To Key Largo We Go!

Time for a trip!  Off to the keys - a long weekend in Key Largo.  I always consider the drive into south Florida akin to driving to another country.  We move from our Florida to TROPICAL Florida - that means there are no oak or leafy trees, lots of scrub palms and pine trees, and lots of swampland.  And we found ancient, giant cypress trees growing in the river called the Everglades, that seem to be Florida's answer to California's giant redwoods. 

Driving across the state, through the Everglades, is always interesting.  You pass Indian settlements - after all, this was their land first.  There are parks where you can escape civilization and hike, kayak and camp in the deep Florida wilderness.  I thought the number of alligators, pythons and mosquitoes would dissuade many takers, but I am wrong.   And then there are the airboat rides that increase in numbers the closer you get to Miami.             

Ancient cypress with a 'strangler fig' wrapping around it. The fig started as an air plant.

Saw many of these on the roads heading south on the west coast.

Since we live in west Florida, we drove down the west coast.  The population has been growing in southwest Florida, which sadly means less nature and more golf courses. (But still not as busy as the east coast of Florida around Miami). When I saw the signs warning about panthers crossing the road, across the street from a shopping center, I thought that perhaps people were moving in a bit fast.   

local resident - about 3 1/2 feet long

 We crossed the Everglades to get to the east coast and made our way south from Miami.  Once you pass Homestead, everything opens up and you start to experience the Keys.  Beautiful water with scattered islands surrounding the bit of land and bridge that is your path to Key West.
We didnt travel that far south though because we stayed at a nice condo complex in Tavernier (actually just south of Key Largo).  With lots of sea oats and mangroves, the wildlife was mainly iguanas and birds. And there was a resident herd of cats that were fun to watch run around and play.

First sunset in Key Largo @ Key Largo Fisheries cafe

 Our first dinner was at Key Largo Fisheries where we sat dockside with our lobster wraps and seafood gumbo.  The Turk and I agreed that the food was average, but very convenient and we enjoyed sitting out with the fishing boats watching the sunset.

What to do in the key's?  Kayak the mangroves of course!  We headed to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.  This is the first undersea park in the US that is 70 nautical square miles.  Most of the park is under water!  But we found a 2.5 mile canoe trail through the mangroves to try out.

the Turk in the mangroves

 What fun! Much of the trail is actually marked, just like a hiking trail. It is a lot like a maze since you can't see above the mangroves to see where you are relative to where the marina (and civilization) is.  The Turk was concerned that we would be lost forever and would have to survive on whatever we could catch, and the lunch we packed.  Needless to say, we made it back. And after some swimming in the huge pool at the condo, we were hungry for dinner!

I picked  Tasters Grille  for our big night out.  The wine selection and chef choices convinced me this could be good.  We sat on the deck outside, over the water which held some surprises when night fell.  We got attentive waitstaff and the opportunity to taste wines to decide on what we wanted. The dishes we chose were more tapas sized so we got to try several things.  My fave was the shrimp and grits that were cooked with goat cheese.  As the evening progressed, we were joined by a musician who played his own and others' guitar compositions. He had many stories to tell as it seems he has played with 'everyone'.  And, as the sun set, we notice that the water beside us was lit from below. Soon we were joined by a few tarpon. And it didnt take long for those few to be joined by all of their buddies including the largest tarpons I've seen!

Crazy tarpon

 The Turk was excited. Thank goodness you cant eat tarpon or else he'd be in the water grabbing them and throwing them up to me to take home.!


The next day, we needed to do some touristy things, so headed out  to see what we could see.  We found Chocolate!

Yep - went there

The funny thing about the chocolate shop was that the American looking guy at the cash register - his wife ran the shop and made the chocolate - saw the Turk's name on his credit card and started speaking Arabic. The Turk said, 'Not Arabic, Turkish.'   And the guy spoke Turkish!   Come to find out, his dad was in the military and they were stationed in Istanbul when this guy was a kid. Small world.

Next on our adventure, we found the actual boat used in the movie The African Queen.  There is quite a story behind this boat's life, before and after the movie.  But it has been refurbished and is sitting in Key Largo, ready to take you out on a boat ride.  We have some friends who took the boat ride a couple of weeks later and said it sounded just like it did in the movie.  Of course, the steam engine is the same.

We seemed to be missing a full fledged keys sunset - so our objective was to hit the west coast and scout out the sunset.  Marker 88 was recommended as THE place to do sunset.  So, off we went. And this became our instant favorite.  We sat at the beach and had the choice of tasty drinks.  Sunset was spectacular and we decided it warranted a slice of key lime pie. 

sunset drink

Our final keys sunset

toasting to the keys!

 Alas, it was already time to leave.  But the trip back was still interesting. Driving through Homestead, we found miles of beautiful gardens and farms where you could buy landscaping plants and fruits and veggies.  This is where we saw dragonfruit for the first time. And, we found several greenhouses for orchids.  Of course some had to come home with us.

A Touch of Myakka

Time for a Sarasota visit with Jess and Ken - so the Turk and I headed south for the long labor day weekend.  Jess decided we needed to spend a day doing unique Florida things and this turned out to be a great idea.

signage in the parking lot

In the morning while it was still cool, we drove the 'long' 5 miles to Myakka River State Park. Myakka is one of Florida's oldest and largest state parks. The river flows through 57 square miles of wetlands, prairies and woodlands.   What to do in the park?  Hiking and biking trails, horse trails if you have a horse, fishing, kayak and canoe rentals, and camping.  We found 5 log cabins built in the 1930's by the men of the CCC - Civilain Conservation Corps.  The logs are trunks of cabbage palms that are chinked with tar and sawdust to seal the spaces.

We talked with one of the rangers about alligators. We saw only a couple and wondered if there were alot.   With a sparkle in his eye, he told us that alligators stay deep in the cool water when its hot outside, but come winter, they all come out to sun.  Later, in a photo sent by my alligator loving friend Joanne, I found this to be no exaggeration!

Deep Hole at Myakka - expand to see the gators!

We decided that this visit was a reconnaissance trip since we had lunch plans at Linger Lodge on the Braden River, where you are met by stuffed Florida natives including snakes, squirrels playing golf, and gators of course.

At Myakka, the Florida landscape was beautiful, but very wet with all the rain we've been having. We decided on one short hike to the Canopy Walkway.  The walkway is suspended 25 feet above the ground and extends 100 feet through the hammock canopy. There are 74 foot towers that support the walkway so you can view the treetops, wetlands and the prairie/hammock interface.

starting the hike

74 foot tower

With all the rain, the trail was flooded, so we relied on the Turk to lead the way across slightly higher ground that eventually got us to the canopy walkway. The best part was walking across the bridge while the Turk jumped up and down to get it to sway.  Apparently the Turk has gotten over his fear of heights, at least when there is an opportunity to scare us!

Mark and Jess testing the suspended walkway

We will definitely return to Myakka - maybe the fall or winter.  Though that view of the gators is daunting.  Though it seems the Turk had to recover from this brief excursion.  

Yes, it is August