South Beach & Marco Island 2006

	Mike checks email in the art deco lobby of The Kent
	The diner of our first SoBe breakfast. We learned the next day that we should've eaten all meals along Ocean Drive!
	Then we hit the beach, of course, to go birding, and we found Laughing Gulls!
	In keeping with the art deco theme, all of the lifeguard stations were quite colorful.
	Typical South Beach scene...note another colorful lifeguard station beyond the blue umbrellas!
	Clearly Mike is grinning because of the Laughing Gulls and colorful lifeguard stations he's been enjoying!
	So I asked Mike to take a picture of me on the beach. This was the first attempt.
	And the second attempt
	And the 3rd attempt
	Success!
	Yachts & freighters just off the beach.
	After the beach, we had to hit the World Erotic Art Museum (WEAM) where this interesting bed was featured! All kama sutra positions are carved into the bedposts...
	Cocktails at the Clevelander where we chatted with the birthday girls from New York.
	Then it was on to Mango's for drinks and dinner.
	Then it was off to Marco Island. Here's a view of the island from the balcony
	Mike reading the paper on the balcony...
	Mike reading the paper in the hotel room...
	Shells on the beach, an artistic photographer's view :-)
	More creative photography on the beach!
	Birds, like these Black Skimmers, were, naturally, the beach highlight.
	And this Double-crested Cormorant...
	And of course the ubiquitous Laughing Gulls (adult)
	immature (note the brown wing feathers)
	This Boat-tailed Grackle asked me to attempt some creative photography with him as the model.
	So I obliged.
	As did he!
	Just sit right back and here a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropic port aboard this tiny ship...
	The mate was a mighty sailor man...
	The skipper brave and sure...
	These passengers set sail that day for a 3-hour tour, a 3 hour tour...
	Ginger? Or Mary Ann?
	OK, I've finally run out of clever things to say...