Bradenton 2

Ok, today we actually stayed in town. We went to the South Florida Museum and Manatee Aquarium.
The museum is excellent, we recommend it. Good displays and signage. Follows Fl from 1st known inhabitants on up. There are rooms showing a doctors office, a dentist office and an operating room. Let me tell you, I am really glad I never had to have surgery in one like that! No matter what your surgery, you can be sure you would come out with a bad back! There was a mock-up of a Fl casa. Trust me, nothing like the McMansions of today! Quite small with low ceilings. As far as the low c. But why ceilings, remember the average height was 5'3". The chapel was quite nice also. The paintings at the stations of the cross were kind of weird tho. Guess that may be just me since I know nothing about all that.
Snooty, the manatee is the oldest in captivity and probably the oldest in the world. He will be 62 this year. No word on if he has filed for social security;but why should he when is is very secure as it is. He is hand-fed his meals most of the time. In fact he pretty much demands it. When the person feeding him got too wrapped up in talking, Snooty let her know that he should not have to wait. He would wriggle his nose like crazy and them put one flipper up on the side of the tank. A couple of times he blew in her face. :). As you know, manatees are very mild mannered and docile creatures, so there was no chance of attack. A good portion of the manatee population was lost this past winter due to the cold. If they can't find warm water their body just shuts down. All of the aquariums were taking as many as they could hold in order to save them. It was very interesting; again we recommend it.
We did not go into the planetarium. We were too late for one show and didn't stay long enough for the next. We plan to catch it another day.
Lunch at the Riverside out on the pier was really good. Had a great waitress. We ate soft shell crab sandwiches.
Later that evening we went to dinner with Sheila, Michael and Michelle. We recommend Mr. Tequila in Bradenton. Good, authentic Mexican food.
God Bless