Sunday, February 28, 2016 -- Our last full day here in the Florida Keys.  I planned to go on a snorkeling expedition to Cheeca Rocks, reputed to be some of the best underwater tourism in the area.

But, it was not to be. We drove down to Islamorada to the expedition launch at Islander Watersports, but as soon as we got out of the car, I knew this would not work.  The wind was blowing a good 15 knots and as the guide said, the water would be so roiled up that visibility would be nearly nil.  

Instead we went to the Theater of the Sea, an attraction built on dolphins, sea lions, and other creatures.  The location was originally the site of a pit dug to provide fill dirt for Flagler's railroad from Miami to Key West, an enormous engineering and construction project in the 1910-13 years.  The railroad was damaged in the 1935 hurricane and went out business.  The land was sold for $800 and today is the water basin for the Theater's dolphin and sea lion shows. The artificial lagoons and gardens feature Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, California sea lions, sea turtles, tropical and game fish, sharks, stingrays, alligators, marine invertebrates, and birds.

This was, to our surprise, a much better show than some

others of this sort we've seen.  They had a series of exhibitions with trained dolphins doing tricks, then sea lions doing tricks, a bottomless boat tour, a well-narrated guided walk through the sea life in various pools, and a demonstration routine with trained parrots.  (Parrots are very smart.)

We finished the day, and our time in the Florida Keys, with one last sunset at Marker 88's outdoor bar and dock where you can watch the golden orb decline over the Florida Bay.

Our stay ended with dinner at Pierre's at Morada Bay, reputed to be one of the best restaurants on the Middle Keys.  (I would not quarrel.) It has the atmosphere of an early Florida two-story plantation mansion with a veranda running around all sides.  The lounge has a classic mahogany bar and deep leather armchairs. The dining room features dark planked wood floors, an eighteenth century Indian arcade, natural textured walls, and teak tables on kilim rugs.  There are Moroccan, Indian, and African artifacts everywhere you look.  And the food was excellent. 

Sunset at Marker 88