterway system.  There's a manatee spotting platform there, and I didn't have high hopes, because these things never pan out as animals don't really cooperate with human viewing schedules.  Anyway, there they were!  Two big giant turds floating around in the 85 degree water.  I've never seen a manatee, so I guess this was my highlight of the day (though James understandably preferred the alligator, and Juliet would only go on about her cookie.)

 

You can only see one here, but I assure you there were two 

After the doctor, we chilled with a movie before heading out to one of my favorite local digs, the Sandbar.  It's not like a true gem or anything, so much as it is just a very ramshackle Florida beach bar that attracts a motley host of locals: retirees with ponytails, sinewy deck hand types from the infamous "Florida Man" news trope, co-eds, loud families with sunburned kids, hard-looking women smoking Virginia Slims, etc.  Their claim to fame is their fish taco, but it's really just middle-of-the-road TexMex fare (was that a hint of marinara I detected in the salsa)?  And then they have lots of giant vessels from which to consume their legitimately strong drinks, most of which you can take home with a moderate upcharge.  Anyway, it's great there.  We picked up a 9-pack of the fish tacos and at them at a nearby park bench.  It's not the best way to do the Sandbar, but the "best way" to do anything hasn't existed for 15 months, so we did what we could.  After was soft serve at the thoroughly mediocre Twistee Treat (giant portions, though), and a lovely hour or so swim in the complex pool.

The only last bit to report is that right at bedtime I spotted a super cute frog.  James came out and chased around a bit before it launched itself impressively about 10 feet into the air and stuck to a palm tree.  Here's the photographic evidence:

Frog