I heart sunsets

If you've ever been with me on a vacation that involved a large body of water, or perhaps some mountains, you know that I love sunsets. Or more specifically, trying to get a good picture of one. (I suspect I'd love sunrises too... but I always seem to miss those.) This vacation was no different.

The first night we were in the Keys, driving down Highway 1 on our way to dinner, when I realized we were going to miss the sunset if we didn't act fast. Fortunately, we passed a free, privately-owned bird sanctuary that just happened to be located directly on the water, on the west side of Key Largo. I would not recommend visiting this sanctuary unless you really love birds; we found it more than a bit creepy. From the owner feeding the gazillions of wild pelicans, seagulls, egrets, and, of course, a bevy of cats from his front porch to the odd noises we heard while winding our way through the maze of cages as the day turned to dusk... yikes. But it sure did provide a great spot to try to capture some sunset photos! And since this turned out to be the only night we were able to actually watch the sun go down over the water, it was worth it to me.