Road Tripping South Florida (Part 2)
See part 1 here.

Story and photos
by Kathleen Walls

As I drove south on Tamiami Trail, the scenery got more natural. Most people think of the Everglades as just the National Park. This is the real Everglades, which starts at Lake Okeechobee and spreads throughout South Florida to the ocean. If you drew a line straight across Florida from west to east, Punta Gorda would be in line with the center of Lake Okeechobee.

Big Cypress National Preserve

Big Cypress, located at the southern tip of Florida within the Everglades, is distinct from Everglades National Park I've visited and written a story about it. It is one of the most primitive places in the country and home to between 150 to 200 Florida panthers, all that remain of this of this highly endangered cat, as well as alligators, mosquitoes, and large flying roaches. Some believe it hosts the Skunk Ape, Florida's Bigfoot. I just made a few stops ther but did find some alligators sunning at H.P. Williams Roadside Park that marks the entrance to Turner River Road. During my brief visit, I recalled experiences from a previous trip with my friend, Deb, in a Minnie Winnie loaned by Go RVing.

We stayed two days at Burns Lake Campground, one of the primitive camping areas in Big Cypress. We headed out to explore and passed Okeechobee Post Office, once a pipe shed for a tomato farm. It's the smallest post office in the U.S. When it was built in 1953, Florida's population was just over three million. Today, it is well over 21 million. I guess it never occurred to developers, lobbyists, and the city-raised politicians that we are destroying Florida's greatest resource, these beautiful wild places and the wildlife that calls them home. Or maybe they believe getting rich is more important than preserving the earth.

After that touch of civilization, we drove down Loop Road in the small Chevy Spark we had brought along. (You don't want to drive Loop Road in a big RV.) Once on the gravel road, almost all of civilization was left behind. We pulled off the road at Gator Hook Strand Trailhead where we saw dozens of alligators just off the trail in the murky waters. We spotted a heron, and an anhinga perched on a cypress tree branch, drying its wings. My find of the day was a Little Green Heron standing on a branch over the water waiting for his next meal to swim by.

Just a few feet away, I spotted another unusual find, an endangered Cardinal Air Plant. There are several species of bromeliads in Big Cypress swamps. The rarest is the Ghost Orchid. I've only seen one many years ago.

We continued our drive around Loop Road past the Loop Road Education Center on to the location of Pinecrest, now a ghost town but once a boom town of about 400 folks that made the Wild West look tame. This last section of the 24-mile road is paved. Legends say Al Capone once had a bootlegging operation here that he visited occasionally. We passed traces of human habitation in Pinecrest, a rusted '54 Dodge, a few boarded up mobile homes, and a pair of gas pumps sitting near the road.

We made a quick stop at Skunk Ape Research Headquarters. Out front, the giant statues of the mythical beast are realistic. In 1997, Dave Shealy, the center's owner, captured a photo of a skunk ape that was shown on many tv shows and magazines. Whether or not you believe, the gift shop and exhibits are interesting.

This time, I noticed a lot more "Indian Villages" in Big Cypress. I didn't stop and they may be authentic, as the Seminole and Miccosukee Tribes reservation borders the area. The Seminole recently opened a museum to teach about their culture.

Key Largo

Humphrey Bogart made Key Largo a household word in 1947, when the legendary movie of Key Largo hit the silver screen. You'll find Bogie's spirit there still. It may be adrift in The African Queen, the historic steamship from the 1951 movie of the same name. It's docked at the Holiday Inn on the Overseas Highway and offers rides through the canals and into the Atlantic He co-starred with Katherine Hepburn in The African Queen, his only Oscar-winning role. I recently enjoyed a ride on the grand old lady.

SShe's a small craft and well preserved, with many of its original parts. There was just me, and a husband and wife, and their teenaged daughter making for a fun experience. Our captain, Duncan, let us steer and re-enact some of the movie scenes like Katherine Hepburn's pouring Bogard's whisky over the side, and the scene where Bogard kicked the boiler. He told us the history and backstory of the boat and movie.

Islamorada

I'm not a diver, but I loved History of Diving Museum. It's interactive. There's an opportunity to take a selfie wearing a diving helmet seated next to a fully suited diver exhibit. Another exhibit lets you see how long you can hold your breath. I couldn't hold mine for a minute. The museum takes you from primitive divers to modern treasure hunters. Exhibits include a vast array of equipment, treasure diving, the history of movies about the ocean depths and more.

Keys History & Discovery Center tells the Keys history. If you only see one thing, make it the documentary about Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway.

I wish I had more time to browse here. There are lots of objects in this museum, including an interactive exhibit that told the history of the Keys from the first people to present and three aquariums from Mote Marine Lab. There's also a research library or serious researchers and several other documentary films that looked interesting.

The Laura Quinn Wild Bird Sanctuary is home to rescued wild birds. I walked through to the back, where a path takes you to the ocean.

Marathon

At the Turtle Hospital,, Nathan, our guide, informed us about its history and purpose. He described the most frequent injuries that prevent turtles from surviving in the wild and explained the methods used to treat them.

He then took us through the tanks, introducing each turtle by name. Some turtles cannot return to the wild due to injuries. For boaters, this place is crucial for understanding what can harm turtles.

Crane Point Hammock/a>, once a Bahamian village, is best explored via tram due to extensive walking. Our golf cart driver and guide showed us various plants along the route. We visited the historic Adderley House and the old Bahamian settlement site, Adderley Village. The bird sanctuary is behind the Museum of Natural History, and there's an old railcar from Flagler's railway out front. One fun but weird experience there was getting a "fish pedicure" where I sat on a paved bank and put my feet into the tidal pool near and within seconds, a hungry horde of gambusia fish began nibbling and tickling my feet.

Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters lets you get up close to aquatic life. As I wandered around the aquarium, I saw a trio of snorkelers and a couple doing a sting ray encounter.

I met dolphins, sea lions, tortoises, and parrots at Dolphin Research Center. It's an education and research facility. Jax, one rescue, came from my area near Jacksonville. The poor guy is missing half of his dorsal fin from a shark bite. There are two sea lions, Diamond, who was born at Sea World, and Lena, who was rescued four times begging for food at a California beach. While I was there, I watched a trainer trying to adapt them to a new house built for them here. The movie Flipper wwas filmed here and Mitzi, the dolphin that played Flipper most of the time, is buried under the statue of a life-sized dolphin. There's a plaque reading, "Dedicated to the memory of Mitzi. The original Flipper."

Bahia Honda

Driving south from Marathon to Bahia Honda Key across the 7 Mile Bridge, look to the right at the remains of Henry Flagler's overseas railway bridge and you'll spot "a href="https://www.facebook.com/FredtheTree1/">Fred the Tree' that is growing out of the bridge.

Bahia Honda State Park is the perfect place to stay either in an RV or tent if you're a camper or a cabin otherwise. I tried to book a cabin, but it was too late. There are only six cabins and both cabins and RV sites book almost as soon as booking is allowed, 12 months ahead for Florida residents and 11 months for others.

II visited the park and had a hot dog at the concession building between Loggerhead Beach, facing the Atlantic Ocean, and Calusa Beach, facing Florida Bay. These are closest to the campsites and have covered pavilions and picnic tables near the concession stand where you can rent kayaks and snorkeling gear or book boat trips to the reef at Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary. It's a short walk to the Old Bahia Honda Railroad Bridge. A section of which is renovated as a fishing and pedestrian bridge.

Big Pine Key

Just south of Bahia Honda, National Key Deer Refuge protects the tiny, endangered deer unique to the lower Florida Keys, predominantly Big Pine Key and No Name Key. The refuge has a nature center on the Overseas Highway. I spotted one of the Key deer on Big Pine Key. Although I drove through the refuge area, I finally saw one behind a Winn Dixie just off the highway.

Next section, I'll tell about my adventures in Key West.

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