Adventures on Gulf Coast, Florida

There are so many outdoor adventures here in Naples, FL. We haven't "stayed home" all day any day since we've been here.

We went to the northern part of the Everglades National Park, (we'll go further south in the park and camp at Flamingo campground next week). Took a boat tour through the 10,000 islands. We only saw 99,999 of them! Right! (Actually, the number changes daily with the tides, so no one really knows how many there really are.) Lots of mangrove trees that grow in the salty water, and birds along the estuary. We saw dolphins, but no manatees (the state fish of Florida) -- a relative of the elephant, only they are mammals that live in fairly warm water. They surface for air every 2-20 minutes but they're hard to see because they are a brownish color, which is similar to the waterways here. The water isn't polluted, just looks that way because of the color formed by the tannic acid from the mangrove trees.


The boat tour guide told us about an area we could drive to nearby where we were assured to see alligators and lots of birds -- the "real Everglades," he said. My goodness--he was right!
We've never seen so many alligators! At every turnout along the waterway there were 3-4 in view -- some very close and personal! Obviously, we didn't get out of the pickup! We lost count at about 30 alligators! So now we feel like we've really seen Florida.

One of the rainy days we went to the Historical Museum at nearby Fort Myers. They had the Lucy Exhibit -- replica of bones of our prehistoric ancestors. Very interesting exhibit. We also learned a bit about the Seminole Wars here -- and the removal of the native population to Oklahoma! Part of our history that we're not too proud of!


That same day we went to Manatee Park, and we were able to see a few floating to the surface. Had to stand in the rain to see them! Luckily, they have shelters along the trails for those sudden downpours!

One of the sunny days we rented a kayak and explored one of the waterways that led out to the beach and the Gulf of Mexico, then later went to that same beach. So many shells on the beaches here -- piles and piles of them. We are loving the beaches here -- and the best tans we've (or at least that's true for me) have ever had.

We joined a group of people around 9:30 pm EST here at the Kountree Kampinn RV Resort to watch the lunar eclipse evolve. What an awesome sight as the moon became a transluscent orange-yellow-cream color. One of the men had a telescope and a camera attached. He took some gorgeous photos, but he wasn't willing for me to get a copy to add to this blog, even though I assured him I would give him credit. He said too many of his photos have been stolen that way. Too bad -- I would have liked to share them.

We also went on a Parade of Homes trolley tour today in a new subdivision that has golf courses, natural preserves, lakes. Many gorgeous luxury homes and condos, many with screened in swimming pool/hot tub lanai. A real indoor-outdoor living feel. But.... we're not going to settle in Florida! Just fun to look.