Gulf Coast to Alligator Alley

Here at Florida’s Welcome Centre I recalled our stop at the Hot Springs Visitor Centre in Arkansas where we enquired about Little Rock 30 miles (48 km’s) away. In unison the ladies exclaimed they were a City run centre and we’d need to go to a State run centre for that information. I didn’t want to be caught out again so I collected as many brochures as I could for the whole of Florida.

It was now the end of February and our arrival coincided with their peak season of Snow Birders and Spring Breakers. We’d realised this fact in Memphis and John had managed to secure some campgrounds on Reserve America. For the first time we were now travelling to a schedule and as it turned out in the most expensive State so far on all our travels here in the US.

As we drove through Pensacola to Milton we noticed the familiar yellow and black Waffle Houses we had seen regularly over the last few weeks had now become infrequent which put an end to our game of Spot the Waffle……thunk!

 

That afternoon I perused all the brochures and with such a vast area to explore before arriving in Key West I ended up numbering them and marking the numbers on our map….it felt good to be organized.  That afternoon the promise of good weather continued as we watched the sun set in lovely shades of orange, red and pink.

Driving through the panhandle was full of surprises. At first we drove through tropical forest areas where the tall trees and palms provided shade over the roads. Then we drove by logging forests of pine trees all lined up in rows with no undergrowth. We headed to the Gulf of Mexico and saw pristine beaches of white sand that they say has washed down over the millennia from the Appalachian Mountains. After a short time the view of the water disappeared with high rise buildings coveting the coastal strip which we kind of expected but was still disappointing. We stopped at a jetty car park and walked along the beach as several jet fighters flew overhead. 

Panama Beach sand was covered in shells

Panama Beach

A short while later we drove by the Tyndall Air Force Base located on prime real estate wedged between the Gulf Coast and the beautiful deep blue of St Andrews Bay. 

We stopped in Apalachicola at a waterfront restaurant on the Brahert River and ordered 12 raw oysters and some Lobster and Crab Bisque for lunch….it was very tasty.

Gluten free beer and oysters...

The day was turning out to be nice and sunny with a cool breeze, some clouds and best of all no rain…!! We turned inland to try for a free night in the Apalachicola National Forest and stopped in Sopchoppy to ask directions to the Wood Lake Campground.

As we turned into the campground I began to feel uneasy. With one road in and only 5 camp sites we found it had been overtaken by a large group of Yokels (as I called them) and an assortment of couches, 6 vehicles and a boat on a trailer. We barely got passed them and had to turn around at the sandy boat launch area before we found a spot to park. The camp host’s RV was uninhabited and shortly after another camper arrived and asked us “what’s going on?”. We just shook our heads so he decided to park beside us. My heartbeat increased when the Yokels began firing their guns into the trees. As the evening progressed I noticed lots of small lights flashing in the trees so I bravely stepped just outside the door to have a look and I think they were fireflies. I heard a rustling in the bushes as I was about to step back in Dude and was relieved to see it was an armadillo. I set the alarm for early the next morning but did not sleep because the driveway was now blocked. It was still dark when the alarm went off. We had lost an hour yesterday when we crossed into Eastern Time. It was with relief that the vehicle blocking the road left early in the morning so with the exit free we high tailed it out of there…..

Wood Lake boat launch

Everyone was talking about the big chill expected Saturday night with temps dropping down to 29 F (-1 C) and hopes of a couple more freezes to kill the mozzies…!!

So with thoughts of cold nights ahead we drove by green fields of hay, dairy farms full of grazing cows, Pine Forests and logging trucks pounding the road. It surprised me to see that the soil was a white sand and it reminded me of Perth. 

On the map we saw lots of Natural Springs and I had seen pictures of them in the brochures and they looked beautiful. Choosing one to visit was the hard part but Manatee Springs State Park was on our way and we were lucky to get a campsite for the night. Although it was sunny a cold wind was blowing and we were wearing our fleece jackets when we walked down to look at the springs. One look and we knew we had to go in for a swim.

Manatee Springs

We rushed back to Dude to change into our swimmers and in no time we were back at the springs slipping into the 72 F (22 C) water. Needless to say by the time we got out our lips were blue from the chilly wind blowing on our faces but we had enjoyed our swim.

Time to get wet...

Awesome.....!!

Next to the springs was a boardwalk that followed the canal out to the Suwannee River and we watched the Manatees swimming slowly and gracefully in the canal. I had never seen them before. Then as we rounded the bend we saw a baby deer following a white egret around in the swamp on the other side.

Animal fun in the swamp

Manatees in the canal

View of the canal

Black Vultures hanging out in the trees

Spanish Moss in the trees above the boardwalk

The next day we had to wait until 1 pm to see if we could get another night. So even though it was near freezing when we woke up we still dashed down to the springs this time with goggles in hand. The goggles opened up a whole new world beneath the water of sea grass and green algae that reminded me of thick pigtails as they floated in the current. I saw turtles with algae growing on their shells and schools of large fish. It really was an underwater Garden of Eden and I was reluctant to get out.

I managed a quick walk out to the end of the boardwalk but the wind was disturbing the water so it was harder to see the Manatees but there were lots of them travelling slowly up and down the canal. A large flock of black vultures were sitting in the trees at the end of the canal. I had been gone so long I had to run back to Dude so we could be at the entrance station by 1 pm where after quite a wait we got another night. It was getting very chilly and for the first time in quite a while we turned the heater on that night.

The sun came out...

The temps dropped but not to freezing, as predicted, though 40 F (4 C) was cold enough when we woke the next morning. We didn’t let the cold put us off our swim and when we arrived two underwater cave divers said we had just missed the Manatees swimming in the springs. Though disappointed at not swimming with the Manatees I did see 5 turtles and lots of fish. We then watched the Manatees in the canal for the last time….

We had had a wonderful time and I found it hard to leave such a beautiful natural place.

Watching the Manatees was a wonderful experience 

It was now day 62 of our adventure and so far we had driven 5,200 miles (8,369 km’s). We were now heading south to Tampa and along the way I saw some Northern Cardinals darting across the road and an armadillo foraging on the embankment which was totally unexpected as I had never seen them during the day.

The further south we drove the colder it got……I'm sure that’s not supposed to happen but here we were waking up to 38 F (3 C).

It was my turn to drive and as I got onto the I-75 the traffic was relentless and I noticed that only 1 in every 4 vehicles had Florida number plates, all the rest were Snow Birders driving south for the winter.

Taking the helm.....

We exited at Fort Myers and found it very busy with traffic and saw lovely homes with private jetties. We crossed the bridge at Fort Myers Beach where traffic on the two way road  came to a standstill with people everywhere. Restaurants, hotels, T-Shirt shops and large resorts filled the beachfront skyline obscuring all views of the beach.

We bypassed Naples and camped the night in Collier – Seminole State Park. It had been a nice warm day and after a couple of beers we walked out on the boardwalk on the Hammock Trail of Royal Palm trees and I learnt about the Gumbo Limbo with its red trunks and the Spanish Stopper trees. The tropical feel took me back to when we lived in Papua New Guinea and the feeling of being in the tropicaI forest made it hard for me to leave.

Royal Palm Tree Hammock

There were lots of mozzies out as the sun set so we hunkered down inside Dude for the night…but not before I gazed at the night sky and seeing Orion made me think of family and friends back home in Australia.

Collier - Seminole State Park

We set off east along the Tamiami Trail (Hwy 41) and stopped at the Everglades Private Airboat Tours. As luck would have it we were the only ones on the 10 am tour. 

Airboat fun....

For most of the tour we were flying across in shallow water through mangroves where at every turn birds would lift their wings and fly into the air and we found ourselves keeping pace with them as they flew just above our heads. It was an amazing feeling. We even saw a flock of Roseate Spoonbills and White Pelicans, as the Brown Pelicans are native here.

Skimming through the mangroves

Tight turns in the mangroves

Tannin from the leaves colour the water

We flew by white, black and red mangroves

Keeping up with the birds as they flew by

The birds were amazing to see

We got up close to two large alligators and then for a thrill the driver took us over the dry mud. On the way back we learnt the airboat doesn’t have a brake or reverse. 

Watching the Alligator watching us...

Birds taking flight

My new job....

We even got to hold a baby alligator.

John the Alligator wrangler...

As we continued east we felt we had entered into a wildlife park because beside the road was a narrow waterway filled with very large alligators sunning themselves on the rocks between the foliage.

As we got closer to Homestead we encountered road works and bridge building. We found out later that when they built the Tamiami Trail in the 1920’s it effectively stopped the natural flow of water into the Everglades. So after many years of negotiations a 1 mile (1.6 km) bridge (instead of a much longer bridge that was initially proposed) is being built to allow some water to flow freely into the Everglades NP.