28 February – 4 March, 2017
The girls left Bob on Dreamtime for a few days, rented a car and ventured north up the keys toward Miami.
We decided to take two days to travel the 165 miles, seeing some sights along the way.
First stop was in Marathon where we stopped to visit the Turtle Hospital, a small non-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of endangered sea turtles and has its own ambulance to transport their patients.
Unfortunately we arrived right after a tour bus (or 2) did a drop off, so the place was full of people, and it didn’t really appeal to us to fight our way through a tour with the masses. We decided to continue up the road but, Christina has vowed to come back another time to learn more.
Next stop was the Dolphin Research Center. This place is definitely worth the time and money. What we expected to be an hour or so visit, seemed to turn into an enjoyable whole afternoon affair.
The Dolphin Research Center is a non profit research and education organization. Their mission statement states:
Through Education, research and rescue, Dolphin Research Center promotes peaceful coexistence, cooperation and communication between marine mammals, humans and the environment we share with the well being of DRC’s animals taking precedence.
So, although the photos may look like a “regular commercial” sea lion or dolphin performance often seen at theme parks, here, you really do get a sense that the animals are happy, and really do whatever they want. You are able to get up close and personal with the dolphins and really interact with them. 
They have four resident sea lions and over 25 dolphins in their care.
This place is definitely worth a stop along the Overseas Highway. (Thank you to Carmel for the awesome photos capturing the animals in mid-flight.) 