Thanksgiving in The Keys

For Thanksgiving, T and I had the pleasure of going to the Florida Keys to spend the holiday with T's family!  T's sister, Marie, and her husband, Tyler, moved to the Keys this past year for Marie to work as a dolphin trainer at the Dolphin Research Center - lucky for us!  The weather was, yes, beautiful and a much desired break from wet and cold Seattle.  It was also great to spend the holiday with family.  Here are some photos from the trip:

 A trip to No-Name Pub - known for its walls covered in

$1.00 bills.  It's estimated that there are between 65 and

70,000 bills on those walls!

T and I pointing to the dollar that we stapled onto the wall:

"Seattle....The Keys"

Tyler took us fishing

 The expert at work

 T's catch (which was really caught by Tyler

who then handed the rod to T to reel in)

Thanksgiving morning: swimming with dolphins!!! 

We were a little excited

The Dolphin Research Center was closed to the public on Thanksgiving, so we got special access to the dolphins when Marie took us that day.  I felt so lucky to get to spend lots of time getting to know some of the dolphins and learning about what Marie does.  The dolphins were truly fascinating and amazing creatures; I could tell that everyone that works at DRC loves these animals, too.

 Being pulled by Gypsy and Luna - loving every second!

 Joy

Shaking fins

Happy holidays!

One of Tyler and Marie's friends, Pete, took us on a 

sunset boat ride through some of the Key Colony canals 

Thanks to our wonderful hosts, The Blantons!

What a great few days to get to see where Tyler and Marie lived, meet some of their friends and coworkers, and spend time with our family.  They seem to have a really loving community who have taken them in, and certainly were extra-hospitable to all of us.  I'm so grateful to their friends for welcoming us to their home for Thanksgiving, to Tyler and Marie for showing us around their town, and to the Johnson's for allowing T and I to spend such a wonderful time with our family.  This Thanksgiving was definitely one to remember!