Leaving the Florida Keys

We awoke at the Pelico Paradise rental house for our last morning in the Florida Keys. I made tea and did my German lessons. Mary made steel cut oats for breakfast, then we finished packing and loading. We started the dishwasher with the breakfast dishes and washed a load of the towels we used for the week.

We left the house by 8:45 and drove east on US 1 driving by Castaways on Marathon Key that was recommended to us on our way west while stopping at Long Key State Park. We stopped at a McDonalds in Marathon so Cindy could get a latte, and we could all go to the bathroom. We weren’t at McDonalds long then continued on US 1 toward Florida City stopping at a gas station on Key Largo for gas which was quite an ordeal. Several pumps were out of order; the pump we used wouldn’t accept credit or debit cards. Once we fueled up, we continued through Florida City to the Tamiami Highway. We stopped at VooDoo Grill in the Micccosukee Reservation for Indian fry bread with honey. It was a nice snack since we arrived at noon. We appreciated stretching our legs and having a treat.

We drove the short distance to the Shark Valley area of Everglades National Park. Mark, Jodie, Mary and I walked out the trail along the stream while Grant and Cindy napped in the cars. While walking we saw many more alligators than the day we were here last week. We saw four clutches of baby alligators, a black snake, many basking turtles and lots of Florida gar as well as several invasive fish species. While Jodie was cautiously watching a large alligator, I couldn’t resist touching the back of her ankle with my toe. She shrieked and hopped excitedly to our amusement. We met Cindy as we were walking back and told her what we saw. After talking with a ranger, we learned that the trees in the National Park parking lot with the large green nut-like fruits are mahogany trees.

From Shark Valley, we drove to the Oasis Visitor Center in the Big Cypress Preserve where we saw dozens of very large alligators as well as gar and invasive fish that are similar to the plecostomus, commonly sold for freshwater aquaria. Mark spotted two flamingos flying overhead which made us all happy since flamingos are not common in the area. We left the Oasis Visitor Center and drove a short way to the Ochopee Post Office which is the smallest post office in the United States. We were there only long enough for a photo then continued on toward Ft. Myers.

Mary saw that Interstate 75 had a slowdown due to a collision, so we decided to stop for dinner at a Perkins restaurant while the crash was cleared away. The meal was good and about half the price that we had paid for most meals on the trip. Mary had an avocado and chicken salad, and I had fish and chips. After dinner we drove on to the Howard Johnson in Ft. Myers. The office was closed for remodeling, so we checked in at a window. The motel was unimpressive but did appear to be clean and quiet so we were okay with the rooms. We were tired and ready for bed. There was cool weather forecast for Florida tomorrow that will play a role in our plans for the day, but we hoped to go to Sanabel Island and the Ding Darling Bird Sanctuary tomorrow before having to go to the Punta Gorda Airport for our flight home tomorrow night.