The Everglades

Saturday, 2018.01.20  Everglades

Our trip to Miami on Friday was uneventful, we picked up our car and drove to Everglades City, on the west side of the Everglades wetlands, not too far from Naples.  We checked into our lodge and looked for a place to eat at 7:30 PM.  Not much was open, but nearby was the Island Café.  We’re not in Yankee country any more.  Here are two parts of the somewhat frayed, discolored, plastic-laminated menu:




Many of the patrons of the Island Café appeared as if they enjoyed the Fried Twinkies often.  Our dinner was remarkable, not for good reasons.  We spent the morning today in Naples, visiting art galleries and shops along Fifth Avenue, then left to drive the Tamiami Trail through Everglades National Park.  Although the park trails and visitors’ centers were open, there were no rangers there due to the government shutdown.  We did have a chance to see manatees, who, much like whales, come to the surface to breathe and snort loudly.  Unlike humpbacks, however, the manatees stay near the surface for very short periods, and will stick out only one nostril for a moment before diving again.  Here’s the best I could do:





Of course there are lots of alligators (no longer threatened), and, supposedly, some crocodiles which are threatened.  Because they are easy to confuse, the restrictions on hunting alligators have not been relaxed as much as they might be.




Egrets are present in large numbers.  I’m used to seeing them wading, but here there are many in trees watching for the fish:


As we drove across lower Florida we came across the post office for Ochopee.  It may be the smallest post office in the USA.  The mail was being picked up as we were there:
  



Tomorrow we’ll drive to Islamorada in the keys, where we’ll stay a few days before leaving for Colombia.

Great dinner tonight; no fried Twinkies.

Comments

  1. Zusel ben ShlomoJanuary 20, 2018 at 7:55 PM

    Crocs are brown and have pointed snouts. Gators are gray, have rounded snouts. WE were told that there had never been a gator attack on a visitor to the park. You would just have to walk around them lying on the paths. Keep having a wonderful time. JY

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