J. N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge

After our cold cereal breakfast with morning beverages and doing our morning language lessons, we packed the truck and left by 8:00 AM. The J. N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge specializes in bird viewing. The visitor center had been nearly destroyed by Hurricane Milton two years earlier but was in the process of rebuilding. Most of the roads and trails had reopened.

Great Blue Heron

The drive from our AirB&B in Bonita Springs to Ding Darling Preserve on Sanibel Island took less than 30 minutes. The National Park pass got us into the area at no charge. Our first stop in the wildlife refuge was at a bridge where many birds were wading in the shallow water. A helpful volunteer told us that we should be able to see rosette spoonbills, night herons and many other wading birds. We saw several yellow crowned night herons and many of the usual herons and egrets in the warm shallow water. We were disappointed that the trail to the shell midden was closed due to hurricane damage, but we continued to make our way through the preserve. We stopped at the visitor center on the way out of the preserve then drove to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort. Myers.

Statue of Edison across from his winter home

When we pulled into the lot for the Edison and Ford homes the attendants directed us to a lot adjacent to an elementary school where we found a parking space in the shade. We had a quick lunch of rice cakes with peanut butter and mixed nuts. As we left the truck, we noticed that we would be unable to leave the lot between 2:45 and 3:45 because of dismissal of the adjacent school. We were concerned since that would have been about the time we might be leaving the area. Mary spotted a shaded parking space in another lot, so we held the space while Mark moved the truck.

Edison's winter home

We purchased admission tickets for the gardens and homes, downloaded the app for the audio tour and admired the banyan tree that is believed to be the largest in North America. After walking across the road, we walked through the many gardens and structures on the property. The swimming pool is well over 100 years old and was constructed from a monolithic pour of concrete. Only the diving board was damaged by Hurricane Ian  in 2022 as was a 400,000-gallon cistern that provided fresh water to the Edison and Ford properties. Several of the plantings on the properties were trees that Ford and Edison hoped could cost effectively produce latex for the manufacture of car tires.

Mark in front of Ford's winter home

As one might expect, Edison’s home was very thoughtfully designed, although not especially grandiose. The house was purchased as a kit from Maine and assembled in Sarasota. Each board was cut to size and labeled for assembly. Adjacent to Edison’s winter home was a guest house of nearly equal size. Also nearby was the winter home of Henry Ford’s family. Like the Edison home, Ford’s house was very functional but not overly ostentatious. As we left the property, we stopped by the plant sale where Mary bought a pink canna that she will plant with the other cannas at our house.

Mary's seafood salad

We drove back to the AirBnB in Bonita Springs where we cleaned up and drove to the Fish House Restaurant. All the restaurants in the area were very busy and parking was difficult. We were fortunate to park at the auxiliary lot about a block from the Fish House. We got on the list for seating and were taken to our table after only about 20 minutes. Mark, Cindy and I had margaritas that were excellent as we waited for our meals. Mary had a Cobb salad with shrimp, and I had the grouper basket. Everyone enjoyed the meal.

Mark, Mary & Cindy on the beach at sunset

After dinner we drove a short distance to a beach where we watched the sunset, which was very nice. We went back to the B&B to watch the Winter Olympics until we turned in early.

Home from Florida

Despite all outward appearances of the Ft. Myers Howard Johnson, our room was surprisingly comfortable and we slept well waking a little after 5:30 am. We did our German lessons and watched a couple episodes of Counting Cars on television while we waited to hear from the rest of the group. We did out last minute packing and preparation before piling in cars at 8:30 to stop for breakfast at First Watch in Ft. Myers. Mary and I both had eggs Benedict and enjoyed them although we would have preferred the eggs to have been cooked slightly longer. We both like the eggs a little gelled rather than the whites and yellows completely runny.

After breakfast we drove to the Ding Darling Nature Preserve on Sanibel Island. We had been here several times before and always enjoyed the visit. Today was cold and very windy by southern Florida standards. The temperature was in the mid to upper 50s but seemed much cooler with the wind coming off the water. We spent about 30 minutes at the visitor center looking at the displays and reading about the area’s history of bird species preservation. At the gate to the wildlife drive we were admitted free with our Senior National Park pass and drove to stops along the way to view the birds of the area. Because of the wind and colder temperatures, there were fewer birds out and no alligators or turtles. The birds we saw tended to be low in the mangrove thickets. We took the few short walks that are available in the preserve including one along a power line path to the water. We didn’t stay there long because the wind off the water was so intense and there was no visible wildlife. Our last stop was at ancient middens dating back over 3,000 years. There was a mountain of shells that had been piled up by the many ancient cultures after gathering native shellfish. We made a quick stop at a Walmart where Cindy got some Zicam chews and we picked up a turkey sub and some bananas for our evening meal.

We started toward Punta Gorda Airport for our 5:30 flight. After goodbyes, we went to the Allegiant desk where we learned that the flight to Cincinnati was delayed about an hour and that we couldn’t check our bag until after 3 pm. We sat outside security for a short time until we checked our bag and walked the short distance to security where our Global Entry status allowed us to take the TSA PreChecked line. We moved quickly through the process without removing shoes, jackets or taking tablets out. However, I was randomly selected for a partial check; my carry-on electronics were swabbed which took very little time. We sat at the terminal until our flight was ready to board around 6 pm for our flight home. The Punta Gorda terminal is very small with six gates in one room. We enjoyed our sub and bananas while we waited, taking walks to stretch from time to time.

We arrived at CVG around 8:30, Mary picked up the bag from the carousal while I tried to catch the shuttle for the Florence Hilton. I missed that shuttle, so I had to call the desk again and get the next one in 30 minutes. The temperature was 16 degrees, quite an adjustment from our two weeks in Florida. We made the drive home from the Hilton and were in bed by 11 pm, tired but glad to be home after a great vacation.

Corkscrew Swamp

Red-shoulder hawk

We awoke around 5:30 and walked down to breakfast at 6:30 with the two dozen or so Mexican roofing contractors who were in the hotel’s small breakfast room.  Although the hotel is fine and the location is convenient, the breakfast is pretty meager.  We usually have a bowl of Raisin Bran and a cup of fruit yogurt along with a couple of cups of tea.  We found that the clientele in the breakfast center at 6:30 is entirely Mexican contractors but a little after 7 am they are all gone.  Around 7:30 the area is dominated by seniors.  If we are there between 7 and 7:30 we will have the place to ourselves.

Bracket fungi

Mark and Cindy came down at 8 am and we took the short drive to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.  We really enjoyed this place when we were here a few years ago.  It is operated by the Audubon Society and is staffed mostly by local volunteers.  We arrived a little after 9 am and Mark paid our $14 per person admission fee.  As we walked around the boardwalk that is about 2.5 miles in length we saw a huge variety of birds and Everglades plants.  The signage is very helpful since it is placed and removed every day.  There are also many volunteers positioned along the boardwalk to assist visitors and answer questions.  Even regular guests who live nearby gave a lot of good information on the best times to see different birds or other animals. We even admired the construction of the boardwalk which uses a rot resistant wood from the Amazon basin that is harvested through sustainable means.  

Swamp lily

The temperatures were in the upper 70s so I was glad that I wore shorts and a T-shirt.  We are sure happy to be here this week since the entire Mid Atlantic is in the “Polar Vortex” with subzero temperatures.  

We hoped to see the painted buntings at the feeders but they were not being seen with any regularity this week. Since the boardwalk winds through several Everglades ecosystems, we saw lots of varieties of birds and plants.  We especially enjoyed watching a pair of red shouldered hawks who were at the intersection of two trails.  

Reddish heron

We learned that the area was frequented by bird hunters in the early 20th century.  These hunters were shooting birds like herons and egrets for their plumage to make ladies hats.  The Audubon Society purchased tracts of lands in prime hunting areas and placed armed guards to resist illegal killing of the birds.  In the roughly 100 years since protections have been in place in this area the populations of many species of wading birds have increased steadily.

Mary and Cindy walked with the plant and animal guides to assist then in identifying and learning more about each one we saw.  We saw a young raccoon foraging for food but did not see the otters that have been sighted in the area.  We stayed on the boardwalk until 2 pm when we headed for the rental car to drive to our next hike.

Large cypress trees

We ate our lunch of crackers with peanut butter, bananas, jerky and peanuts as we drove south to Sanibel Island.  We arrived at the J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge around 3 pm and met briefly with a helpful volunteer at the ranger station before driving into the park.  Our National Park pass got us in to the facility at no charge.  There is a one way driving trail through the sanctuary and visitors can renter the facility as many times as they wish until the gates close at 5:30. 

We slowly drove around the loop stopping frequently for sightings of groups of birds.  We hadn’t seen roseate spoonbills clearly earlier in the week but there were huge flocks feeding in the shallow brackish water.  There were a few reddish herons doing their feeding dance in the marsh.  Black crowned and yellow crowned night herons were there as well as many pelicans, ospreys and other waterfowl and wading birds.  We left the area a little after 5 pm but looped back into the facility before the gates closed at 5:30.  We drove to the trail surrounding a shell midden dating back thousands of years.  It was difficult is see much since the mound was covered in an overgrowth of vegetation.  There was interpretative signage telling how the natives lived and used the mound as their garbage dump.

Sunset at Bowman Beach

After leaving the sanctuary for the second time we drive across the narrow island to Bowman Beach for sunset.  The temperatures were still in the upper 70s and was perfect for walking along the beach as the sun went down.  By the time we were finished with our walk the sun was fully down as we made our way back to the parking area.

We drove the short distance to Fort Myers Beach for dinner.  We had been here a few years ago and remembered that there were some good seafood places.  We parked a block from the beach ($10) and walked to the row of restaurants.  One place where we had eaten had closed and been replaced.  However, we found that “The Beached Whale” was highly rated in the area by TripAdvisor so we gave it a try.  Service was slow despite the restaurant not appearing to be busy.  A mediocre musician was singing and playing guitar to a mostly empty room.  Mary had a basket of grouper fingers with sweet potato fries and mixed vegetables.  I had grouper and chips.  Mark chose a salad with chicken and a bowl of seafood bisque.  Cindy’s chili lime shrimp looked especially good.  Everyone enjoyed our meal but we didn’t leave the restaurant until nearly 8:30.

Sanibel and Captiva Islands

We were awake at our usual early morning hour and had the last of the Wheat Chex and tea for breakfast.  We left the room around 8 am and drove up through Sanibel and Captiva Islands.  We paid the $6 toll to cross the causeway and bridge to the islands and drove along the only main road through the islands.  These islands are definitely a high rent district with many homes and vacation properties selling for $10 million and above.  We started by visiting the lighthouse on the end of Sanibel Island.  This lighthouse doesn’t look like any lighthouse that one would expect on the Atlantic Coast but was a metal structure on a metal tower.  It was somewhat reminiscent of a free standing tree stand that hunters use to hunt deer.  There were some historical markers and trails through the area. 

From the lighthouse, we drove along the main road through the high end properties to the J. N. “Ding” Darling Nature Preserve.  The visitor center has great displays of many of the common plants and animals.  While we were in the visitor center, a major rain storm hit the area.  We decided that we would spend additional time enjoying the displays in the visitor center until the rain slowed or stopped.  Since there had been so much rain we didn’t choose to take the self-guided driving tour through the nature preserve.  We had to laugh at the variety of animal crossing signs that we have seen here so far.  Of course we saw deer crossing but we have also seen alligator, eagle, panther, gopher tortoise, owl and bear crossing signs.  Ding Darling was a local cartoonist who had work published in major newspapers and magazines but whose passion was conservation.  Darling’s work in conservation has been honored by many national and international groups.

After leaving the Darling Nature Preserve, we continued driving through Sanibel Island to Captiva Island which is much smaller than Sanibel.  Captiva is mostly private high end property so we drove across the island and headed back toward the mainland.  

We stopped for a quick lunch in Fort Myers then drove to the winter estates of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford.  We didn’t tour either home but looked around the neighborhood and grounds.  We were impressed with the huge banyan tree that Edison planted as a sapling in 1927 that is now a huge cluster of trees. 

We drove to the Lee County Manatee Park that is adjacent to a power plant.  When the bay cools below 68 degrees, the manatees come into the river where the water warmed by the power plants attracts them.  Because el Nino has allowed the bay to remain at 70 degrees there were few manatees in the stream near the viewing area.  We probably saw about 20 in the river.  As much as the manatees, we enjoyed the signage for the plants around the viewing area.  There is also an ethnobotany trail where plants are marked with signs indicating the current and historical value of selected plants to human activity. 

We drove back to our room at the Wyndham Garden Inn at Fort Myers Beach then walked north along the beach.  The heavy rain of the day had compacted the sand and left a good deal of standing water along and near the beach.  We walked about 1.5 miles before turning back and returning to our room.  I went out again as the sun was going down to take some snapshots of sunset from an area not far from our hotel at the remains of a burnt pier just south of the hotel.

We went to dinner at the hotel restaurant, Pinchers, which specializes in local seafood.  Mary had the grilled shrimp with local green beans and garlic bread.  I had crab cakes from local Gulf blue crabs with fries and cole slaw on the side.  We each had a margarita since the happy hour price was two for one.  We both enjoyed our meals and thought the service was very good.  Probably the best part was the we didn’t have to drive back after dinner since our room was just a short walk away.

If the weather cooperates we plan to go to the Anhinga Trail tomorrow over on the east side of the Everglades.