[Michelle] On this episode of Love, Eat, Travel, I'm in my home town of Apolo Beach in an area known as South Shore, Florida.

A destination known for its boating and fishing.

We even have our own island.

Our local residents are passionate about preserving history through museums, caring for wildlife and sanctuaries on land, as well as saving marine life in our local ocean waters.

There's also fresh seafood restaurants, beautiful beaches, and the most magnificent sunsets.

This is South Shore, Florida.

Hi, I'm Michelle Valentine and for over 20 years I've been traveling the world admiring and exploring unique destinations that are off the beaten path.

I love people and their stories, and traveling allows me to share these experiences with you.

This is Love, Eat, Travel.

South Shore, Florida consists of communities that stretch from the Alafia River down to the Little Manatee River, as well as the newly developing neighboring communities.

It's a beach town community that's only a short car or boat ride to big city Tampa, or Saint Petersburg.

Our waters here are teeming with all kinds of wildlife, and manatees are a large population.

So, my first stop is at the Manatee Viewing Center right here in Apolo Beach where I'm going to meet with Lauren and learn more about these beautiful docile creatures.

Okay, so we're here at the Manatee Viewing Center and people can see hundreds of manatees, right?

Yes.

Like, how many?

So, we've actually counted over 800 manatees just in the canal right behind us.

My name is Lauren Gomez and I'm an environmental specialist here at the Manatee Viewing Center.

Alright, so let's talk a little bit about manatees.

The manatees you see behind us in the canal, they are marine mammals.

They are native to Florida.

We get that question a lot, are they seals or sea lions?

No, they are actually manatees.

So, they average about 10 feet long and about 1,200 pounds.

1,200 pounds?

Wow, that's a lot.

So, how much is like, a baby.

How much is like, a baby.

How big is a baby manatee?

Sure.

So, when they're born they're about three to four feet long.

Okay, pretty short.

And they weigh about 60 to 75 pounds.

Okay.

So, very small, but they grow really quickly.

Oh, they do, okay.

So, have you ever hugged a baby manatee?

I have not.

I would love to hug one.

Okay.

You can spend the whole day here just admiring these magnificent creatures, and taking in the sunshine and beautiful views.

I discover more about the manatees and their endangered environment as Lauren and I visit the education center.

So, you were mentioning about how manatees are named and defined by the scars that they have on their backs.

So, unfortunately most of the manatees that you saw out there today have the scars and most of those are actually caused by boat strikes.

So, depending on how the animals get injured, they leave different scar patterns.

So, this is from boats going too fast because the manatees are coming up for air, and the babies are coming up for air, and the boats are going too fast in the water, and the propellers are cutting the top of their bodies and harming them.

And some of them you probably have to bring in to rehabilitate, right?

Occasionally, we do help out with rescues and releases.

Right.

And so, some of them of named because of that.

What are some of the names that you've named them?

What are some unique names?

So, we have Seeker, and Comma, and Cookie.

There's quite a few names out there.

Have you given them any names?

Some of them.

Yeah?

Learning about these unique mammals was just amazing, but I couldn't leave The Manatee Viewing Center without touching a stingray.

Watching everyone else do it, I couldn't wait to try it myself.

Wow, that was amazing, but not at all what I expected.

It actually felt like sandpaper and a little bumpy.

I learned so much from Lauren and have a better understanding of these unique water mammals.

This day went by too fast, and I will certainly be visiting many times again.

However, we have more than just sea life here.

We have an animal rescue sanctuary.

When I first visited Elmira's Wildlife Sanctuary, I was deeply moved by all the rescued animals, especially Stanley, the bear.

He's such an adorable big guy.

I spoke to the CEO and founder to learn more about this lovable guy.

My name is Robin Greenwood, and I am the CEO and founder of Elmira's Wildlife Sanctuary in Wimauma, Florida.

So, Stanley is about 11 years old, so what's his personality like?

He likes to play.

I can see he-- He's like a little kid.

He really is.

Well, he's almost 11, but he acts like a six-year-old.

He loves to play with his toys as you've seen with the watermelon.

[Michelle] He loves the watermelon.

Yes, he's a very strong six-year-old.

But he's just got the goofiest personality.

We're always saying that he's doing yoga.

He'll be chewing on his feet, and he looks like he's doing yoga.

He will pick up those big sticks and do a little kung fu action with them.

And of course he's always, he plays tether ball with all the different stuff that's hanging in there.

And he just loves his people.

The first thing he wants to do is to come over and visit and, "Do you have a treat for me?"

But as you saw earlier, you know that he's just a big love bug.

Now, you can't go in there though.

No, we don't go in there with you.

It's not that he would attack you and tear you apart.

It's more like he would pick you up and give you a big bear hug, and then throw you in the pool.

By then you'd just be kind of a limp mass of broken bones.

Right.

So, who do we have here?

This is Ranger.

Ranger is the Socota tortoise.

So, she came to us from State Park.

The rangers found her there.

Socotas are not from this area, so they brought her here for us.

And when they found her, she actually had damage on her shell, and whoever dropped her off at the park had done the repair on it with fiberglass, and it doesn't look pretty, but it actually saved her life.

-Oh, really?

-So, yeah.

[Michelle] Okay, okay.

So she's doing very well.

She's been here for, oh gosh, I think about 10 years now.

Wow.

Almost 10 years, and she's doing great.

[Michelle] I learned so much from Suset.

She is a loving volunteer that is extremely knowledgeable about most of the animals here.

So, Zeb is really playful right?

I see he likes getting treats out of jars and-- [Suset] Oh, yeah.

He's very smart.

He's a ring tail reamer, and he is actually probably the meanest thing that we have here.

No, he's so cute.

He's so cute.

It's very deceiving.

So, the way he's rubbing his arm on the box right now, he has scent glands on the inside of his arms, and so, he's rubbing his scent on it.

He's claiming the box.

But He also will do that to his tail.

He will rub his tail and put his stink on his tail, and ring tail reamers have what they call stink fights.

So, they'll like, come running at each other and lap their tails at each other and throw their stink on the other one.

Oh, my gosh.

And then whoever's stink is the stinkiest at the end wins.

Wow.

So, it keeps them from having actual physical fights.

Sure.

So, it's a good thing.

So, they're in separate enclosures, and they can't be together.

No, so he is a ringtail and Loretta and Brownie are both brown reamers.

Brownie is young and very energetic, and Loreta is 30 years old, so he's a little too much for her.

Wow.

And then Zeb, he's so mean we don't put anybody in with him.

But he's so cute.

We don't go in with him either.

We always lock him down to go in there because he's a little meanie.

But he's adorable, isn't he?

He is.

He's totally adorable.

You just want to squeeze him.

Right, yeah, but it would not be a good squeeze.

Okay, we're not going to squeeze you.

Alright.

[parrot squawks] Hi.

So, these are parrots.

Yes.

So, tell us a little bit.

You know so, parrots, what about them?

They're beautiful, we know that.

They are beautiful.

Wow, and noisy.

Yes, they-- So all of our parrots were in homes at one point in their lives.

Because people probably don't realize just how noisy they really are, and so they get them as a pet and they go, "Oh, this thing is making me crazy," and then they go to a sanctuary.

They end up moving from home to home.

They can live like 80 years.

Oh, look how beautiful.

Are you showing off?

Are you showing off?

Well, she's got a bag of nuts.

I want one.

Would you like to give him a nut?

Yeah, I would love to.

So, what kind of nut is this?

This is a pecan.

Okay, pecan.

Who wants a pecan?

So, just hold it on the sides and they'll do the rest.

Awe.

Angel, what are you doing?

What are you doing?

Ooh.

Whoo, good dance.

Good dance.

He loves music.

Oh, he does?

What kind of music?

He likes ACDC, of all things.

Instead of Angel, Angus, right?

[Michelle] I had a great time seeing Stanley again, and as always, I learned so much from the people that love, care, and work around these animals.

To learn more about this entire region, I visited where it all started, and I mean all.

This is the Paleo Fossil Museum in Wimauma, Florida where you can learn, and hunt for fossils yourself.

I'm Patty Moore, a director with Paleo Preserve Fossil Museum in Ruskin, Florida.

[Michelle] They are going to tell me all about these fossils and how it all started.

And who is this gentlemen here in this photograph?

This is Frank Garcia who actually started the Paleo Preserve Fossil Museum.

Some of the important things that were found at Pleistocene was the giant ground sloth, and this right here is just one of its claw cores.

Wow.

So, how big would he have been?

If that's just his claw, how big would he have been?

They speculate that when this sloth stood up, he was close to 20 feet tall.

[Michelle] Wow.

I feel like this is our big, scary cabinet.

These are the ones that people like to see.

We have another smilodon so a saber tooth cat.

We have a cave lion.

Now, here's another sloth.

There wasn't just the giant ground sloth, there were several different types of sloths of all different sizes but still larger than what the modern day sloth is.

I was in Costa Rica, and I visited a sloth sanctuary, and the sloth, they were only maybe this big.

You didn't touch them in a sense, hold them, but they weren't very big compared to these.

Amazing.

Most of these were anywhere from seven feet up to 15 feet in length.

And they definitely weren't cute and cuddly.

They were large.

Yeah.

[Michelle] All the volunteers are so knowledgeable here.

So, this one is [inaudible].

This is actually a very unique kind of sea snail.

Oh, so here's the touch table.

Okay, great.

So, tell me what I'm supposed to touch.

Anything you want to touch.

I want to touch them all.

So, what is this?

That is the femur ball from a giant ground sloth.

Wow.

So, it's way bigger than the one you have.

For sure.

For sure, much bigger.

But what I really like to get you to touch is this.

What is this?

That's poop.

That's fossilized poop?

I'm touching poop.

You don't have to worry though, it's all fossilized.

It doesn't smell.

You won't be able to tell.

And who's poop is that?

Alligator.

An alligator?

Really, okay.

Oh, shark tooth.

Okay, shark tooth.

A [inaudible].

How about coral?

This one.

-That's right.

-It is?

These were the size of the [inaudible].

I learned so much from you during my visit here at the museum.

I'm almost an expert at fossils.

Now that I'm almost an expert at fossils, let's go did some up.

Okay, so I have a bucket.

I have a rake, and I have a shovel.

So, what is it I'm going to be doing?

Well, you've spent all your time in the museum learning all about fossils, now you get to be a paleontologist and dig some fossils.

I'm going to dig some fossils.

Yes, this is what people get to do when they come here, right?

Right.

They get to have fun.

So, I get to go in this little area here, and I'm going to dig for some fossils.

I think this is one.

Ooh.

Okay, there were a lot more hidden fossils than they told me.

This is a real workout.

Wow.

This is a unique museum that not only preserves the history of the region but allows people the thrill of fossil hunting for themselves.

I can see the coloring.

Beautiful.

So, this is what people can do when they come here to the museum.

They can go fossil hunting, and they can pick up these really neat things and when they get them, you will explain to them what they've got, right?

That's so interesting.

And they get to bring them home too.

They get to bring home real fossils.

-You do?

-Yes.

I didn't know that.

That is wonderful.

I thought I had to give them back to you.

No.

Well, this is just so exciting.

Well, thank you so much.

This is really a great time.

I've never gone fossil digging before, and all of you are so knowledgeable, and thank you for volunteering, and educating the public about fossils.

You're welcome.

Thank you for coming.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Thank you.

[Michelle] Well, now after all that hard work digging, it was time for a cocktail and a good meal, and I know just the place.

Circles Waterfront Restaurant is an extremely popular restaurant and bar in Apollo Beach as they have the freshest seafood.

Circles has a great view of the marina, and this is where many of us bring our guests.

Plus, they have some of the tastiest beachy cocktails.

I love Circles Waterfront Restaurant.

I've been coming here for a long time.

My husband and I, we enjoy coming here.

It's on the water.

They make delicious cocktails.

They have delicious food here, and I have to tell you a really short funny story.

They were doing a contest on social media on, why do you love going to Circles?

And it had to do with something with fishing or something of that sort.

So, I had come up with a phrase, "I go to Circles Restaurant because my husband can't fish."

Now, my husband really can fish, but the saying was, "Go to Circles because your husband can't fish."

Anyways, I won this contest and now I had no idea but this sign, they created this huge sign with my saying that is right here in Circles as soon as you walk in, this monstrosity of a sign.

And so, if you come to visit here sometime, make sure you check it out.

I sat down with Chef Damien to have one of the most popular seafood dishes here.

Alright, so Damien, we have this super delicious Florida fish dish.

Say that 10 times really fast.

Florida fish dish.

Times 10.

I'm Damien Moore.

I'm the executive sous chef at Circles Waterfront Restaurant here in Apollo Beach, Florida.

Alright, so we have this delicious dish that you made.

So, tell us a little bit about this dish.

This is our locally sourced 40 yellow tail snapper, with our locally sourced bay scallops, with a toasted almond rice pilaf and sautéed asparagus.

We start with mango salsa and toasted coconut.

[Michelle] So, mango and coconut is very Floridian, right?

So, I'm ready to dig in here.

It just looks so delicious.

The colors on these are so golden.

It is so flavorful.

Yeah, this is so light.

It's just so delicious.

It's just a great dish to sit outside just like this at this beautiful Circles Restaurant.

Yeah, because you get full off of it and it doesn't feel heavy.

It doesn't weigh you down.

-Right.

-It feels very good.

True, true.

I could see me eating this whole thing, and just still being able to have a delicious fruit cocktail or something, or some desert, like a light ice cream.

I would say you get an A+.

A+ plus.

Well, thank you so much, Damien.

This is just a delicious meal, and I think I'm going to finish this, and maybe my crew.

My crew, they're all nodding their heads.

Everybody's nodding their heads, yes.

So, thank you so much, Damien.

I really appreciate your time.

Thank you.

[Michelle] With such a beautiful atmosphere and such great food, it's easy to see why this restaurant is so popular with the locals.

Now that we've enjoyed some of the outdoors, I wanted to show you something completely different, and I didn't want to overlook the neighboring town of Gibsonton.

Did you know that many carnival and sideshow entertainers make Gibsonton their home?

I was blown away by this expansive collection.

Everything from vehicles to a full size Ferris wheel.

Hi, I'm Doc Rivera.

I'm the curator of the International Independent Showmen's Museum.

[Michelle] There are two full floors of just about everything you can imagine.

I got to talk to Doc about some of his more unique pieces, as well as some history of the town.

So, Doc, this beautiful Merry-go-round, tell us a little bit about this.

I can't wait to hear the story.

It's a 1950's Allen Hershel American Beauty Carousel.

It sure is beautiful.

Well it was a carousel designed to go in Kiddie Land.

Because they're so small.

The horses are very small and was designed so the children could get on and off the horses by themselves and actually take a ride without their parents.

In actuality, parents weren't allowed to get on this ride.

It's a small kiddy ride.

The big merry-go-round, or carousel, would have been up by the front of the midway.

It might be four abreast, have life-sized animals.

It was the major carousel that both children and adults could ride.

Yeah, this is beautiful.

So, the children can just pick up just themselves, and the parents could let them do their own thing, and the kids are on just their own fantasy world without their parents involved.

How beautiful is that?

That was Kiddie Land.

Right.

Wow.

So then, behind us is the Ferris Wheel from 1903.

So, there's got to be a story behind this one.

The Ferris Wheel that you see is a Conderman Ferris Wheel.

Conderman started his company in the late 19th century and went out of business in 1910 when his factory burned to the ground.

Oh.

Don't feel too badly for him.

He went to Chicago, became a successful real estate developer, and made plenty of money.

Oh, okay.

This is the only Conderman Ferris Wheel in the United States or the world.

[Michelle] Really?

I could feel the love Doc had for each piece, as he kept them so well preserved and exhibited.

So, Doc, this Lemaus is the one who bought all these people down to Gibsonton, Florida.

So, who is that?

Well in 1926, Eddie and his wife Grace Lemaus were on their way after a successful season with the cook house, which is a portable restaurant.

So, they came to Gibson to kind of break up their little trip, and legend has it they camped along the banks of the Alafia River.

Eddie threw his fishing line in the water and caught supper in the first 15 minutes.

We don't know if that's true.

But he went back the following season and told all the show people about what this great place he found, and how beautiful, and the weather was perfect.

They began migrating in the area.

So, as people began coming to this town, eventually there were 138 human artes, what you would call freaks.

The American carnival is a unique animal.

There's carnivals all over the world, but the American carnival is a separate entity.

The American carnivals were formed in the late 19th century, early 20th century, to provide entertainment to the small, rural towns of America who didn't get entertainment.

And of course, early carnivals didn't have the rides.

Rides hadn't been invented yet.

So, a big show might have two or three rides, the only ones existing, but they might have 15 or 20 shows.

And one of the shows that they would have would be the sideshow.

And the sideshow had unique people, human artes, animal artes, from around the world.

This lady was Priscilla Bejerno, and she was married to the alligator skin man.

Really?

Yes, and a very nice lady.

As you can see, she had hair almost everywhere on her body.

A very nice lady.

I knew her well.

A very kind lady, soft spoken.

She actually babysat a lot of the children in the area.

[Michelle] You could see the emotional attachment that Doc had with each and every piece as well as these unique people he personally knew and loved.

It's been my great pleasure to bring you guys through here and introduce you to my world.

Thank you.

We enjoyed sharing your world.

Through his dedication he has preserved their memories by keeping their stories alive and presenting a part of the past that is so dear to his heart.

Although South Shore is known for its boating and fishing adventures, seafood dinners by marinas, one of a kind museums, and the caretaking of land and water animals, it's the people and their dedication to this beachy community that makes South Shore, Florida such a unique destination.

Remember, for a happy life, Love, eat, travel.

[Michelle] For recipes, travel tips, behind the scenes and more, visit loveeattravel.tv.