On Friday, Leandra braved the crowds and went shopping early, then played golf with her family in the afternoon. Since I’m not partial to shopping or golf, I rented a kayak from Ray’s in Bradenton and spent several hours paddling ~5 miles upstream, then back down again.

It was an absolutely perfect day for kayaking with no wind, 70 degree temperatures, and very few people out on the water. Along the way I found some swamp lilies in bloom:

I also saw a number of animals including egrets, herons, hawks, a pileated woodpecker, turtles, and jumping fish. All in all, it was a very relaxing workout, and a great capstone to our Florida trip. It also makes we want to go kayaking again in the near future!