Taking the Boat Ride

On Christmas Eve, my mother and brother and I went over to Everglades City to take the boat ride out of the national park.

View from lunch at the Rod and Gun Club.

Complete with pelicans on pilings.

Inside is very much like this; really, it deserves many more photos than I took.

There's a fun bike rack in town.

And then we're on the boat. Lovely, as always.

And varied birds, here there and everywhere.

Some sort of heron, I think.

Terns.

Cormorants, maybe, or perhaps anhingas. I don't remember if the captain said, and I don't actually know how to tell them apart.

Sun sparkling on water.

Dolphins!

Just a few, jumping in the wake.

And of course, the white pelicans in their getting-toward-sunset spot.

One of my favorite sights.

More birds on the way back.

This is one of those photos you get when you zoom in and the day is so bright, you can't quite see what you're getting.

Doesn't he look like he's walking the plank?

Finally, some osprey nesting. On the channel marker. As you do.

A good time, as it always is.