Manatee Lagoon

I went to Manatee Lagoon down in West Palm Beach, Florida last week to check the place out. It clearly states on their website that Manatee season is from November 15th thru March 31st (evidently manatees keep a very tight schedule), and so I really didn't expect to see one. And therefore, I was not disappointed when I didn't, except for the two manatees on display in front of the entrance, as seen in the photograph on the left. Manatees tend to head north during the warm months, and when it gets cooler up there, they head back to the warm waters of South Florida. Manatee Lagoon opened in 2016 and is a very nice facility, with both free admission and free parking, and so I will definitely head back there November 15th when all those manatees are scheduled to show up. And if don't, I will want to know the reason why.

Manatee Lagoon is located at the very north end of Flagler Drive, beyond which is the Port of Palm Beach. And one thing I have learned during my travels around Florida and California is that ports are very ugly. Of course, when you are loading and unloading cargo, as well as repairing huge ships, aesthetics is not a top priority. Years ago, when driving to Palm Beach from Stuart, Florida, I would take US 1 through this area. You would drive past the port, various businesses related to serving this port, as well as a huge Florida Power and Light facility. And it was indeed all very ugly. I kept driving this route a number of times. Why I don't know. Perhaps I secretly wanted to ship out on a freighter hauling Florida oranges God knows where. These days I just stick to I-95. It isn't pretty, but you go past the ugly parts much faster.