Monday 5/8/17
It was another beautiful sunrise. This one was better than the first because I saw a dolphin just playing in the surf right in front of the resort. It stayed for quite a while so I guess it was maybe having some breakfast of fresh fish. We noticed a guy on a four-wheeler on the beach so we got dressed and walked down to see what was going on. He was a Disney biologist, Dr. Blair. He waved us over to where he was standing, right where a loggerhead sea turtle had nested overnight! He talked to us for quite a while, showing us her track in and out, allowing ample time for pictures and talked all about how she nested and what happens when they do. He also talked about what will happen when the turtles hatch and how they’ll come out. Who knew science could be this much fun?! Then he dug down to find the eggs and make sure it wasn’t a false nest, as sometimes they get scared off. He found the eggs though, there are anywhere from 100 to 150 eggs in a nest, and then we covered it back up and he marked it off. He also pointed out a leatherback nest just a the beach a bit that was laid a couple weeks ago and was also marked off.
We then went inside to have Mickey Waffles for breakfast! This place is amazing! All the comforts, food, and service of Disney, just not at the theme parks. We rented a beach umbrella and chairs for a relaxing day at the beach. I highly recommend doing this for comfort. We spent a great day playing in the water and surf and shelling and just relaxing, so needed! We had pizza for lunch and then some more playing in the surf for the rest of the afternoon until it was time to shower and get ready for the Pirate Dinner with Pirate Goofy and Pirate Donald. This was so much fun! It included dancing with the characters after dinner! We took a final walk on the beach and then packed to move on in the morning. We enjoyed some s’mores at the “un”campfire due to the burning ban because of the drought. By then we were all ready for some sack time.
Final thoughts on Vero Beach and the “Disney” portion of our vacation: we all absolutely fell in love with the place. What we thought would be a once in a lifetime stay quickly changed within the first day being there. We will be back, whether it be on a stand-alone vacation or back end of a WDW trip for a more relaxing time after the theme parks. If we were ever to buy into DVC it would be here. I only need a bed and shower at WDW, we’re not in the room enough and I can pay out of pocket for a Value or Moderate much cheaper than a DVC membership costs. But here, it would be worth every penny for extra space and a kitchen and much needed relaxation. The service was impeccable, there wasn’t a cast member that we passed that did not greet us. They bent over backwards to make sure we had anything we needed or desired.
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