Good bye to Southern Florida

AKA Morgan & Lily go on a Boat ride, parts 2 & 3

It’s time to say goodbye to the heat & humidity of southern Florida, and start moving north. Before we left the area we wanted to do just a couple more things we hadn't done yet…

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As we drove north through Key Largo we stopped at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park to do a little bit of snorkeling, and possibly go on a glass bottom boat tour before we continued on to the mainland. Bob & Lily snorkeled for a while at the beach, but the boats were docked for the day due to high seas (similar size swells as the one’s we encountered in Seward – can’t say I was that disappointed! (stupid seasickness)).

So, we each took out a double kayak and paddled through the mangroves instead. We were given an aerial view map and directions to a set of trails & off we went. The water through the mangrove channels was relatively calm, but the wind was a bit challenging and once in a while would catch us & send us off to visit the mangrove trees up close (meaning into them!). The clear water of the channels provided us a good view of the fish below. I even saw a large ray as it sped past.

Along the way, we decided to take a narrow trail called The Whip, which threaded its way under the mangroves, without a lot of room for maneuvering. It was fun, and a totally different way to see the treed areas that often surround the edge of a Key. Lily did get rather annoyed with me bonking her in the back repeatedly as I tried to keep the paddle from getting stuck in the trees, though. (I did eventually get the hang of getting around the tight spots.) We all had a pretty fun day at the park, but between the swimming & paddling we were rather worn out by the time we returned to the truck to finish up our drive. (These State Parks fill up months and months in advance for camping, so we were out of luck for staying there.)

The next morning we took an airboat tour at GatorPark, on the edge of the Everglades, to see some alligators. The place was busy with tour buses by 9:30 am, but we didn't have to wait long before boarding our boat. 

The operator went slowly through the channel leading out, pointing out wildlife as we encountered it – a bird, and a smallish alligator well hidden in the plants.  Leaving the channel, we picked up speed and zipped through both open water, and across the saw grass.

The Everglades looks like a swamp, but it’s actually a river. It’s rather shallow everywhere (only ankle to knee deep in most places) but is 95% covered with saw grass, giving it that swamp-like impression. The animals are well hidden in this, and I can see why the operator chair of the airboat is up high (the better to see over the plant life, and spot the wildlife).

On the way back we spotted a larger gator, and a baby. The baby gator got lots of oohs and attention from the passengers. 

I guess a baby anything is cute to some people. I dunno if I buy in to gator cuteness, though.

After returning from our boat ride, the kids had their pictures taken playing on a smaller (personal sized) airboat, before checking out the bigger alligators in their enclosures.





We then watched a show where the fellow demonstrated to the crowd how to wrestle gators. It was a cool morning, and so big Mr. Gator didn't do much, other than open his jaws wide. It was still neat to see him though, and to understand better just what those crazy gator wrestlers are dong.

After the show, Lily did some gator wrestling of her own.   

Having had our fill of alligators, it was now time to head to Orlando for some good byes of a different type.