Anchorage Off the ICW Between Lido and Otter Keys, Florida

Lido and Otter Key provided a peaceful anchorage for Kismet tonight.

Before dinner, we got in the dinghy and cruised a nearby canal, this is where we found this very unusual (to us) tree (below). No leaves on the tree just these beautiful bright red, orchid-like, flowers sitting next to some closed-up, brown pods.

Do you know what kind of tree this is?

Please let us know if you do. We haven’t seen another like it, so we think it’s somewhat unusual, but hey, we’re from northern Michigan and a little unfamiliar with tropical plants.

This is the sun (below) just about to set over the houses on the beach. Can you see the halo around it? We’ve seen this a couple of nights on this trip and are not sure what it is. We have seen this around the moon before but not the sun. Could it have something to do with solar storms? We want to call it a solar halo. Beautiful!