Florida Gulf Coast

With our remaining time in Florida, we explored the western shores along the Gulf Coast.  After crossing the Everglades again, we stopped in Naples, with a quick peek at the downtown and beach.  The downtown seemed a bit more swanky than we anticipated.  Next, we scooted up the coast to Fort Meyers and ended a long day of driving from Key West.  The next morning, we drove out to Fort Meyers Beach for a beach walk.  There were a surprising amount of people enjoying the sun and warmth, the most crowded beach we had seen so far on the trip. We also checked out Sanibel Island and Captiva Beach.  We couldn't find any public parking at Captiva, but we had a nice walk on Bowman Beach. In the afternoon, we drove up to Sarasota where motel prices were through the roof for some reason.  We ended up in an overpriced Super8 which was a disappointing dive.  That didn't stop us from enjoying the waterfront park and a good ramen dinner in the trendy downtown. 

The next morning we drove out to Siesta Key and walked again before driving north across the mouth of Tampa Bay to St. Pete's Beach where we found a small fixed up retro motel with a patio and pool.  We really enjoyed this cute little motel and the vibe of the area-a little more laid back, and a little quieter.  We even ate dinner in the room, snagging some frozen dinners at a grocery. store nearby.  Deciding to slow down a little and stay in the area, we tried to reserve another night, but it was booked. So we searched for another option nearby in Madeira Beach and scored on a beachfront room on the fourth floor.  Between check out and check in, we drove up to Clearwater Beach. We spent a lot of time either walking the beach or enjoying the balcony and absorbing the warmth.  Our last day we drove into Tampa.  We walked the downtown waterfront park and then found a motel near the airport, where we got to bed early for our early morning flight back to Seattle.

Florida's National Parks and Key West

Using our motel in Florida City as our base, we visited Bascayne and Everglades National Parks.  In the morning we drove East to Biscayne.  This park is almost exclusively a marine sanctuary that can only be explored by boat our diving, but there is a corner of it on land.  It was enough to have a visitor center with lots of info and a stamp for Esther's passport.  We also took a short hike along the mangrove coastline.  Next, we zipped back west and spent the bulk of the day in the Everglades.  Fortunately, a kind ranger let us in for free despite leaving our forever pass at home.  We really liked the Anhinga Trailhead, watching an alligator chasing birds unsuccessfully.  Determined to make it to Flamingo, we took the long drive.  The landscape of the Everglades looks a lot like African savanna, only there is a gigantic shallow river slowly flowing through all the tall grass.  We caught a late lunch in Flamingo and Ellen got bitten alive by mosquitoes.  On a later day, we also stopped at Big Cypress National Preserve and saw throngs of large alligators.

We spent two nights in Key West in a two bedroom guesthouse centrally located to all the attractions.  Our car stayed parked the whole time.  This was Esther and my third trip to Key West, but we still found new things to see.  Our favorite attraction was Hemingway's House and the six toed (polydactyl) cats. Besides getting a glimpse of the colorful author's life, we got to be entertained by the properties 59 cats. Of course we walked to the southernmost US point and Mallory Square sunset.  We endured Duval St. with its raucous atmosphere.  The ubiquitous roosters and chickens kept the town cleared of crumbs. We had hoped to make it to Dry Tortugas National Park, but the fully booked $240 per person ferry ride prevented that from happening. We really enjoyed our accommodations, despite a loud party next door that kept Ellen peaking out the window until 1:00.