Winter in Clearwater Florida

The dreary, gray winter weather here in St. Marys got me thinking about Winter in Clearwater, Florida. Last year (Sept. 2011) I took my grandkids to see the movie, A Dolphin Tale, based on the true story starring the amazing dolphin, Winter, herself. If I was asked to rate the movie I might have given it 5 stars for kids but less for the adult (action film loving) movie going crowd. Despite the predictability of the plot I totally fell for it and afterwards I made a promise to my grandkids that we would go and see Winter in person since she lives only about 4 hours from St. Marys.

This promise turned into a Christmas vacation camping trip with me sleeping on the ground in a tent with a bunch of rambunctious kids for four nights but that is for another blog. The visit to Clearwater Marine Aquarium was worth it. Tickets for adults ran around $20 and less for kids and seniors. Visiting the Clearwater Marine Aquarium wasn't like taking a trip to Disney or SeaWorld though. There were no roller coasters and the facility was pretty small. They do actual marine rescues and rehabilitation there and we got to see them working on a rescued sea turtle while we were there too. The money you pay for admission goes to further their mission, protecting, rescuing, and rehabilitating marine wildlife. Clearwater Beach has been built up like crazy (sadly, much more than it was 30 years ago) and the traffic was even crazier but still the chance to see Winter was worth it. She was smaller than I’d expected (even if she hadn't been missing a pretty large piece of her anatomy) but her amazing spirit and heart was huge. Her will to survive and her ability to connect with others with missing pieces was truly inspiring to amputees and non-amputees alike. My hope was that seeing Winter would positively impact the way my grandkids looked at people with handicaps of any sort and so they might realize the importance of respecting others that live with and overcome challenges every day.

If the wintery weather here is getting to you, consider renting the movie, A Dolphin Tale, a tale of a tail that shows a porpoise can get along swimmingly when she’s given the chance. It may not have had the ending I hoped for, but it turned out functional and served the porpoise, so be it.  Then follow up with a visit to Winter in Clearwater, Florida. Or go to www.seewinter.com and check Winter out via webcam. Her continuing mission of giving hope to others and her story of the triumph of will and survival help chase the winter-in St. Marys-blues away for me every time.