Kayaking at Lido Key

After waking at our AirBnB apartment, we had our raisin bran and yogurt breakfast then prepared for a trip to Lido Key Beach. On the short 20 minute drive we noticed the number of Amish and Mennonites living in the area. We had seen them before riding bicycles, especially the three-wheel cycles, shopping at area stores and eating in local restaurants. As we drove, we observed houses with bicycle racks but no cars in the driveway.

Kayaking at Lido Key

After arriving at Ted Sperling Park at Lido Beach, we reserved a tandem kayak from Kayaking SRQ for three hours. We reviewed the map of the area while the liveryman brought our kayak to the water’s edge. The kayak was surprisingly maneuverable even with our lack of experience. The area is well known for the mangrove tunnels, dense growths of the mangrove trees that cover the narrow channels through the area. We made our way easily through the mangroves viewing ibis, herons, egrets, anhingas and a raccoon. The birds had little fear of us in the kayak, so it was easy to get a good view. 

Green Heron in the mangroves

The kayak bottomed out in a few places since it was near low tide. At one place, we had to get out of the kayak and push it through the shallow area. In another mangrove tunnel that was not much wider than the kayak, we were fighting the current from the incoming tide.  problem was made worse because the channel was not wide enough for us to paddle the kayak. We ended up using the paddles as poles to get us back into open water. 

We stopped at a small beach area where we could pull the kayak up onto the sand and rest our arms. We met a pair of kayakers from Boston who were disoriented so we pointed them in the direction of the launch site for kayak rentals. As noon approached and the kayak was due back, we made our way to the drop off point and returned it to the Kayaking SRQ employee.

Great Blue Heron at Lido Key Beach

We had our peanut butter and crackers lunch near the launch site then had the bananas and apples as we drove to the parking for the beach area of the park. After parking, we kicked our shoes off and walked the length of the beach all the way to the small beach where we stopped in the kayak. There were several groups swimming, fishing and sunbathing at Lido Beach. We noticed several Amish families fishing, although we didn’t see many fish being caught. 

The thing that really impressed us was the texture of the sand. It was softer and finer than flour, almost like walking in corn starch. It was very white and loose. We took a few snapshots of shorebirds as we walked and enjoyed the beautiful 80-degree weather. We were happy that we had kayaked earlier while the temperatures were still in the 70s.

We left the Lido Beach area around 3 pm and returned to the apartment to get dry clothes and prepare to go to another park. We decided on Oscar Scherer State Park that has excellent hiking trails. We found a few geocaches and walked parts of the legacy, blue, red and green trails and found several caches. We left the park and went across the Tamiami Trail highway to find a geocache in Shoreland Park.

By then we were tired and starting to get hungry, so we returned to the apartment to shower, change clothes and prepare for dinner. We decided on J. R.’s Old Packinghouse since we had enjoyed such a good meal a few evenings ago. Although the restaurant was very busy and the parking lot was overflowing, we were seated outside immediately upon arrival. Our table had a palm tree growing up through the middle of the table. As before, J. R. greeted us warmly and the waitress took our orders. Mary had the Cuban roast pork with beans and rice and chicharrons on the side. I had the shrimp Po-boy with fries and coleslaw on the side. Like our previous visit, the food arrived quickly after we ordered. Both of us were very happy with our meals and were somewhat disappointed that they were out of key lime pie. It is probably for the best since we were both really full.

We returned to the apartment where we relaxed and took care of the things that we needed to do before bed.