Florida 3 weeks...part #6 Quick Trip Everglades...

Whenever I get to South Florida, I try to get some time and photos through the Glades....this year, even though I had nearly 3 weeks, I did not set enough time up...in a hurry to beat the Miami/Homestead Traffic to the Keys...I passed up on my usual side trips to Everglades City, and longer looks along and off the Tamiami Trail {US 41} through the area....I did jaunt down a few miles on Loop Road, but even then, not the entire route as planned...the time, I felt I needed, and the record heat {still going on as I write this on November 6th} that kept much of the wildlife hiding, kept my visit short by my usual standards.

Leaving my Sister and Brother-in-Law's place in Naples late morning{10/24}, I quickly hooked up on 41 and headed south and east....50 miles into the trip I found my favorite haunt in the Glades, Loop Road...although, admittedly, it's not the same since the Classic Old Tourist Trap, Monroe Station burned down a few years back, after sitting empty in all it's glory, for several decades.

I only drove about 5 miles south when I realized that the Gators and other Critters were just not out in force...the Hot, Humid, but Dry Conditions had them hiding in the swamp...so I stopped, relieved myself at the picnic area and turned around after snapping some Swamp photos and a Marsh Hawk lurking in the trees hoping for a rabbit, mouse, or some other small critter to make a mistake and become "lunch".  I headed back east on 41 I did stop and snap a few Gator Photos, along with some water birds....but for the most part it was a disapointment on my part, as I would not even make the planned trip down the 35 miles from Homestead to Flamingo, deep in the

Glades...Oh' Well, maybe next trip...maybe!

Instead I avoided US 1 as long as I could{I should have done the same on Friday Morning's Return Trip}...and then headed for my planned stop in Islamorada.  Looking back I made some mistakes in my timing...but all in all it worked out....those mistakes will be avoided in the next go around, which, God willing, I will make before I assume Room Temperature.

What I didn't really want to do was go all the way to Key West...as much as I enjoyed the crazy place with the family 20+ years ago...a solo white haired old white guy might look like or be mistaken for the many perverts and LBGT losers that hang there...my ego would not allow for that...so I decided not to make that trip this time around.  Islamorada and photographing the Sunset and Sunrise on both the Atlantic and Gulf was really what I had planned and I found a near perfect spot for that...that story up next.

Back Later>>>

Part #7...Islamorada in the Keys

More photo from the Everglades....{top}  The View Off Loop Road of the Swamp...{2} the Old Monroe Station from my visit back in 2006...it was torched {probably arson} a few years ago{3}Gator Eyes me...{4} a Gator cooling off in the creek along Highway 41...{5}the Loop Road Turn Around {6} a Gar Fish along the Ditch on the Tamiami Trail  {7}  A Marsh Hawk looking for Lunch...{8} and a Blue Heron, we have thousands up north here along Grand Lake, looking the same as his cousins, only a bit warmer in the Glades...