After a year of dutifully working on our house and keeping busier than we like, we decided it was time for a vacation.  Deciding where to go this year was based on what national parks would be great to see in the winter.  The winners were the national parks of Florida.  Our first stop, Biscayne National Park.

We arrived in Homestead, Florida LATE on Friday night, February 25.  We then got up much earlier than we would have liked on day one of vacation to take advantage of a ranger-led canoe trip in Biscayne Bay.  Biscayne National Park is 95% under water and primarily consists of Red Mangrove trees.  We were wisely advised to not worry about seeing the majority of it -- but couldn't pass it up all together.  The solution was a three hour canoe trip in the bay.

We learned all sorts of things about Red Mangroves, canoed through mangrove channels, saw sting rays, a spotted eagle ray and all sorts of birds.  Our favorite was the sighting of two Magnificent Frigate birds.  Did you know that they only weigh three pounds and have the longest wingspan in relation to their weight of all birds? Their wing span is 6 - 7 feet.  They were really cool to watch.  We were there just half a day, but felt like it was just the right amount of time.  One more stamp in the passport book! Pictures are HERE. Password is the same.