Sea Turtle, Inc...

We started our morning off with breakfast at Manuel's - one of Steph's "must do" things while here.  The breakfast tortillas are outstanding, so that is an easy pick.  From there, a stop at one of her favorite shops by the lighthouse, ArtSea; the folks who have that are friendly and have lots of interesting things in their shop, many hand-made.  It is a definite step above and refreshing change from the myriad beach shops.

Back home to regroup, feed Rufus, and on to SPI.  We showed her the changes at the Isla Blanca Beach Park, including the amphitheater under construction and the dune reclamation project.

From there, it was on to Sea Turtle, Inc...

Sea Turtle, Inc is a turtle rescue/rehabilitation and education facility.  Their main emphasis is on the endangered Kemp's Ridley turtles that have South Padre Island as one of two places in the world where they lay their eggs.  There are other Sea Turtles that make the Gulf their home, and they are represented here, as well.  A couple months ago, they opened their new Education Facility, which is huge and modern compared to the old facility that is now their hospitalization/rehabilitation area.  It is impressive.

Going into the new area...

Yes, Steph has a flair for the dramatic - no idea where she gets that from.

Joan, walking through a display that shows what the turtles see with plastics in the water...

The boardwalk between the new portion of the facility and the old...

Checking out the rehab tanks...

Sharkbite!

Back to the new facility where we took in an educational presentation, checked out the displays, and visited the gift shop...

This display allowed you to crawl under and put your head in a dome so you got a "turtle's eye view"...

Did I mention: drama?

A young girl by one of the viewing windows in the tank, to get some perspective on size...

Allison, the one flipper turtle and a friend...

If you look close in the photo above, Allison (the one on the bottom) has a rudder strapped to her shell to allow her to maneuver.

A display showing the relative actual sizes of the various Sea Turtles...

The facility is very well done - this new portion is a very nice addition to the community.

A warm day, but Dairy Queen helps.  Then, back home, where Steph got to see the new Vespa up close and personal.  The word "cute" was mentioned quite a few times... not by me.

We discussed a sunset cruise to look for some dolphins, but the wind has kicked up... maybe tomorrow.  Steph would like to see some dolphins and I want to make that happen for her.