Tourist

3.19-23: Seattle Weekend Recap

March 24, 2015

{Thursday Night}

{Friday}

{Saturday}

{Sunday}

{Monday}

The Beauty of the The Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory

May 29, 2014

A few weeks back I when I posted my recap/review of Hawks Cay Resort in The Florida Keys I mentioned that I had written some posts about our babymoon but forgot I had done that after Autumn was born. So here is my recap of our afternoon visit to The Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory.

We were spending a lovely day wandering around Key West when I started to notice people with these paper butterflies stuck to their shirts. I soon discovered it identified their admission into the Butterfly & Nature Conservatory, located at the Southern end of Duval Street. Since my pregnant feet were getting a wee bit tired of walking around we decided to check it out hoping there would be a place to sit down and it had to be cooler than it was outside… right?

Thankfully it was much cooler than it was outside (88!). We walked into the lobby/gift shop/gallery and I almost did a dance of joy for the refreshing AC. Almost danced… I was hot and pregnant… I have my limits.

After browsing the gift shop, learning center, and gallery (soaking up the AC), we grabbed our tickets ($12 each) to go into the Butterfly Conservatory.

To enter and exit the conservatory, you walk through vestibules ensuring that none of the 50 to 60 different species from around the world are able to escape. As well as the multiple varieties of colorful birds.

The conservatory is kept at 85 degrees, with 80% humidity, to create a comfortable climate for the plants, butterflies, and birds. While that is quite balmy, the sun is not beating down on you as there is a screen at the top of the glass-enclosed habitat, so it felt much nicer than being outside walking around.

You have check the path in front of you for resting or basking butterflies and these little birds! Some of these babes had recently hatched.

One of the 2 flamingos hanging out in the middle of the conservatory.

As butterflies get frightened by loud noises, you must talk in hushed tones. As well as keep you phone ringer off. It makes for a really nice calm experience as it’s a swift departure from the hustle and bustle of Duval Street.

It was quite fun and interesting to see some butterflies hatching from their chrysalis.

Oh hello.

So this butterfly landed on me and I got SUPER EXCITED which made the staff member crack up since my eyes basically doubled in size and bugged out of my head like Christmas morning when I got the portable stero- with built in CD player! – that I wanted when I was like 7. I practially stopped breating so I wouldn’t scare the butterfly off.

In the end it made itself quite cozy on me and hung around for awhile allowing me to breathe once again and gave Price the chance to get some awesome pictures.

I highly suggest checking out the conservatory. It’s fun for kids of all ages as you get to stroll along the pathways enjouing the beautiful vegetation as you watch the butterflies fly around you.

The Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory

1316 Duval Street

Key West, FL 33040

(305) 296-2988

Conservatory Hours
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily
Last ticket sold 30 minutes before closing

Gift Shop and Gallery Hours
9:00 AM to 5:30 PM daily

ADMISSION PRICES
General Admission $12.00
Children 4-12 years $8.50
Under 4 years Free
Seniors and Military $9.00

Quack Quack Quack- Boston Duck Boat Tour

May 31, 2012

What feels like a million years ago, I went on a Duck Boat Tour with my mom when she came up to visit at the end of March. In fact, on that day we accepted the seller’s counter offer on the place that we just moved into. Crazy to think of how things are so different 2 months later. Anyway…

Going on a Duck Boat ride is one of the big things to do when in Boston. Well, after 8 years in Beantown I finally got my chance to do it. We had brunch at Max Brenners and then headed over to the Pru to take the tour from there. (The other options are to depart from the Museum of Science and the New England Aquarium). The tour is 80 minutes long and zigs and zags it’s way through Boston, Cambridge, and Charlestown passing by close to 40 sights. And the coolest part is that it takes place on land and in the water as it uses DUKW’s from WWII.

Hey Mom! (email telling me to take this photo down in 3, 2, 1…)

Our tour guide M.C. History

We started off going down Boylston Street. Passed by Old South Church (my graduation ceremonies were held there.)

Old home to the New England Museum of Natural History (1863-1940’s)

Their version of Kilroy Was Here!

Boston Common on the right!

We passed by the State House, the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial, and the Mary Dryer statue… whoa! I pass by her statue all the time and had no idea she was a martyr- hung because she was a Quaker, which was banned in the colony then.

A reflection of the old West End… doors and windows cast into the underside of the ramp from Storrow Drive to 1 North. You can see this if you take a drive on Red Auerbach Way.

splash!!!! Into the Charles River!

M.C. history let people take turns driving while we were on the water.

Longfellow bridge aka Salt and Pepper Bridge

Community sailing on the the Charles with the Citgo sign in the background.

See that tall rust building… I work there!

A 4-ton chunk of the Berlin Wall outside the North American Headquarters for EF, a travel, international language education, and cultural exchange company.

As we would our way thruough Charlestown, we passed by the Bunker Hill Monument and the USS Constitution, aka Old Ironsides, the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat. I previously went on a tour of her- a cool must see.

Boston City Hall (background) is argued to be a major eyesore in Boston, even being included in the “The World’s Top 10 Ugliest Buildings and Monuments” list. (I don’t have an issue with the building so much as the plaza and adjacent T station) The steaming kettle is a leftover advertising tool for the Oriental Tea Company.

Zooming by the Mack Way for Ducklings statues in the Public Garden before was passed by Cheers, and hooked over to Newbury Street (NO Quack Zone), before our tour ended.

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I really enjoyed the Duck Boat Tour. Even through I’ve been in Boston for years and year I learned a lot about the great history of the city. It was really informative and a lot of fun. I would suggest this for people visiting the city. Shoot! I would even take it again!

The only thing that I found really annoying was that they don’t sell tickets to take the tour at the shed where they depart. I had to run like a maniac to the the kiosk in the mall (.4 mile round trip sprint) to get tickets for us, just to run back take the tour. Dumb!