Orchids, Everglades & the Gulf Coast

On Thursday we left Marathon, Florida to spend two days in the Everglades National Park. For the last few days, we’ve listened to Susan Orlean’s 1998 non-fiction book called The Orchid Thief. The book focuses on the arrest and trial of John Laroche for poaching rare orchids from the Facahatchee Strand State Preserve in South Florida.

The book goes into quite a bit of depth about the orchid culture in Florida. One of the main characters is Robert (Bob) Fuchs, the owner of the RF Orchids Nursery. On our way to the Everglades National Park, Kathy noticed that we would pass right by the nursery, so, we stopped in.

The nursery grounds are huge. There are dozens of different shade houses, containing thousands and thousands of plants. We spent quite a bit of time browsing around and looking at the various types of orchids.

Here are some white and yellow ones that I especially liked.

When we went into the office, we found that Bob Fuchs himself was there and he took a picture with us.

He was very cordial and even gave Kathy and autographed copy of his book.

I, however, was just happy to get a picture with this guy in the garden.

The Everglades National Park is the third largest park in the continental United States, after Death Valley and Yellowstone. It covers most of southern Florida and has several different entrances. We went in at the southern-most entrance because we were staying in the park at the town of Flamingo.

The drive to Flamingo from the entrance is about 43 miles. There are different trails along the road, and so we stopped and hiked when we came across them. This is the Mahogany Hammock Trail, a half-mile boardwalk loop through one of the “islands” in the sea of grass and water.  

The in-park Flamingo Lodge was originally built and expanded in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Built in the Modern/Mission 66 style, it eventually grew to over 100 rooms and bungalows. However, Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma did so much damage that the lodge (and visitor’s center) were demolished in 2005.

From 2005 until 2023, there was no lodging inside the park. In 2023 the new lodge, restaurant, and visitor’s center opened. The new lodge has 24 units, and is constructed from durable, repurposed shipping containers elevated on 13-foot concrete pillars to withstand storm surges, sea-level rise, and high winds. That sounds kind of grim, but the units are actually very comfortable and elegant.

As I mentioned in my last post, Thursday, October 22 is our 54th wedding anniversary. We splurged on dinner last night in Marathon. However in the morning my brother Gary sent me this text from my mother’s journal. It was really a blessing.

Back Country Boat Ride

On Friday, we spent the day exploring the park. At 11:00 AM we took a 90-minute boat ride into the “back country”. The trip took us through three different kinds of ecosystems: the estuary, mangrove, and cypress areas. We saw lots of different kinds of trees and birds. We got a glimpse of a crocodile in one of the little inlets, but couldn’t see more than his eyes and snout from quite a distance.

While we were waiting to board the boat, we walked over to the Florida Bay (salt-water) side of the marina and watched some big tarpon jumping, and this manatee coming up for air.

At the end of our tour, just as we were coming into the marina, a large crocodile swam right past our boat. Kathy and I wondered if the tour operators kept it in reserve in the event that the customers were disappointed. 

All in all it was a good tour and we were both glad we took it. After lunch we decided to drive out to some other trails we’d read about. As we left Flamingo, it started to lightly rain. When we finally got to the trail though, it was raining buckets. We decided to skip the hike. By the time we got back to Flamingo, it had stopped raining. Rather than turn around once again, we had dinner at the lodge restaurant, and went back to our room.

Driving Up the Gulf Coast

On Saturday we got up early, and I sat outside on the balcony and watched the sun rise. The restaurant served breakfast starting at 8:00 AM, and we were among the first in line.

Flamingo is notorious for its mosquitos. I wasn’t bothered too much, but Kathy had two bites in the first few minutes we were there, despite dousing ourselves with bug spray. Since then, she never travels without self-protection.

It was a long, but pretty drive from Flamingo to Sarasota on the Gulf Coast. To get there, you have to first drive east almost to Miami and then turn around and drive west across the state on the highway called Alligator Alley or the Tamiami Trail. 

Hoping to see some alligators in addition to the crocodiles we had seen in Flamingo, we stopped by the Shark Valley entrance to the park. However, to explore the park from this entrance, you have to take a tram tour, and we really didn’t feel that we had the time.

We got to Sarasota around 4:00 PM. Our hotel was right across the street from the airport. Near Sarasota, in Bradenton, one of our old friends, Leona Karni, who is a missionary from Calvary Chapel, invited us over to her house for dinner. It was wonderful listening to her stories.

Sarasota to Perry, Florida

We had another long drive on Sunday, up the west coast of Florida, from Sarasota to Perry. About half way between these two towns lies the Crystal River, a set of springs that are the refuge of Florida’s manatee population during the cold winter months. To break up the trip we decided to stop for lunch and see some animals.

We had several different state parks to choose from, many of which allow you to swim with the manatees. Neither of us was up for that, so we finally chose to visit the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. Like the Turtle Center in Marathon, this park rehabilitates injured wildlife.

Just as there are no falls in Klamath Falls, Oregon, there are no Flamingos in Flamingo, Florida. However at Homosassa we got to see a few. They are truly beautiful.

We saw an alligator, a couple of manatees, two Florida panthers, a Florida black bear, and quite a few different kinds of birds, including two eagles. It was a nice break half-way through our day.

We had some pizza for lunch and reached Perry about 5:00 PM.

The Gulf Coast

On Monday we left Perry after breakfast and headed towards Destin, Florida, which is close to Pensacola on the west coast. Instead of traveling inland, through the capital, Tallahassee, we hugged the coast, stopping at a few parks, as well as the towns of Carrabelle and St. George Island.

At one of the parks we stopped at, Kathy got to happily swing for a while.

This is what it looked like from her point of view.

On St. George Island we stopped to look at the light house and collect some shells on the beach.

In the town of Carrabelle, we visited the world’s smallest police station, shopped for sea glass, and had a nice lunch in a small cafe. Like the other off-the-beaten-path places we’ve eaten at, they only took cash.

We reached our hotel in Destin around 4:30, unpacked and went across the street for a nice dinner. In the morning we’ll be leaving Florida for Mississippi, Alabama, and then Louisiana.

The Florida Keys

On Monday we left Jupiter after breakfast, headed for the Florida Keys. In Indiana, Iowa, and Illinois we drove by endless corn fields and were able to walk up to stalks and look at the corn. In Florida, the endless fields are filled with sugar cane. Kathy wanted to get a picture standing next to a cane field, but each one we saw was surrounded by a ditch, filled with water. When we got to Homestead, Florida, we stopped by a roadside produce stand, and she bought a chunk of sugar cane, just to try it out. It was sweet! 

Our first overnight in the keys was in Key Largo, the background for the famous Bogie and Bacall film. In fact, the movie was filmed in the studio in Burbank, so there are no notable settings to visit. Key Largo does have the original African Queen in the marina, which you can book for tours, weddings and events. The boat is in better shape than it appeared at the end of the movie.

While we were in Homestead we also stopped for lunch at Marios Cuban Kitchen, to try some Cuban food. I had a Cuban sandwich and Kathy had some sweet plantains. It was so much food that we ended up taking half of it with us for dinner. In Key Largo we stayed at the Pelican Cottages on the Florida Bay side of the Key.

Our cottage (actually, half of a duplex), was cute, with a retro 60s Florida vibe. There was plenty of room. The cottages included a private beach and docks. For us, the most important thing was that the air conditioning worked.

After we got settled into our room, we headed down the road to the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. This is part of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, a 220-mile long coral reef that extends the entire length of the Keys. This park is the home of one of the three “Christ of the Abyss” bronze statues, sunk into 25-feet of water.

About thirty years ago, we both went snorkeling in Hawaii and the Caribbean, and so we would have taken a snorkeling excursion out to the reef. Today, though, both of us feel more comfortable staying safe and dry on a glass-bottomed boat. Also, the signs on all the beaches warning about swimming with the “crocodilians” made our decision a little easier.

Unfortunately, when we went to inquire, we were told that the glass-bottomed boat was not going out on Monday or Tuesday. They didn’t tell us definitively why; we thought that it was most likely because of the wind. Later, when we got to the Everglades, we found that many attractions don’t even open until November 1, the start of the dry, and thus tourist, season. In any event, we went back to our cottage, and I swam off the dock. The water was pretty warm, but the “sand” was very hard, and the Florida Bay was very shallow. Its average depth is three to five feet. It was disconcerting to swim out a ways and find that I could still stand up.

Another thing we liked about the Keys was the pastel color scheme we found on all the buildings. Our cottage was lime green, but others were tangerine, turquoise, and light blue.

Since the Pelican Cottages didn’t include breakfast, on Tuesday morning we went next door to Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen and had omelettes for breakfast. Then, we set off for Key West and the Southern most point in the Continental United States.

Key West & The Overseas Highway

From 1902 to 1905 Florida’s Henry Flagler built the Overseas Railroad as part of the Key West Extension to his Florida East Coast Railroad. At the time, the railroad was known both as “Flagler’s Folly”, and “The Eighth Wonder of the World”. The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane wiped out the railroad, and the surviving bridges and roadbed was purchased by the Federal Government. In 1938, they opened the route as the “Overseas Highway”. In 1982, the original “7-mile Bridge” was replaced with a modern version, which you can see below. To the right, you can see portions of the original 1938 bridge, which is kind of spooky.

We got to Key West before noon. We found a free parking space by the Naval Air Station, and went looking for the buoy that (symbolically) marks the southern-most point in the US. At the end of Duvall Street we found the Southernmost House Key West, a restored 1897 Victorian mansion, now a hotel and restaurant.

Right in front of that we found a line waiting to take pictures in front of the commemorative buoy. We handed our phone to the couple behind us, they took our picture, then we took theirs, and we went off for lunch.

Since we parked next to the Key West Naval Air Station, we looked for a restaurant near our car. We found Olives Mediterranean Grill and had some nice Turkish pita wraps. After lunch, we got in our car and drove to the Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, where we explored the old Civil-War era fort, which was buried in the sand dunes, and rediscovered in 1968.

The project uncovered the largest collection of Civil War-era seacoast cannons and artillery in the United States—over 140 cannons—along with thousands of cannonballs, shells, and a rare steam-powered Civil War desalination plant.

One feature of the park, and Key West in general, are the wild chickens and roosters that roam free. I don’t know if they are protected or not.

Walking back to our car, we also saw two large iguanas (one pictured below) and a two-foot long green lizard, which Google identified as a Cuban knight anole. It was impressive and fast.

Our Tuesday night hotel was in Marathon, Florida, one of the middle keys. That meant that we had to leave Key West, and head back in the direction of Key Largo. As we crossed Big Pine Key, we entered the National Key Deer Refuge. Key Deer are the smallest species of White Tailed deer. There were not a lot of cars on the road, so I was going about 35 mph, and, sure enough, we saw one grazing by the side of the road. A wonderful ending to the day.. When we finally got to our hotel in Marathon, we were pretty tired.

Marathon Florida

On Wednesday in Marathon we took a tour of the Sea Turtle Rescue Center. This is a 90-minute tour; 30 minutes are spent inside learning about the different kinds of sea turtles and the different kinds of disasters that befall them, and an hour is spent touring the facilities and seeing the different turtles in their recovery ponds.

This turtle, for instance, was struck by a boat, and had one of his front flippers amputated. Surprisingly, sea turtles can still survive with one missing flipper, so he will be released after some time of recovery. As part of the tour they showed us the operating room as well.

There are some ailments that prevent the turtles from being released back into the wild. One of these is “bubble butt” or positive buoyancy syndrome, where air becomes trapped between the turtle’s shell and its body. These “permanent residents” are kept in a large pool. 

Those turtles that can be released are placed in an exercise pool for a few months to strengthen their swimming abilities. Here is one of those turtles exercising. 

If you want to know more about The Turtle Hospital, then visit their website where you can meet all of the current patients, and learn about those who have been released.

Kathy and I were married on October 22, 1972. That meant that on our anniversary we would be deep in the Everglades National Park, with no real access to nice restaurants. So, we decided to have an early anniversary dinner at Sparky’s Landing, right next to our hotel.

Before we left the Keys, we had to try conch fritters and shrimp egg rolls. They were OK, but I wasn’t overwhelmed. However, I am overwhelmed with the 54 years Kathy and I have spent together.

Wednesday was our last night in the Florida Keys. On Thursday we’ll head into the Everglades National Park to spend two days in Flamingo, Florida.

Ocala, Titusville & Jupiter, Florida

We had a good night’s sleep in St. Augustine, Florida. Friday morning, the Budget Inn didn’t offer breakfast, so we used Google to find some food on the way. Sheila’s Cafe at Anastasia Kitchen is a tiny place that has outstanding food. Only after we ate did we find out that they only took cash! When we were younger, my mom used to give us kids a hundred-dollar bill on each of our birthdays. Fortunately I still had three of them in my wallet, (after 20 years), so we didn’t have to spend the day washing dishes to pay for our breakfast.

While we were having breakfast, we noticed the St. Augustine light house just behind the cafe, and we drove over and had some after-breakfast sightseeing.  

Our destination was Ocala, Florida, in the center of the state. Rather than going there directly from St. Augustine, we drove down the coast to Daytona Beach. The sun was out, there was almost no wind, and, when we could see the Atlantic, it had two-foot high clean waves, with a scattering of surfers.

Unbeknownst to us, Friday, October 16^th was the second day of the 34^th Biketoberfest, which brought thousands of motorcyclists to events at the Daytona International Speedway. Many of those riders found their way to the coast road, and, traffic was a little hectic. 

Instead of driving all of the way to Daytona Beach, we turned off on Florida 40 at Ormond Beach, which was probably a good idea. (In addition to all of the bikers, we did see one large turtle, scuttling along the sidewalk on the tips of his flippers. I always thought that turtles were slow, but he was going really fast.

We got to Silver Springs State Park, near Ocala, at about 3:00 PM. I thought that we could take one of the glass-bottomed boat rides, and maybe see some alligators to go along with the turtle. First, though, we had to eat, since we hadn’t had anything since breakfast.

Near the kayaking concession we found the Paddle Trail Grill. Kathy had a southwest chicken wrap and I had a BLT. They say that the best food you’ll ever taste is the food you eat when you’re really hungry. We were both really hungry, but it was so hot and humid that the food didn’t seem that exceptional.

I have to admit that Kathy and I are both wimps; the heat and humidity, and the thoughts of an air conditioned hotel room, drove all thoughts of a glass-bottomed boat ride from our minds. We left the park and drove to Ocala, and settled in. Kathy had planned to meet another of her cousins in the evening, but that didn’t work out.

Saturday on the Space Coast

When we left Ocala, it was raining, so it took us a little longer to get to the coast. As we were driving, all of a sudden the traffic just stopped. Ahead, we could see the flashing lights of a police cruiser. He was stopping to let a group of Sandhill Cranes cross the road. Once they were across, the line of cars started moving again. However, when our car got to the cross-walk, the cranes decided to cross back, so we had to wait again. 

We had originally planned to spend Saturday at the Kennedy Space Center. The night before, when I went to buy the tickets (about $200 for both of us and parking), I decided to read some blogs. I asked Google “Is the Kennedy Space Center Worth It?”, and then spent the next couple hours going down the rabbit hole. Most people thought that it was worth the price, but one blog went into detail about the long lines in the hot sun. That was really a deal breaker for Kathy and I, because we haven’t been adapting well to the heat and humidity.

Instead of the NASA site, we went to the Sands Space History Center, just outside the gates of the Space Force Base on Cape Canaveral. This is a small, one-room museum, dedicated to the original, military part of Cape Canaveral, including artifacts from most of the original launch sites.

There were no large rockets, or interactive exhibits, like the space shuttle simulator at the Kennedy Space Center, but it was very interesting seeing the history of space flight from the 1950s. Kathy and I spent a little more than two hours there, which is our comfortable limit. 

The Space Force docent, Chris Bannister, spent much of that time talking to us personally, and explaining the different missions that went out from Canaveral.

Chris encouraged us to take the longer, guided tour that included many of the original, decommissioned rockets and control centers, but we couldn’t do that because you have to apply 72 hours in advance to get a security clearance. If we went again, though, I think I’d do that.

We got back to our hotel in Titusville around four. After checking in, we went looking for dinner, and ended up at Sonny’s BBQ. Sonny’s is a chain, like Lucilles, in California. The food was great, and pretty inexpensive.

Kathy had pulled chicken, green beans and cole slaw. I had the three-pork platter with pulled pork, sliced pork, and ribs. You can see there was a lot of food. With tip, the bill was $38.00. We couldn’t do that in California.

Sunday in Vero Beach & Jupiter, Florida

On Sunday, our destination was Jupiter, Florida. Halfway between Titusville and Jupiter is Vero Beach, where Jim Gallagher is pastoring Calvary Chapel of Vero Beach. For several years in the 1980s, Jim was on the pastoral staff at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. And, his wife, Kristie, was active in the CCCM Women’s Ministry, so Kathy knew them both well. By getting off of the side roads and picking up the highway, we were able to get there for the 11:15 AM service.

After the service, Kimberly Williams, who lead the morning’s worship, recognized Kathy, and took us in to say hello to Jim and Kristie. We were able to visit for a little bit, took a picture together, and then headed down the coast to Jupiter. Before we left, though, we asked for lunch recommendations, and ended up at the historic Waldo’s Restaurant and Bar, right on the beach.

There was a band playing Jimmy Buffet songs, kind of like the band that plays by the pool on every cruise ship I’ve ever been on. So, since it was hot, windy, and loud outside in the sun, Kathy and I snagged a table inside. The food was pretty good, and not too expensive, considering the location.

Our hotel in Jupiter was the Best Western Intracoastal Inn. Earlier in our marriage, before I discovered how easily I get seasick, I had dreamed of living aboard a sailboat on the Intracoastal Waterway. So, I was interested in seeing the scenery. Just in front of our hotel is the Jupiter Florida Riverwalk, a two-and-a-half mile raised walkway that goes along the shore and out into the bay.

Kathy and I walked about half of it. We saw some small lizards, and some coconuts washed up on the shore, but no alligators. Monday we’ll be heading for three days in the Florida Keys.