After breakfast and checking out of our hotel, we headed to Our Lady of the Angels for a lovely Pentacost Mass. It is always neat to attend Mass in other areas of the country and see the subtle differences from our own parish. Toby was fussier than usual, but just pointing out to him the new sights around the parish kept him occupied for a good portion of the Mass. After Mass, we met Nathan one last time for lunch, and then we were on our way to Clearwater. Some friends, who happened to be in Florida the week directly before us, had recommended the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where Winter and Hope, the stars of the based-on-true-stories Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale II reside. Winter has a wounded tail fin, so she sometimes wears a prosthetic fin, though we saw her without one (as seen in the underwater view picture). She has 80-some prosthetic fins, and the kids got to hold one of them. The Aquarium has a rehabilitation center for many other wounded marine animals (sea turtles, stingrays, otters, sharks, fish, a pelican...).
We took the free boat shuttle over to their other site (after posing in front of the houseboat that appeared on Dolphin Tale... very exciting), and on the way there, we got the rare treat (we were told) of seeing some wild dolphins close-up in Clearwater Bay, including a mama and baby. The kids enjoyed the boat rides and the exhibits, but Toby was in rare form and gaining quite an audience on the boat ride back. I should add that this was Abigail's favorite stop during our Floridian adventures. Jack was clearly very much enjoying himself, too. It was good to have my enthusiastic, talkative boy back!
We got a quick dinner in town and then made our way up to Orlando, where we would be meeting my parents in the morning. Blessings abound!
