Wandering through Florida......

It's been a while since we've blogged. Internet is hard to come by down here. Where to start...?

We left the West coast of Florida on Tuesday, 12/3, after a thoroughly enjoyable week-long stay.
We took an unplanned side trip to Everglades City in south-central Florida. What a great spot!  It is a little rustic town built right on the Barron River, and backing up to the mangrove swamps. We ate lunch at a ramshackle outdoor fish place where the stone crabs were fresh that morning and the fried clams were divine! As we sat there, dodging seagulls and marveling at pelicans, we decided to take an air boat ride through the swamp!

We have grown quite fond of these guys.

We are so glad we did! The waterways range from wide open pools, to narrow dark passages hacked through the mangroves. We saw dozens of different birds, a fairly large alligator, a whole family of raccoons, and some pretty assertive cat fish. Our guide and boat pilot, Captain Moe, is a native-born "swamper" and told us how he and his high school buddies used to catch a gator and turn him loose in the local Rod and Gun Club swimming pool. The manager paid them $100 to get him out. After 7 or 8 times, the club owners caught on and the jig was up.

Holding a little 'gator

These guys rushed toward our boat, eager to get some cat food that was being offered.

The mangroves.

An alligator...about 7 feet long.

We wer glad we had ear phones...those air boats are LOUD

After our whirlwind (literally!) tour of the swamp, we drove on towards Miami.  The park we had picked out (from a VERY limited selection) was in Miami, about 30 miles from downtown. Of course, we discovered that in Miami traffic, 30 miles takes over an hour to drive. 

Miami was a pain to get to, but interesting and beautiful to tour around.  We opted to take a hop-on/hop-off tour bus, rather than trying to drive. We were treated to a lot of history and culture via the very knowledgeable guides. We went out to Miami Beach, where the people are beautiful and the restaurants expensive.

Art Deco district

From the causeway linking Miami and Miami Beach

Miami Beach. Air 82. Water 75. 

Yes, that sangria ended up costing $45...but when we complained, they comp'd us the $30 beer. Caveat emptor.

We took a boat tour of Biscayne Bay, which cruised by the port area and the cruise ship docks, and then around the islands in the bay where really REALLY rich people live.  These islands were man-made in the 20's and 30's, and are quite exclusive.

This is Usher's boat...the big one, I mean.

Now we have finally made it to Key Largo....more on that later....