September 29: Sea Life Park {Part 1}

Today is JD's first true day off.

The scenery on the way to Sea Life Park was breathtaking. Crazy sharp turns surrounded by mountainsides revealed an open at the end of rocky tunnel destined for exhilarating views of the coast. The water, clear with black lava rocks peaking above the surface of the ocean, seemed dangerously blissful because of the overpowering waves but calming beauty. I couldn’t believe our entire drive would offer such remarkable sights.

And then we arrived. A moment I have anticipated since I was a little girl: to swim with the dolphins. My expectations were along the lines of petting them and loving on them. Those expectations were “blown out of the water."

Prior to the Royal Swim, we took a gander at the sights of the park. The park overall wasn’t too amazing but the shows were a lot of fun to watch (dolphin / penguin / sea lion show & the sea lion show). One of the dolphins in the show had some stomach problems and she displayed it for all to see in the eye-level tank. I'm sure she was pretty embarrassed as the entire crowd burst into laughter. (The end of the video features this sweet mammal's incident.)

We enjoyed a hot dog, popcorn chicken, fries and a Coke for lunch then ventured off to our dolphin swim (covered in the next post). Here's a sneak peek: