Cerebral Palsy Family: Clearwater Marine Aquarium

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Clearwater Marine Aquarium - Clearwater, Florida

Hi all,

I know I had mentioned in a previous post that we saw the movie Dolphin Tale back when it came out in theatres. Nick said it was probably the best animal movie he'd ever seen. We LOVED it. That inspired us to take a detour on our trip to Florida for the holidays, so we spent Christmas (4 days) in Clearwater Beach, Florida so we could visit the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) featured in the movie Dolphin Tale and meet Winter, the real dolphin in the movie playing herself, whose story the movie was based on, and all of the other great animals there. We knew it was based on the true story of Winter and they filmed at CMA but we had no idea how much until we visited and watched the movie on DVD, the "Special Features" part, and they showed video of it.

First, we want to share information about the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and recommend you visit their website at http://www.seewinter.com. There's so much great info, merchandise you can purchase, information on visiting and how to donate. We have been telling everyone we know about it and telling them if they are ever in the area of Clearwater Beach, Florida or anywhere close to there, to visit CMA! It's definitely worth it. As you can tell, we were very touched by it, inspired by Winter and the other animals and the passion of the staff. This place is the real deal. They rescue, treat, and when possible release so many animals and the ones that live there cannot be released for a variety of reasons.

We get nothing for telling you about this except for the excitement and satisfaction of hoping more people will visit and/or donate so they can continue to grow and do more of what they do so well. We fell in love with the animals and were so impressed by the passion of the MANY happy and enthusiastic volunteers and staff, most of which were hired since the movie as they are now able to expand and grow from the publicity. This is a win-win situation for everyone, good for the animals, the staff and volunteers, and visitors, believe me.

We just got the DVD recently and watched it AGAIN this weekend and were talking about how much we love it, miss it, and badly want to go back. We many not be able to go soon, but believe me, we will be going back when we can some day.

We visited on December 23rd for most of the day. I had scheduled a behind the scenes tour and it was somewhat busy that day, although not too busy or too crowded at all and the tour was REALLY amazing. Next time we want to wade with the dolphins as well, get in with them. Nick, as well as the rest of us, was so inspired by Winter's story and perseverance, determination against so many odds, to go on and live life in spite of his physical challenges. Winter is not the only animal there that inspired us. We got to watch another dolphin ,Nicholas, whose sad, incredible story touched us. He was funny, we got soaked by him and loved it and he was so playful. After the show, he just kept coming up to us and turning his head and looking at us with his toy next to him, as if to say, "are you still watching me?" It was BEAUTIFUL and moving, the whole day. So, GO if you can!!!!!!!!!!!:-)
And, if you haven't seen the movie Dolphin Tale, rent it or buy it (I would buy it if you can!). Watch the Special Features as well. I got it at Amazon.com but you can get it anywhere of course.

Thumbs (and all other fingers!) up from Team Hyndman!

Blessings:-)
Amy

PS- If you can't tell, we love movies. Last night, the kids and I watched the movie "Courageous". Greg was working but we can't wait to watch it again with him. We bought it too on Amazon.com. We HIGHLY recommend it. I have never cried and laughed so hard alternatively throughout a movie as much as I did while watching this movie. It is a Christian movie but I want to say, you don't have to be of ANY specific religion or belief to appreciate, enjoy, and take a lot from this movie. I think everyone would be glad they watched it. Just our opinion, but we liked it that much and wanted to share that.