Trip To The Aquarium

This is a trip we have been meaning to do for a long time, just didn’t have the money.  Admission to the Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory is $20.00 for all three of us.  This aquarium is 12 miles from our house, in Panacea, Florida.We took a break under the trees at the Kangaroo Pantry in Medart where Crawfordville Highway meets US 98.  Tal ate a whole Moon Pie by himself!  I kept a fairly-easy pace up, staying around 11 mph most of the way.  No rear-end problems from either of us now that we switched to the Cloud 9 saddles.  There was a fairly substantial hill between Medart and Panacea.  I decided to stand up and stomp my way to the top, which made Cyclingchicken almost run off the road laughing because Tal was having to ride the rear rack like a mechanical bull.  He loved it.We took up our own full parking space, because this place is almost never busy.  I remembered to slather plenty of sunblock on us this time.  Notice I have switched to wearing long shirtsleeves.  Tal and I wear sunhats during the spring and summer to protect our heads and shoulders.  We are thinking of getting straw hats this year.Sign going into the aquariumTiny crab crawling on my hand.The smallest horseshoe crab I have ever seen.Fish that nip at your fingers.There were many neat things to see, but I think the touch tanks were the most fun and educational for us. Tal riding the dolphin at the entrance.  Eventually, though, we had to leave, as we had worked-up quite the appetite.  We went to The Coastal Restaurant on US 98 in Panacea.  Sorry I didn’t get a pic of the place, we were concentrated on food.  This is a small establishment, run by local people.  They have all-you-can-eat specials, and my favorite is the chicken fingers.  They really load you up, and these are the best chicken tenders I have put in my mouth.  I was even able to order fried green tomatoes as a side, and they were good!  Ashley, our waitress, took good care of us.  We left her a good tip.  Folks, try to always leave a good tip, because waitstaff don’t even make minimum wage.  There is a law of sowing and reaping…   All three of us ate for less than $35.00 with tip.  That is pretty good for an eatery right on the coast.  We relished this trip, because we don’t get to do this very often.25 miles round trip.  The Beauty developed a very bad grinding noise in the full chain guard a couple miles from home, but we were able to make it on in, and I will open it up to look tomorrow.