Paraplegic Dolphins, Traffic, and One Last Hurrah on the Gulf - Pt. II

The houseboat from Dolphin Tale in front of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium

Day Two.  Let's do this.

Welcome back.

So when we last checked it with all you little cuties, the Houghs were hilt-deep in Clearwater Beach traffic, trying to wrangle one, last Gulf mini-vacation from Florida before saddling up and heading back north to Michigan.  We were on quest to see two famous dolphins - Winter and Hope - and thus far had spent the vacation spending waaay too much time stuck in traffic.

Today was the big event, though, and we were determined to avoid the quagmire of congestion that plagued us the day before.  We rose from our slumber early, snagged a free continental breakfast, and hit the road.

And, by the graces of the gods, it took us only ten minutes to drive from our hotel to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where we would spend the better portion of the day, staring at sea creatures and keeping our two kids from completely losing their shit.

Check it out:

Vacation breakfasts don't adhere to the usual 'healthy' standard we maintain in our house.

In hindsight, this was more like a motel than a hotel, but hell. . . it was cheap.  And we didn't get robbed. So that's a plus.

In much better spirits this morning (we all were - the lack of traffic helped.)

Go ahead and compare this a similar picture of the causeway from the previous day's post.  Go ahead.  We'll wait.

. . . isn't that f***ing insane?!  SO much better this time around.

We arrived early enough to get a parking spot in the front row.  Not too shabby.

Entrance to the Aquarium.  It was pretty dead when we showed up, about fifteen minutes after they opened.   We were cool with this.

We sort of stowed away on a guided tour through the facility, that we weren't sure we were supposed to be on. . . but we did learn a lot about how the aquarium rehabilitates sick and/or injured sea turtles.  So that was cool.

Good to see there are some marine animal vets out there that appreciate a good  movie when they see it. . .

(These big tubs of saltwater contain aforementioned sea turtles.)

Live feed of turtle care. . . of some kind, I don't know.  I'm not a turtleologist.

One of their labs

Main level of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium - which was used for filming the Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2: The Dolphins Strike Back.

Empty docks along the side of the facility.

We stood over this bay with a lady who worked there, and she pointed out to us a far-off spot where there were two young dolphins playing around in the water.  The aquarium staff had monitoring them for a few days, as they hadn't seen any adult dolphins with them, so in a day or two they'll drive out there in a white van and offer the baby dolphins some candy.  

Baby dolphin tanks.  Sadly, empty of baby dolphins.

This stretch-golf cart could be converted into one hell of a party vehicle.  Just fill that pool in the back with ice, add some beverages, and maybe fly a pirate flag from the roof.  You'd be set for adventure.

We'd eventually board one of these boats to check out the Dolphin Tale 'museum,' on the other side of the bay, which houses a lot of props and exhibits from the two movies.

Hope catches some air.

Here.  Educate yourself.

Winter, the deformed paraplegic dolphin that started a lucrative franchise.

Having some brunch.

These camera angles suck, I know, but you had to stand three feet back from the fence so that there wasn't a risk of tourists dropping shit into the dolphin tanks.  I did get some good video footage of them taking a urine sample from Winter, though. . . so I have that going for me.)

Some pelicans. . . or whatever the hell they are.  These two birds played the role of  'Rufus' in both Dolphin Tale movies.  Sadly, they never generated any Oscar buzz with their performances.

While dolphins are the main attraction at the Aquarium, and definitely draw the biggest crowd, the facility has a shit-ton of sea turtles.

You can't tell from these pictures, but these homeboys were all four or five feet length. . .

The main turtle tank, located outside of the main tanks on the second floor of the aquarium.  Several scenes from the movies were shot out here, so I'm told.

In the underwater viewing area, checking out some life-size models of terrifying sea creatures.

I just noticed the security camera above my head in this picture.  What are they worried about, here?  That glass is indestructible.  Are they concerned someone might flash the turtles or something?

After watching some turtles for awhile, we went back outside and got in line for the ferry ride across the bay over to the Dolphin Tale museum (that's not its real name, but I forget what it was. . . it's where they house a bunch of props from the movie.)

Trolling out into the bay

The Houghs, photo courtesy of the skipper.  Note the parents wearing their children's sunglasses on their shirts in order to prevent them from falling off into the bay (see next picture)

Looking for dolphins

Abby says 'F*** it,' overpowers the Captain, and commandeers the ship.

Alayna didn't care about this picture as much as her sister did, and let go of the wheel right afterwards.  Abby, on the other hand, resumed her position at the helm and had to be convinced by the Captain that he was the designated helmsman of the vessel.

We have those kids.

As you can see here, by about 11am, traffic was already turning into gridlock.  We were happy to have avoided this on Day 2.

Under the Bridge

Clearwater Bay

Getting artsy

Disembarking 

The Cannonball leads the crew of our ferry up the sidewalk towards the Dolphin Tale Museum (I'm just going to continue calling it that, if that's cool with everybody.)

As you first walk into the museum, you enter this set modeled after a beach.  On the wall, there's a huge screen playing Dolphin Tale on a loop.  Rest assured, it took some motivating and threatening to tear our kids off these rocks.

It was closing in on lunch time by the time we got there, so we checked out a little carnival food-esque snack bar they had set up.  This shit was ridiculously overpriced - far more than Disney, if you can believe that - and we ended up dropping $10 for a popcorn, a plain pretzel and a water.

Props from the movie (you can see the dining area in the background and off to the left, there.)

In the movie, the marine aquarium staff host a 'Save Winter' carnival in order to generate funds to help the dolphin (I don't remember the specifics, as that movie doesn't quite make my Brian's Top Five Favorite Movies list.)

. . . so all these games shown here were used in the carnival scenes in the movie, manhandled by extras and disillusioned would-be actors trying to make it to the Big Time.

More exhibits

Posing with The Tale (as seen in the movie.)

A simulated dolphin tank.  Way more entertaining than it should be.

If you saw this set up in some guy's basement, it'd be straight-up horrifying.  Since it's in a dolphin-themed museum, it's 'educational.'

Who wants to climb all over the paraplegic dolphin?!

Discussing tattoo ideas

New ink.

Back on the ferry, on the way back to the aquarium.

. . . when all of the sudden we were attacked by PIRATES!!!  After firing a few shots over our bow sprint, they came aboard, snatched up some sugar, rum, and a few high school girls, and sailed off.  I consider myself lucky.

By the time we got back to the aquarium, the place was considerably more crowded - we had gotten there at a good time, indeed.

Winter and Hope

Underwater dolphin-viewing area - modeled after a 18th century ship and packed to the brim with sweaty tourists. . .

The girls were starting to get pretty cranky by mid-afternoon - being shuffled about a museum and an aquarium with a shitty lunch at best - so we decided to start making our way back to the parking lot.  On the way out, we came across one of the aquarium vets (or whatever the hell they are) who was carrying Winter's real prosthetic leg (that she uses for physical therapy a few times per day.)

Abby was pretty stoked about this (of the two girls, she's far more into the Dolphin Tale movies.)  Alayna didn't really care.

The Cannonball  wanted to stop and check this out, since she's reading pretty good now and can learn about crap on her own now without us having to stop and read things to her. . .

Somewhat cooperative children pose with their overpriced stuffed animals from the aquarium's gift shop (Abby got a plush Hope, while Alayna wanted the tail-less Winter.)

. . . and, as a last-minute bonus for our Clearwater excursion, we passed by the original Hooters on our way back through town (Kris wouldn't stop.)

- Brian