Key West photos..a little late

View on our drive down from Miami...

These little guys...anole lizards...were everywhere.They were our constant companions. In our yard, on the beach, clinging to the walls outside, in the trees.. We took so many pictures of them!  Some were so small, they were only about an inch and a half long.

You can see how small this one is by the leaf next to him...it was about 2 inches long and BIGGER than the anole!

 This one below was very tiny!

 When they are threatened by another anole in their presence, they flare their dewlap...in 10 days, I only managed to catch it happening on camera once.

 The quintessential beach scene...

 This was the first time we saw the water this intensely colored....on our way to scuba dive about 3 miles off the coast.  Have you ever seen anything SO blue?

Frigate birds spied on our way out to scuba dive.

Thomas and I after 2 scuba dives...Our first time diving. the whole trip to Key West was initially planned to do just that, as it has the only coral reef in the United States. Don't we look happy?  It was the most amazing thing I've ever done.  I had a panicky moment when we first got into the water...the weight of the equipment made me feel like I was being pulled under and I panicked and couldn't breath at the surface. I was told to put my face in the water and breath through the regulator...It was amazing the difference it made while we were waiting to go down. I'm SO glad I hung in there, because once underwater, you're weightless and I can't imagine missing the whole experience.  We saw a 5 foot shark on each dive..VERY lucky. I had said to our instuctor that I was hoping to see a shark..and he said afterwards that it was very rare to see one on your first dive, but to see TWO made me his 'good luck charm'. The fact that I had such a panic at first , but didn't give up when asked if I wanted to go back to the boat impressed our instructor, but mostly there was a bigger part of me that knew I may not get another chance at this!  He said we both took to it so well, and so quickly, that we should continue on and get certified at some point in the future becasue we did so well on our first dives. It was like swiming through a nature documentary of a coral reef. I only wish we could have taken underwater photos, but for newbies, just concentrating on the breathing is job enough down there.  I highly recommend going if you ever get the opportunity. I can see why it's such a rush and so addictive.

Some of the resident and omnipresent chickens

 The cloud formations here were unlike any I've seen...so well formed and low on the horizon. I was really fond of them.

Some amazing sunsets....

 The 'stone' jettys weren't stone at all...they were all pure coral.  The sand, what there is of it that isn't imported, is all coral, pulverized by the tides.

 Shells were embedded in the coral everywhere.

 Cormorants.

 This dog was at Mallory Square, where there is a 'Sunset Celebration' every night. Street performers, musicians and living statues all perform...this guy would take dollar bills from the audience and bring them over to a bucket where he would drop them in.  A pretty smart way to ensure people hand him money...just to watch him do it.  Apparently, he and his banjo playing owner have been there for years.

 Different day, different jams.

 We saw this egret from the balcony of our hotel where we stayed on the last night.  He was there all morning, since dawn, and when he took off, it was spectacular. I was inspired to plan several paintings from watching him.Unfortunately, the camera we used for those photos had file extensions that wouldn't upload! 

 The egret didn't fly off, as we had expected him to, when these boaters rowed right beside him.

 STILL not sure what this is...was growing in our yard. It was filled with air and lasted only a day or so before withering.

 Also in our yard was this tree I later figured was a ficus. They're common in tropical zones and their 'roots' above ground are pretty funky.

Hermit crab underwater.

Hibiscus

Sunset at Mallory Square.

We came across 'Samantha' when walking down to Mallory Square...Her owner asked if I wanted to hold her...He read my mind.  She was very heavy, but beautiful. (Of course he charged for photos, but what the heck...it's vacation.)

An osprey we saw while driving along the coast near the airport...He was in a large wetlands nature preserve.  So beautiful.

Ahhh...palm trees.

Looks like a killdeer...at the beach across from where we saw the osprey.

Another wee hermit crab.

The side of the cottage we stayed in.

This funky spider was in his web all week in the same place in our yard.  Very interesting body.

Also on our way back from diving.

Little 'trees' underwater.

Bubbles on the surface of the water... Clear view to the bottom.

I LOVED this...

Also in our back yard..

A wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime trip!  Thanks so much to Thomas, Matt and Holly for making it so!!