Airboat Ride and Stone Crabs

It was good day yesterday. Maybe not for pictures, because I had only crap, but for watching swamps. In the morning we had a breakfast in my favorite Dennys. So just when we were full, we headed to some shops. And just after that to Coopertown. This is the city on Tamiami Trail that you can cover with a wide lens and have it all in one picture:

It has population of 8 and people living here specialize in organizing so called Airboat Rides. Because we had some party (Dino's friends came to meet us) we decided to go for private trip - 4 people and a driver on airboat. We was promised to get some longer route and with more interesting animals. Unfortunately it wasn't as perfect as it seemed. Even when there was possibility to see some birds, aligators or turtles, chance of taking a good picture was low, because boat was shaking and with 400mm lens I was not able to keep my gear stable enough. Besides 400mm was definitely too short. What was nice in all that mess was the weather. Sun perfectly shined on us exactly when we started the trip, then it hid after the trip. And to be honest, next time I'd rather go with regular ride. It's only 22 USD, maybe worse for taking pictures, but I think you wouldn't lose much.

Later in the evening someone recommended us Joe's Stone Crab restaurant in Washington Ave, Miami Beach. Ok, I've never had stone crabs before, so decided to try something new. We got to the restaurant and was surprised how many people are waiting in the line to got a table. Guy told us to leave our name and get back in an hour! Ok. Decided to do it his way. After an hour it was even more people and we had to wait another hour to get seated!!! Then I realized it was Friday.
Finally we got table and ordered food. I went with stone crabs of course. There's an interesting story about these beasts. The Florida stone crab is usually fished near jetties, oyster reefs or other rocky areas, just as for blue crabs. The bodies of these crabs are relatively small and so are rarely eaten, but the claws (chelae), which are large and strong enough to break an oyster's shell, are considered a delicacy. Harvesting is accomplished by removing one or both claws from the live animal and returning it to the ocean where it can regrow the lost limb(s). To be kept, claws must be 2.75 inches (70 mm) long, measured from the tips of the immovable finger to the first joint. If both claws are legal size they may both be taken. Studies by the state of Florida have shown that removing both claws do not harm the Stone Crab in any way when removed properly. In fact numerous studies have shown that by removing both claws Stone Crabs are forced to eat sea grass which has been proven to be more healthy for their diet and regenerate their claws faster and female Stone crab have more baby stone crabs since they are unable to fend off the advancements of the male crabs (description taken from wikipedia). Getting back to taste of them I must say I was surprised. Crabs taste nice and I'll for sure eat them again. I also recommend the restaurant, but you must be patient and not very hungry to get there.
Tomorrow we fly to Quito, Ecuador. I'm not sure if I'll be able to have any Internet, but keep waiting for new blog entry.
Here are some more crap pictures from day 1: