Florida, Day 7

February 6, last day of vacation.

A benefit of being on the fifth floor was that sometime birds would fly by right at eye level. During breakfast, we saw this osprey diving for fish.

Osprey diving for fish

Look at those feet! 

Scary talons on the osprey

The process of disentangling oneself from a vacation rental seems exponentially related to the length of time one has been there. Jane and Jan had been there a month, and the process of getting ready to leave was more complicated than Jane and I experience after being in the cabin up north for a week. We spent the morning doing laundry, cleaning out the refrigerator, washing dishes, and emptying drawers and closets.

There was one more restaurant we wanted to go to before leaving. Matanzas on the Bay (“Waterfront Dining Since 1984”) was not only scenic but had an incredible shrimp salad made almost entirely of shrimp. It was served in a tomato over a bed of lettuce.

Shrimp salad at Matanzas on the Bay

We sat outside where we could see the shrimp boats on the other side of the channel between the island and the mainland. Shrimp boats go out at night because shrimp are nocturnal and come to the surface to feed after dark. I didn’t know that.

Shrimp boats in the harbor for the day

While we dined, we were visited by this bird, which I assumed was some kind of gull. It doesn’t exactly match any of the 26 gulls listed Sibley, though. It was bold like gulls are, periodically leaving its perch to forage among the diners on the patio, trying to snag dropped bits of food before the waitstaff walked through.

Mystery bird watches for errant French fries

I climbed up in the giant chair by the entrance for a photo op.

Me in the giant chair

After lunch, we drove down to Bowditch to look for tortoises one more time. One thing I have learned on this trip is that the characters of interest for heron-like birds is beak and leg color. For example, this great egret by the Bowditch parking lot has a yellow bill and black legs whereas the white morph of the great blue heron has a yellow beak and yellow legs.

Great egret

I went back to where I’d seen an active burrow. I saw the tortoise peeking out, but it was camera shy. Spotting me at the same time I saw it, it withdrew to the depths and was not seen again. At least I got to see one, even if I did not get a picture.

We spent the rest of the afternoon packing and loading as much as we could into the car. We sat on the lanai to watch the sunset while we finished the open bottle of grapefruit margaritas.

Watching the sunset on the lanai

I got out Jane’s tripod so we could take a group shot.

Here we are!

It was one of the better sunsets.

Last sunset. Sigh.

Tomorrow we would head for home.