{"id":955,"date":"2012-04-30T22:02:51","date_gmt":"2012-05-01T03:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/?p=955"},"modified":"2012-04-30T22:02:51","modified_gmt":"2012-05-01T03:02:51","slug":"florida-discoveries-21-dolphin-cruising-in-destin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2012\/04\/florida-discoveries-21-dolphin-cruising-in-destin.html","title":{"rendered":"Florida Discoveries 21: Dolphin Cruising in Destin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We had a wonderful afternoon on a dolphin cruise. The weather couldn't have been more cooperative!<\/p><\/div>\n

I guess it’s been a while since I wrote one of these “Discoveries” posts, isn’t it? It doesn’t mean we didn’t do anything — in fact, I’m reminded that I should relabel my USS Alabama<\/a>, Mardi Gras<\/a> and Santa Train<\/a> posts “Alabama Discoveries”…we do seem to spend a lot of time there, don’t we?<\/p>\n

Maybe while I’m at it I’ll rename our Atlanta road trips “Georgia Discoveries” \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Thanks to a Groupon I purchased several months ago<\/a>, we were able to take advantage of a dolphin cruise<\/a> around Destin Harbor and the Gulf of Mexico this past weekend. The Groupon benefits expired on April 30th, so in typical Major Mom fashion, we took the trip on April 29th.<\/p>\n

We took a 30 minute narrated tour of Destin Harbor<\/a> and then traveled through the East Pass into the Gulf and got up close and personal with three separate pods of dolphins. As you might have read or heard, dolphins are indeed very social and friendly. The younger ones enjoyed showing off for us — trying to get as much air as possible when jumping!<\/p>\n

I only took pictures of the first pod. The light was the best and I wasn’t getting to observe them very well through a digital camera viewfinder.<\/p>\n

The kids enjoyed the trip after the narrated harbor tour. They found the narration boring and kept asking when we’d see dolphins. Timmy particularly enjoyed when we traveled at speed over wake waves. Both boys had a chance to steer the boat, which was very kind (and BRAVE!) of the ship captain!<\/p>\n

Later on, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset complete with anti-crepuscular rays! Enjoy some pictures. \u00a0See the complete album here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Our boat. Not elegant, but it served its purpose.<\/p><\/div>\n

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This heron was very bold -- had no problems sitting right next to you.<\/p><\/div>\n

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My boys!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Even though the crew gave us popcorn to feed the seagulls, the birds seemed to prefer these ladies' Chili Cheese Fritos.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Dave and Jacob were trying to feed the birds also. I'm not sure they were as successful at those girl with the Fritos.<\/p><\/div>\n

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We were often within 10 feet of the dolphins. Great views!<\/p><\/div>\n

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My closest-up shot, but not quite as clear as I'd like.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Timmy at the helm. He was asked to turn the boat left...and he did!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Jacob at the wheel.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Not sure how well you can see this, but this was with an iPhone camera app I have called "360 Panorama". Automatically makes the panoramic shot for you.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The sunset was brilliant -- some cirrus and local controlled fire-generated smoke made for some spectacular colors. Can you see the "anti-crepuscular rays" radiating upwards from the sun?<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I guess it’s been a while since I wrote one of these “Discoveries” posts, isn’t it? It doesn’t mean we didn’t do anything — in fact, I’m reminded that I should relabel my USS Alabama, Mardi Gras and Santa Train posts “Alabama Discoveries”…we do seem to spend a lot of time there, don’t we? Maybe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[145,169,231,155,626,232,37],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ycQ0-fp","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1198,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2012\/07\/florida-discoveries-26-destin-deep-sea-fishing-trip.html","url_meta":{"origin":955,"position":0},"title":"Florida Discoveries 26: Destin Deep Sea Fishing Trip","date":"14 July 12","format":false,"excerpt":"Yep, I'm quite a bit behind, but I wanted to share Dave's and my latest Florida adventure. While the kids were in the northeast visiting with the grandparents, on July 3rd we booked a half-day (6 hour) fishing trip out on the Gulf of Mexico. \u00a0We had SO MUCH FUN\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"charter fishing\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_2633-768x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1214,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2012\/07\/florida-discoveries-27-destin-parasailing-with-the-kids.html","url_meta":{"origin":955,"position":1},"title":"Florida Discoveries 27: Destin Parasailing with the Kids","date":"18 July 12","format":false,"excerpt":"Last weekend we took advantage of another Groupon: $35 parasailing with Destin Parasailing. By buying two for \"myself\" and gifting two more to Dave (per the terms of the Groupon), we were able to swing $35 parasailing for the whole family! We were scheduled for last Saturday, but due to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"destin\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/IMG_2732-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1211,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2012\/07\/florida-discoveries-26-5-now-were-olin-marler-spokespeople.html","url_meta":{"origin":955,"position":2},"title":"Florida Discoveries 26.5: Now We’re Olin Marler Spokespeople!","date":"15 July 12","format":false,"excerpt":"Today we took the kids parasailing (new blog post coming soon!) and we used the same business, Olin Marler Fishing Service, that we did for the deep sea fishing earlier this month. \u00a0So when we were checking in, Jacob pointed out that Dave and I were in one of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"boating\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/OlinMarlerCatch2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":637,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2011\/08\/florida-discoveries-16-follow-that-bird-help-me-identify-a-bird.html","url_meta":{"origin":955,"position":3},"title":"Florida Discoveries 16: Follow That Bird! Help Me Identify a Bird….","date":"25 August 11","format":false,"excerpt":"That beautiful garden from last March-May? \u00a0All but dead. \u00a0The insane heat, plus the lack of rain earlier this summer made it tough to maintain after our vacation. \u00a0Between the tomato hornworms, blossom end rot and other crap, I just said \"forget it\". \u00a0It was too hot to even stand\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"bird watching\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-_Vcd9KLVJfw\/Th44L0gi1JI\/AAAAAAABX_M\/eMXq7yH-wl4\/s640\/IMG_9066.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1147,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2012\/07\/florida-discoveries-25-florida-scenic-highway-30a.html","url_meta":{"origin":955,"position":4},"title":"Florida Discoveries 25: Florida Scenic Highway 30A","date":"01 July 12","format":false,"excerpt":"Dave and I took a drive on Saturday. \u00a0It's something we hadn't done in YEARS -- as the kids get older they don't really have the patience to just sit in the car and enjoy the scenery. \u00a0We got into the Mustang, put the top down and headed eastward! Much\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"beach\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/PatriciaHofbrauhaus.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1975,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/03\/florida-discoveries-41-navarre-beach-marine-science-station.html","url_meta":{"origin":955,"position":5},"title":"Florida Discoveries 41: Navarre Beach Marine Science Station","date":"27 March 13","format":false,"excerpt":"Just before the kids' Spring Break, I had the chance to partially chaperone for Timmy's class trip to the Navarre Beach Marine Science Station. My sons have taken field trips with their classes every school year they've been living here, and I suspect it's an annual tradition for all the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"dolphins\"","img":{"alt_text":"The Navarre Beach Marine Science Station is run by Santa Rosa County and the Santa Rosa County Schools. Its mission is to promote environmental awareness through education of the county's marine ecosystem.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/DSC_2606-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}