This was the second stop on my big adventure to Florida. After leaving Firehawk Helicopters, I made the three hour drive on the turnpike from Leesburg to the beaches of the Gold Coast and the city of Stuart. There I spent a couple days with the Martin County Sheriff's Office Aviation Unit.

The Martin County guys were terrific hosts and were excited to show me their county from the air. While the high end beach front homes were absolutely incredible, it was the abundance of wildlife in the clear, shallow water that I found amazing! We saw huge manta rays, bat rays, manatees, literally thousands of black tip and bull sharks... and then we saw this fella! He was just beyond the swim zone at the beaches and we estimated him to be nearly ten feet long.

So yeah, I got to fly millions of dollars worth of helicopters across some fabulous scenery and met some great guys, but seeing the hammerhead in that beautiful turquoise water was definately a highlight and somehow seemed to typify a Jimmy Buffett-ish picture postcard of Floridays.