Florida Trip 2021 Post #6...Chokoloskee Island and the "Smallwood Store"

 

I arrived at Naples, stopped by sister Kelly's house on the Gulf Channel, and visited her and 97 year old mom for a couple hours, before checking in at the, what would be, disappointing Red Roof Inn...WTF?, No Coffee Maker, No Coffee at all...for 2 mornings I would have to drive to get a damn cup of joe...otherwise the place was close to Kelly and was so-so for $100 bucks a night...

Anyway you can read and see photos of the first day and night, in Naples, where Brother in Law, Denmark Mike fixed a great meal...being the world class chef he is, and has been for decades, it was no surprise at all....

In addition to visiting mom, who knows how long her, or for that matter me, will be around...the women has survived COVID when she was a mere 96 years old, so my guess is she has a better than average shot to make the century mark...and she still has her mind, sharp as a tack...which makes it that much better.

Anyway that was the main point of my trip, along with fishing, and photography...

I always spend a day or two when in deep south Florida driving the Everglades, usually highlighted by a trip down Loop Road...my plan this year was to drive the entire  distance, which after the 27 miles would bring me out a few miles from Miami, or at least the Miami overflow, but I go lazy, and

decided not to take the time to drive the 50 plus miles to Loop then another 2 hours driving it and back to Naples.  This year, the Big Cypress, Everglades City {just a quick visit} and then on to Chokoloskee Island, the land of Old Florida Drug Runners, and outlaws.

Two stops I wanted to make on the Island, which sits on the edge of the Ten Thousand Islands: 

Ten Thousand Islands

In all my trips to The Everglades area, I had not crossed the long straights

and bridge from Everglades City to Chokoloskee...but this time, at the urging  of my brother in law, who wanted me to drop by the Havana Cafe just over the bridge, I decided to give it a try...besides I wanted to visit the Smallwood Store that I had read about in the book "Totch", the story of Loren "Totch" Brown, who lived and wandered this area for most of his entire life...                                                  

Totch

So, Wednesday, October 24th, I spent the morning driving down to Everglades City, Chokoloskee Island, and visited the Smallwood Store, then on to the Havana Cafe for Lunch:

Havana Cafe

Smallwood Store



The afternoon, after lunch and a quick return to Naples {I ended up putting 185 miles or so on the Jeep that day}, I returned and explored a part of the Big Cypress Swamp that I had not been in before, that part coming up in the next installment.

Photos...Top:  Inside the Ted Smallwood Store there hangs a mural of how the store looked back in it's heydays, around 1930.  {2}  Denmark Mike fixed us a grand meal on night #1 in Naples, Seafood, Steaks, and Veggies on the Grill and his Pastry Chef made us a Mocha Chocolate Cheesecake  {3} The welcoming sign to Everglade City, progress, thankfully, has been slow coming to EC, but sad to say, it is coming...{4}/{5} The Havana Cafe, where I had a Cuban Sandwich, Chips, and a Beer...around $20 before the tip, pricy, but well worth the stop, if and when I get down that way again, will stop once more ... {6} and Bottom...The Inside and outside entrance to the Smallwood Store, if you have any interest in Old Time Florida, you should look that story and history up, also, if any interest in the Everglades in the old days before the great invasion of two legged varmints, pick up a copy of "Totch", they come fairly cheap in the paper back and it is well worth the read and photos...

Far Bottom Photo is the backside view of the Smallwood Store...it was a bit humid that day, but well worth the $5 fee just to visit Old Florida, which was what it was back in the early 1950s when we arrived in Venice.

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