Gypsy is in her space at Southern Comfort RV Park in Florida City. Getting her there was another story. I fully take responsibility for wanting to come to southern Florida. The initial plan was to head straight east across the panhandle only going south a ways on the east coast to St. Augustine. But, I kept thinking "we will be only a few hundred miles away..........we should see the Keys, Big Cypress, the Everglades". Walt never says no so the plan was made to go south down the west coast and then north up the east coast. It was difficult finding a place to stay in very south Florida. Finally one of the places we had called in Homestead said "try Southern Comfort." We did and were surprised that they said we didn't need a reservation............just come on down.
We arrived in Florida City and found the park. To start with I could tell Walt was a little disappointed. The park is old with RV's parked shoulder to shoulder and almost all are long term. Getting Gypsy parked in the spot they assigned us had several obstacles. First...............this tree and her roots.
Then right across the very narrow road from the space is this post and the horseshoe pit. To complicate matters he had 3 different people telling him how to get into the space. (Not me.......I stayed out of it) Two of the men were Cuban that worked for the park and only one spoke English. The other was a fellow camper that came to help. The problem was each one told Walt something different. Credit Walt. He just put his head down, inched back and forth until he had Gypsy in. He starts set up outside and I start inside. It is bright and sunshiny but inside it sounds like a slow hail storm. That tree in our spot is full of little dropping balls that cover everything underneath it. Luckily every day the amount of balls dropping has reduced but Walt is concerned how to get them off the slide when we leave so we can get the slide in with no problem.
Alas, that was not the end. Just across the road beside the horseshoe pits is the Tiki Bar. The live music started early and did not end until midnight. We are not generally grouchy people and good music wouldn't have raised our desperation for it to end. The later it gets the worse they are...........especially the man. We did walk over early thinking "if you can't beat 'em join 'em" but it was crowded with lots of elbows bent partaking of various alcoholic beverages. I think they needed it to endure that music. To his credit Walt did not hook up Gypsy and we did get to experience the sights of southern Florida.
Our first excursion was to Big Cypress National Preserve. Alligators when you usually see them are very still so it lulls you into a sense that being that slow they can't possibly be dangerous. That all changed for us in an instant.
When an alligator sees a fish swim by it can move in a flash. Walt actually got the action on his phone. It grabbed the fish, swallowed and was back to it's usual non-movement. Learned my lesson.........stay back from an alligator.
Remember how I said that Walt and I always pick up loose change and that I was too chicken to pick up a penny from the Governor's office in Tallahassee? Believe me that pales in comparison to how chicken I was about picking up this quarter from the alligators head. I wonder how long he had been laying there with that quarter on his head. Must not have had a fish swim by.
Before we did much more exploring we needed sustenance. I had read about Joanie's Blue Crab Cafe on some of the blogs I read. The building was originally a cattle barn and later became a bulk oil business. The restaurant opened in the building in 1987 serving the locals with local seafood.
The ambiance is fun and the food is good. Walt had grouper and I had shrimp.
Live music at lunch. A little down home Florida.
The abandoned filling station next door is said to be the first concrete block building in Collier County. Still looks like it has "clean restrooms."
I had spoken to a lady from Germany while we were at Manatee Springs and she recommended doing the Loop Road in Big Cypress. I am glad that I looked it up and got information because there are no signs that direct you to the route. Walt said that there was a blurb about it in the visitor center and it shows as a dotted line on their map but that is about it. The building above is Monroe Station. It was built in 1928 as a service station to assist travelers coming to the Everglades back then. It later became a tavern and roadside inn. It is the landmark that marks the start of the Loop Road.
The loop is 24 miles long and most of it is gravel or dirt.
The first part of the trip is beside a sea of sawgrass backed by a cypress strand. Sawgrass is really not grass, it is sedge.
Red-shouldered hawk is the most common hawk in the Preserve.
Soon we are in the swamp. The cypress trees were logged prior to the 1950's when most of the marketable wood had been harvested. Today many of these trees are second growth.
This absolutely adorable critter is a Big Cypress Fox Squirrel. I found out it is a threatened species and that I am very lucky to have spotted one. If only we would have had video of the maneuvers it took to get this photo.
There are gators in the grass and in the water here. Just keep your eyes open.
The black buzzard or vulture is not an adorable critter. So close to us made us wonder if he knew something we didn't. We both felt well but you never know.
Who would have thought that a swamp could be so pretty. I must have taken a hundred photos.
My next find was a Florida softshell turtle. I am sure that it was a female because she was about 20 or 22 inches long. Males only reach about 14 inches. Her shell is actually covered by skin.
This is probably a face only a mother could love but I found her quite enchanting.
When I headed down a trail to search for tree snails I saw this anhinga spear a fish and then fly off. I continued down the path for awhile but the swarms of mosquitoes made me wave the white flag.
When I returned to the water the bird was back in the same place madly striking the fish against the log.
I was completely baffled.
The beating continued. Then a young man from South America came up and explained what the bird was doing. Because the fish was quite large for him he had to make sure the fish was dead so that he could turn it so that it would be straight to slide down his throat. If it was alive and wiggling it could escape.
Success!
This is about all that is left of Pinecrest. The story goes that Al Capone once had a home, hotel and brothel here. Also, the fiddle player, Ervin Rouse, retired here after he had written the musical hit "The Orange Blossom Special."
I think Al Capone left in a hurry and left one of his cars behind.
It's a big world out there. Thanks Walt for being patient and letting us explore another part of it.