We had finished our drive to West Palm Beach Florida and checked into our hotel for the evening. The next morning bright an early we found a local diner for breakfast which we really enjoyed and then headed to our destination for that day the Manatee Lagoon.

Living in Florida we do always enjoy going out during the colder months to see the local Manatees as they migrate inland to try and stay in warmer waters. We have done this numerous times over the years in all different areas of the state, and were looking forward to see some again today at this new location.

Unfortunately just like the previous days visit to the Loggerhead Marineline Center there were no Manatees to be found. We were certainly striking out on this trip so far with local wildlife.

We were a bit disappointed, but inside this beautiful building was a very nice educational center that we would still be able to experience.

Inside were some great little exhibits giving a lot of detailed information about Manatees, their lifestyle, their migration patterns and so much more.

Of course like all good roadside attractions they had a nice gift shop with classic items like stuff animals, t-shirts, and stickers. This location however also had some really gorgeous manatee themed original artwork on display and for sale.

This very cute Manatee family was not available for sale, but it was a very popular spot for guests to take some memorable photos.

Just outside the gift shop along the wall that would lead towards the restrooms is where I found the penny press machine I had researched was at this location. Keeping with our bad luck on this trip, the penny machine was out of order. As I always just in case, I tried to use the machine but the coin slider was completed jammed up.

This was a standard four-design manual penny press machine with the full acrylic cabinet. The wrap decals that covered the machine were fabulous. I just really love Manatees so seeing their cute faces all over this machine just put a smile on my face.

Stay tuned for a future post about what I do when I encounter an out of order machine. For now I’ll just quickly say that once I got home I mailed this location a package with some quarter and pennies asking if they could press them. Then after a few weeks the set arrived in my self-addressed stamped envelope. The designs included a couple with Manatees on them, but also a design with a Dolphin and another with a Stingray.

Another fun day was in the books on our vacation. We spent the rest of our second day doing some local shopping and most importantly some family time at the hotel pool. There was still plenty more places to visit on our trip so stay tuned to find out where we go next. Keep on Pressing!

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